Joseph Kabila, Congolese soldier and politician, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician and former military officer who served as the fourth President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila in the context of the Second Congo War. He founded the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) in 2002 and was allowed to remain in power after the 2003 Pretoria Accord ended the war as the president of the country's new transitional government. He was elected as president in 2006 and re-elected in 2011 for a second term. Since stepping down after the 2018 election, Kabila, as a former president, serves as a senator for life. Kabila was the country's second-longest serving president.

The president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the head of state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.