Kinshasa, January 28th, 2026 (CPA) – The verdict in the trial of two colonels of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) accused of causing the capture of Bunagana to the Rwandan army has been set for Monday February 2nd, according to the High Military Court at its hearing held at its headquarters in Kinshasa. ‘The High Military Court considers itself sufficiently informed. It declares the proceedings closed and adjourns to deliberate, before delivering its verdict on February 2nd,’ has declared Brigadier General Jean Claude Nzau, presiding judge. At the appeal hearing, the presiding judge has proceeded to reopen the proceedings due to a change in the composition of the court. ‘As you can notice, the composition of the court sitting in this case is not the same. We will therefore reopen the proceedings in order to summarise the investigation for the new associate judge,’ he has said. ‘In your motivation for appeal, you have cited two causes: the violation of the rights of the defence and the insufficiency of the motivation of the judgement by the first judge,’ he has added. For its part, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested that the High Military Court uphold the work of the first judge in all its provisions. ‘You will sentence the two defendants to the maximum penalty, as was done by the first judge, Mr President, and in so doing you will do justice, » has requested the public prosecutor. For their part, the two defendants have pleaded not guilty, proclaiming their innocence. ‘I am innocent. It was General Chirimwami who was on the front line,’ has said Colonel Desire Lobo. ‘I have never committed any acts of insubordination, General. I have always been there to defend the cause of the nation. I request my acquittal so that I may continue to serve under the flag, Mr President,’ has said Colonel Jean-Marie Ndiandia in his final statement before the court.
It was in October 2022 that Colonel Ndiandia and Colonel Lobo were arrested and brought before the Nord-Kivu Military Court for the offences of fleeing from the enemy, abandoning weapons and ammunition, violating orders and embezzling funds allocated to operations.
The military prosecutor’s office had added that the two officers had caused the capture of Bunagana by abandoning certain FARDC vehicles in the hands of the Rwandan Defence Forces under the guise of the M23. ACP/