This archive report was first published on 19 May 2020.
On May 7, 2020, Bishop Pascal Mukuna made history by filing a complaint against former President Joseph Kabila at the Constitutional Court in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The cleric, who is also the head of the Assembly Christian Church of Kinshas and founder of the Patriotic Awakening Movement, accused Kabila of committing '10 crimes' during his 18-year regime.
These crimes include killings in several provinces from 2008 to 2017, which Mukuna listed in his letter of denunciation to the Attorney General.
Legally, this is a new ground, as former heads of state in the DRC are immune from legal proceedings for their acts committed in the course of their duties.
However, the cleric's approach has caused a stir in national public opinion, with some US policy thinkers reacting to the development last week.
Herman Cohen, the American diplomat who serves as President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Great Lakes, tweeted that there was a serious desire to support a Congolese court for the case.
But Kabila's supporters claim that Mukuna was being manipulated by people behind the curtain, and have criticized the cleric's support from certain political parties in the DRC.
As the general prosecutor weighs his response, Bishop Mukuna has become a hunted animal, accused of sexually assaulting a widow, which he denies.
