DR Congo President Tshisekedi announces three-month national dialogue excluding M23 rebels

Nationwide consultation framework

In a televised address to the nation on 27 August 2026, President Félix Tshisekedi announced the launch of a national dialogue for peace, cohesion, and state reconstruction. The process is designed to span a maximum duration of three months, departing from past political gatherings by focusing on decentralized local consultations rather than immediate central talks in Kinshasa. Discussions will begin across all 26 provinces, convening national and provincial lawmakers, ruling majority and opposition parties, civil society organizations, religious leaders, customary chiefs, and representatives from academic, scientific, and economic sectors. Local assemblies are tasked with diagnosing provincial grievances, including security failures, land and customary disputes, communal tensions, administrative deficits, inequalities, and developmental hurdles.

This national dialogue will be distinguished first by its territorial anchoring: it will not begin in Kinshasa, but at the heart of our 26 provinces, our territories, and our communities.

Exclusion of armed rebel groups

The framework explicitly excludes armed groups fighting against the constitutional order, notably the AFC/M23 rebel movement that controls territory in the eastern regions with Rwandan support. During his speech, Tshisekedi reiterated his demand for the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Congolese soil and reaffirmed that rebel negotiations belong exclusively to external diplomatic channels.

The Doha process remains the appropriate framework to deal with M23, and the national dialogue will not replace this process.

Tshisekedi noted that individual combatants who renounce violence, disarm, and denounce foreign aggression against the country will retain an avenue for civic reintegration. However, insurgent movements will receive no formal political delegation at the table. This exclusion follows prolonged conflict in eastern provinces despite a July 2025 ceasefire in Doha and a December 2025 peace accord signed in Washington between the DRC and Rwanda. Certain opposition factions had previously pushed to incorporate M23 representatives or delegates linked to former president Joseph Kabila, who was sentenced to death in absentia in September 2025 for complicity with the armed group.

Opposition criticism and analyst reactions

The announcement prompted sharp responses from political rivals and regional specialists. On 28 August 2026, a coalition of main opposition parties formally rejected the dialogue, accusing Tshisekedi of orchestrating the process to maintain power and manage his political agenda without genuine power-sharing. Political scientist Bob Kabamba from the University of Liège termed the exclusion of M23 contradictory given that Congolese delegates continue to negotiate with the group in Qatar. Defending the presidency, national deputy and Convention of United Congolese coordinator Lambert Mende Omalanga stated that Tshisekedi had not permanently closed the door to misguided compatriots while properly guarding national sovereignty.

Structure of upcoming presidential decrees

To operationalise the consultation process, Tshisekedi announced the forthcoming signature of two presidential ordinances in the coming days. The first ordinance will establish a preparatory organising committee responsible for handling administrative, technical, and logistical arrangements across all 26 provinces. The second ordinance will officially convene the nationwide dialogue and define its procedural timetable. After provincial delegates complete their localized diagnostics, their findings will be consolidated into a working document for national assemblies in Kinshasa, which will conclude with the adoption of a formal national pact.