He took part in the Simba rebellion and led the Communist-aligned Fizi rebel breakaway state in eastern Congo from 1967 to 1988 before dissappearing from public.

The following year, he ordered all foreign troops to leave the country following the Kasika massacre to prevent a potential coup, leading to the Second Congo War (1998–2003), in which his former Rwandan and Ugandan allies supported several rebel groups to overthrow him.

It is claimed that he studied abroad (political philosophy in Paris, got a PhD in Tashkent, in Belgrade and at last in Dar es Salaam), but no proof has been found or provided.

When the Lumumbists formed the Conseil National de Libération, he was sent to eastern Congo to help organize a revolution, in particular in the Kivu and North Katanga provinces.

Kabila preferred to spend most of his time at local bars or brothels instead of training his men or fighting the Congolese government forces.

[11][12] In 1967, Kabila and his remnant of supporters moved their operation into the mountainous Fizi – Baraka area of South Kivu in the Congo, and founded the People's Revolutionary Party (PRP).

With the support of the People's Republic of China, the PRP created a secessionist Marxist state in South Kivu province, west of Lake Tanganyika.

[16] Following failed peace talks held on board of the South African ship SAS Outeniqua, Mobutu fled into exile on 16 May.

[17] By 1998, Kabila's former allies in Uganda and Rwanda had turned against him and backed a new rebellion of the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) and the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC).

Kabila found new allies in Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe, and managed to hold on in the south and west of the country and by July 1999, peace talks led to the withdrawal of most foreign forces.

[citation needed] On 16 January 2001, Kabila was shot in his office at the Palais de Marbre and subsequently transported to Zimbabwe for medical treatment.

[19] One week later, his body was returned to Congo for a state funeral and his son, Joseph Kabila, became president ten days later.

Many people believe the trial was flawed and the convicted defendants innocent; doubts are summarized in an Al Jazeera investigative film, Murder in Kinshasa.

[23] He had at least nine children with his wife Sifa Mahanya: Josephine, Cécile, Fifi, Selemani, twins Jaynet and Joseph, Zoé, Anina and Tetia.