DRC: Biography of Christian Tshiwewe S. new FARDC Chief of General Staff

The President of the Republic, Supreme Commander Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi, has just made a new implementation within the security apparatus.
Among other things, he appointed by presidential order, Lieutenant General Christian Tshiwewe to the post of Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC).

Back to the biography of this new boss of the Congolese regular forces.

Born on October 27, 1968 in Lubumbashi, in the current province of Haut-Katanga, Christian Tshiwewe Songesha is from the province of Lualaba.

Lieutenant General Christian Tshiwewe is not an incognito in the Congolese security apparatus. Until his appointment as Chief of General Staff of the FARDC, this 3-star general held the position of Commander of the Republican Guard where he worked since the beginning of his military career. His know-how and his loyalty allowed him to climb several levels within this unit until becoming number one.

It was in April 2022 that the lieutenant general was appointed head of the Republican Guard, replacing General Gaston Hugues Ilunga Kampete, placed under sanction by the European Union.

Presented as a reserved, confident, loyal and above all effective man, Lieutenant General Christian Tshiwewe was born on October 27, 1968 in Lubumbashi, in the current province of Haut Katanga. He is from the province of Lualaba. Already at the age of 30, in 1998, he was among the first ranger officers trained in Sudan after the departure from power of President Joseph Désiré Mobutu.

From 1999 to 2000, he attended staff command training (Republican Guard) in Likasi, in the province of Haut-Katanga. A training sanctioned by a patent of staff, for its course carried out in particular in Angola.

Back in Kinshasa, Christian Tshiwewe was among the brilliant students who took part in the brigade commander course at the higher military center in Kinshasa between 2003 and 2004.

Trained in anti-terrorism by Israelis in Angola, Christian Tshiwewe Songesha will also do his classes in the second Kabila promotion of the College of Advanced Military Studies and Defense Strategies in Kinshasa.

It was in 2003 that he was appointed commander of the 10th Mura brigade in Kinshasa. He was then appointed commander of the 13th regiment of the Republican Guard in Lubumbashi, from 2007 to 2011.

Back in Kinshasa in 2011, he was appointed second commander in charge of operations and intelligence of the GR from 2014 to 2020, until Félix Tshisekedi raised him to the rank of major general.

Sources close to the Presidency say that it was while arranging the President of the Republic’s travels, mainly in the city of Kinshasa, that the latter noticed it.

For many analysts, the appointment of Christian Tshiwewe as Chief of General Staff is timely. It will certainly allow, they believe, to strengthen the security apparatus of the DRC, in this context marked by the aggression of the country by Rwanda which is hiding behind the rebels of the M23 and by bloody conflicts between Congolese communities.

With the RTNC