How region's courts are weaponised to silence critics

Ex-Congo President Joseph Kabila finds himself fleeing from a country he was born and grew up in, that he once led, invested in and subsequently handed over to his successor, Felix Tshisekedi.

His life is now on the line after the country’s military court tried and sentenced him to death in absentia.

The conviction without being heard shows a new trend where those in power use the law and the judicial system to suppress their rivals or perceived opponents.

Observers and human rights groups take the trial as a political vengeance and a warning by his successor to his opponents that they risk getting the same wrath if they challenge his power.

They also cite political intolerance by those in power as the key driver to such draconian charges. The solution opted, observers say is isolation and instilling fear.

Human Rights Watch director, Lewis Mudge, said the verdict against a civilian by a military court meant that Congo was moving towards authoritarianism.

“Kabila did not even have a lawyer,” he said, adding that he lost his immunity in the snap of a finger.

Kabila’s trial is not an isolated case. He now joins a list of African leaders isolated and facing a justice juggernaut fueled by persons seeking control through total suppression.

In Uganda, veteran Opposition politician Kizza Besigye faces a similar predicament of the law being wielded in partisan politics. 

Initially charged before a military court with treason, the former serviceman is accused of, among others, plotting to oust President Yoweri Museveni.

In addition, he faces a separate charge of having ammunition. The treason charge is an offence that was borrowed from colonial masters and attracts the death penalty. 

As Besigye fights for his freedom in Uganda, Tanzania’s Chadema party leader Tundu Lissu is also facing similar charges.

The former Singinda East Member of Parliament was President Samia Suluhu’s main rival. His incarceration and ban from vying in the just concluded election have been condemnation by both African and international observers.

From Kabila, to Besigye and Lisu, it appears that the region’s judicial systems are on trial, with political actors putting judges on the dock by making them choose between the law and royalty to the powers that be.

Mudge says that Kabila still has significant political muscle and influence in Congo. He is of the view that things appeared to have boiled over when the former President publicly criticised his successor.

“This issue goes far beyond Kabila himself.

‘‘Denying a former president basic due process sends a chilling message that other political opponents can face similar treatment. This trial signals that fair trial rights are conditional and dispensable when inconvenient, corroding the very idea of equal justice under the law,’ he says, adding that it amounts to weaponising courts.

In Kenya, dozens of Gen-Zs are in court facing terrorism charges after protests that rocked the country, albeit the terror being hinged on radicalisation and extremism.

At least more than 70 were arrested and arraigned in Kahawa Law Courts, a speciality court set aside to deal with serious crimes such as human trafficking, and terrorism. 

African Institute for Security observes that incumbents and ruling parties across Africa are using the law to cement power and hush opposition.

The institute has cited Zimbambwe, Zambia, Congo, Togo and Tanzania as some of the countries whose regimes have bent and abused the law to suit them.

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Former Chief Justice David Maraga, while criticizing the move, said that the charges were trumped-up and the government was weaponising the anti-terror law to criminalize protests.

He said, this was despite the right to assemble and demonstrate being provided for by the Constitution.

Law Society of Kenya president Faith Odhiambo urged the Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga to review the charges, terming them too excessive.

“I know there are many Kenyans who were killed and injured, while others have been profiled and taken to court over trumped-up charges. I maintain the call to the ODPP to review the trumped-up terrorism charges against peaceful protesters; and shift focus on prosecuting the trigger happy officers who were caught on camera using excessive force to undermine the right to freedom of assembly,” she said on her X page.

Kabila left the throne in January 2019 in what was praised as the first peaceful transition. In a country that is crowded by coups and conflict, Tshekedi, the son of former Zaire Prime Minister Etienne Tshisekedi and Congo’s Union for Democracy and Social Progress leader, was seen as a moderate.

He was meant to strike a delicate balance between development, reforms and stability in Congo.

At the time he took power, he was riding on Kabila’s party Front For Congo (FFC). Nevertheless, when he landed in the palace, he tore apart his mentor’s party and built up his own ‘Sacred Union.’

LSK’s deputy president Mwaura Kabata said that owing to Kabila’s 24-year rule, it will be interesting to see if the M23 rebels will strike a deal with Tshekedi to end the war in the country.

“Kabila has been President for 24 years. War crimes are serious offences in the international realm, and the right to fair hearing cannot be limited. It will be an interesting turn of events to see how the rebels will walk the path of ending the conflict with the Govt,” said Kabata.

Tshekedi’s power play book also forced Moïse Katumbi, the former Katanga governor, accused of conspiracy into exile. In addition, Matata Ponyo Mapon, Kabila’s ex-prime minister, was repeatedly charged on dubious claims. He was sentenced in May this year to 10 years’ forced labour for alleged corruption.

His lawyers cited politics as the drive behind the trial. Matata served as a Prime Minister between 2012 and 2016 and was hailed for stabilizing the country’s economy during his tenure as the Finance Minister.

Another leader, Franck Diongo, also got the wrath of the system and was only freed last year while pan-African magazine Jeune Afrique, Stanys Bujakera was slapped with six months imprisonment for his story on military intelligence on the killing of another Congo opposition politician Cherubin Okende.

African Institute for Security observes that incumbents and ruling parties across Africa are using the law to cement power and hush opposition.

The institute has cited Zimbambwe, Zambia, Congo, Togo and Tanzania as some of the countries whose regimes have bent and abused the law to suit them.