Paluku Kisaka Yereyere, former Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Livestock, and later Minister of Social Affairs, Solidarity, and Humanitarian Action in the government of Prime Minister Samy Badibanga, arrived in Kirumba on Thursday to rally the Lubero Territory behind a message of peace and security.
A veteran politician and ex-national deputy, Paluku now stands as a senior figure within the AFC/M23 coalition.
While his visit was framed as a grassroots mobilization to encourage unity among residents, it carried unmistakable political weight.
Lubero lies in North Kivu, a province where M23’s resurgence has undermined Kinshasa’s military grip and shaken entrenched political alignments.
By speaking directly to the local population, Paluku reinforced AFC/M23’s push to rebrand itself from a rebel force into a political actor seeking stability through engagement.
His appeal for the population to “live together in peace” comes as Kinshasa faces intensifying pressure to resume negotiations, especially after the United States bypassed accusations against M23 and instead sanctioned one of Kinshasa’s own proxy militias.
Paluku’s profile — a former government insider now openly aligned with AFC/M23 — makes his presence in Lubero strategically significant.
For political observers, it signals both a deepening of M23’s local outreach and a challenge to the narrative pushed by Kinshasa and its allies.
For residents of Lubero, long trapped in cycles of insecurity, the question remains whether such promises of peace can translate into tangible change on the ground.