According to official accounts, the twins were born at Hewabora, a small village in the Fizi Territory of the South Kivu Province, in eastern DRC.

[15] In October 1996, Laurent-Désiré Kabila launched the campaign in Zaire to oust the Mobutu regime with his newly formed army, the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL).

Joseph Kabila became the commander of an AFDL unit that included "kadogos" (child soldiers) and likely played a key role in major battles on the road to Kinshasa, but his exact whereabouts during the war have been difficult to establish.

[15] Joseph Kabila appears to have been present at the liberation of Kisangani where media reports identified him as commander of the rebel force that took the city after four days of intense fighting.

When he returned from China, Kabila was awarded the rank of major-general, and appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the Congolese Armed Forces (FAC), in 1998.

[9] In his inauguration speech, Joseph Kabila spoke about the need to "restore peace and national communion," restart the negotiations that stalled under his predecessor, return to democracy, and to liberalize the economy.

[21] The implementation of the peace agreement took place with international monitoring, including with the presence of the largest United Nations peacekeeping mission in its history.

[26] The creation of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) by integrating government troops and rebel groups proceeded more slowly.

Kabila established a separate "military household" outside of the FARDC general staff, which had been founded in 2003, and his own presidential guard that received better pay and equipment than the regular army.

In May 2005 a plan was adopted to disarm, retrain, and reorganize former rebel groups into a number of integrated brigades, but its implementation was not completed before 2006 and the army remained in a state of disorder.

[27] On 28 March 2004, an apparent coup attempt or mutiny around the capital Kinshasa, allegedly by members of the former guard of former president Mobutu Sese Seko (who had been ousted by Kabila's father in 1997 and died in the same year), failed.

[28] On 11 June 2004, coup plotters led by Major Eric Lenge allegedly attempted to take power and announced on state radio that the transitional government was suspended, but were defeated by loyalist troops.

[31] Kabila's campaign platform included a reconstruction plan known as Cinq Chantiers (Five Construction Sites), consisting of infrastructure, job creation, education, water and electricity, and health.

During the election campaign Kabila was attacked by his opposition with the claim of him being Rwandan instead of Congolese, in a country where many had a negative view of Rwanda, and being described as the candidate that represented foreign powers.

[33] Kabila was still seen as the frontrunner in the election by Western observers, due to the political opposition being divided and lacking resources, while the former rebel leaders were widely hated.

[40] In 2006, Kabila responded to evidence of widespread sex crimes committed by the Congolese military by describing the acts as "simply unforgivable".

[42] Sicomines would be given mining licenses in the Katanga Province, with CREC agreeing to build of infrastructure in exchange, and to secure US$6.5 billion from Chinese banks to finance it.

After the IMF and civil society groups became concerned about the DRC's ability to repay the loans, negotiations continued and the final deal was signed in 2009.

His cabinet members argued that the DRC, while being in a weaker position, still benefited from the investments, and said that the government was pressured to bring about quick results for its infrastructure development promises.

After the results were announced on 9 December, there was violent unrest in Kinshasa and Mbuji-Mayi, where official tallies showed that a strong majority had voted for the opposition candidate Étienne Tshisekedi.

The protests began following the announcement of a proposed law that would allow Kabila to remain in power until a national census could be conducted (elections had been planned for 2016).

Document leaks in 2016 revealed that she is a part-owner of a major Congolese television company, Digital Congo TV [fr], through offshore subsidiaries.

[55] Kabila is vastly unpopular, partly because of the conflicts in the Congo, but also because of the widespread belief that he has enriched himself and his family while ignoring millions of poor Congolese.

[56] When Moise Katumbi, the former governor of Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo and now an opposition figure, announced that he was running for president in an election that was supposed to be held by the end of 2016, his house was surrounded by security forces wanting to arrest him.

Partially in response to the delayed election, the United States issued sanctions against two members of Kabila's inner circle, John Numbi and Gabriel Amisi Kumba, on 28 September.

[62] Maman Sidikou, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for DR Congo and head of MONUSCO, said that a tipping point into uncontrollable violence could come about very quickly if the political situation is not normalised.

[64] A statement issued by his spokesperson on 19 December 2016, stated that Joseph Kabila would remain in post until a new president is in place following elections which will not be held until at least April 2018.

On 23 December, an agreement was proposed between the main opposition group and the Kabila government under which the latter agreed not to alter the constitution and to leave office before the end of 2017.

[66] In late February 2018 the ministry of international affairs of Botswana told Kabila that it was time to go and said the "worsening humanitarian situation" in DRC is compounded by the fact that "its leader has persistently delayed holding elections, and has lost control over the security of his country".

[75] A Bloomberg News investigation based on leaked bank records alleged that Kabila's family members received tens of millions of dollars in bribes from Chinese companies involved in the Sicomines deal.