Kinshasa, November 10th, 2025 (CPA).- A senior officer in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), considered to be the mastermind behind the foiled coup in 2023, has confessed on Monday before the High Military Court during a mobile court hearing at the Ndolo military prison in northern Kinshasa.
‘I have been contacted by the defendant Nzanzu, who had come from Canada. Initially, according to Nzanzu, the idea was for us to set up a mining company. The defendant Nzanzu had then informed me that Rwanda, through multinational companies, was seeking to overthrow the government in Kinshasa,’ has declared the defendant Colonel Mesmin Kakule. ‘That is how they had tasked us with staging this coup, with a view to installing ourselves and obtaining these minerals,’ he has added.
Regarding the speech about overthrowing the government recorded at this Bandalungwa hotel, the defendant has acknowledged the facts in these terms: ‘The video has been made to serve as evidence to be presented to our partners, with a view to showing them our commitment to overthrowing the institutions of Congo Kinshasa, and it was indeed I who have delivered this speech about the takeover by the officers’ college’.
At the previous hearing devoted to the identification of the defendant, the latter had appeared alone before the High Military Court. This high military court had requested the Kinshasa-Gombe Bar Association to appoint a lawyer to assist him, but the response was not positive. In this case, 40 defendants are on trial for attempting to overthrow the legally established institutions of the Republic. The ‘Prince’ hotel, owned by the defendant Okende, in the municipality of Bandalungwa in Kinshasa, was used not only as the venue for the conspirators’ meeting, but also for recording the speech announcing the takeover.
Colonel Mesmin Kakule is the one who had delivered this speech declaring the fall of President Tshisekedi’s regime and the seizure of power by the FARDC officers’ college. The overthrow was to take place on the night of November 7th to 8th, 2023. The military prosecutor had requested fifteen (15) years’ imprisonment for seven officers and three and five years’ imprisonment for the other defendants at the previous hearing. CPA/