The High Military Court has delivered its verdict in the highly anticipated case of the abandonment of Goma to the AFC/M23 rebels in January 2025. Four high-ranking officers of the FARDC and the Congolese National Police were found guilty, but received significantly reduced sentences compared to the prosecution's requests.
Generals Dany Yangba Tene and Papy Lupembe Mobenzo, as well as Divisional Commissioners Eddy Léonard Mukuna Ntumba and Jean Romuald Ekuka Lipopo, former military governor of North Kivu, were convicted of cowardice in the face of the enemy, violation of orders, and loss of military equipment during the fall of Goma.
Despite the seriousness of the crimes, the court granted significant mitigating circumstances, reducing the sentences to:
• 36 months in prison for Ekuka Lipopo;
• 24 months for Mukuna Ntumba;
• 12 months for Yangba Tene and Lupembe Mobenzo.
They will also have to pay a collective fine of 2.8 million Congolese francs.
The case against the fifth defendant, Major General Alengbia Nzetetessya, who died in April 2025, was dismissed.
The prosecution had requested sentences ranging from 20 years to life imprisonment. The officers claimed to have acted on orders, citing a "strategic withdrawal" ordered by the Chief of the General Staff.
The verdict, considered particularly lenient by several military and political observers, raises new questions about the chain of command and responsibility for the loss of Goma.
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