Raids targeting relatives of F. Tshisekedi in Belgium: UDPS denounces a conspiracy

The interim president of the UDPS, Augustin Kabuya, rejected on Tuesday, October 20, the alleged accusations of corruption and money laundering targeting the close associates of the Congolese head of state in Belgium. He denounces this as a move intended, in his view, to tarnish the image of Félix Tshisekedi, in a context of political and security tensions in the country. Speaking before UDPS militants and sympathizers, the ruling party, Augustin Kabuya affirmed that the accusations made in Belgium against the presidential family for alleged acts, including money laundering, were unfounded. He believes that the searches conducted in the Brussels region as part of this case aim to weaken the President of the Republic. "They are telling lies. Everything they are saying about alleged corruption or money laundering is false," he declared, assuring that the members of the presidential family and the head of state's close associates "have stolen nothing." The head of the UDPS also established a link between this case and the debate on the Constitution in the DRC. "Everything is up to tarnish the name of President Félix Tshisekedi. All this is because of the change in the Constitution," he affirmed, without presenting any evidence to support his statements. A judicial investigation opened in Belgium Augustin Kabuya's statements come after searches conducted on October 14 in Brussels and several surrounding municipalities, as part of a judicial investigation concerning suspicions of money laundering. The operations targeted residences linked to Félix Tshisekedi and members of his family circle, according to several media outlets. The Belgian federal prosecutor confirmed to the media the searches without specifying the identities of those concerned. The procedure follows a complaint filed in July 2025 by civil society organizations of the Grand Katanga, represented in particular by lawyers such as Hervé Diakiese. The complainants denounce alleged acts of corruption, misappropriation of funds, and money laundering related to the exploitation of mineral resources in southeastern DRC. Hervé Diakiese described the searches as important steps in the procedure, while recalling that the guilt of those targeted has not been established. "The investigation must allow the justice to examine the evidence both for and against," he specified in an interview with Radio Okapi. Diplomatic tensions between Kinshasa and Brussels The day after these searches, on October 15, a note attributed to the Prime Minister's office of the President, Anthony Nkinzo Kamole, which leaked on social networks, prohibited members of the presidential cabinet from maintaining direct or indirect contact with the Belgian embassy in Kinshasa, until further notice. The Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Prévot, expressed his surprise and regretted this decision. He indicated that he learned of this prohibition "with surprise," in an interview with the media Jeune Afrique. On the same day, the Congolese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, received the Belgian ambassador in the DRC, Roxane de Bilderling. The official report of this meeting referred to the bilateral relations between the two countries without specifying whether the searches were addressed. Contacted on October 16 by Radio Okapi regarding the restriction of contacts with the Belgian embassy, the spokesperson for the President of the Republic, Tina Salama, did not wish to comment on the measure.