Émile Ilunga Kalambo is a politician and former leader of the Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma (RDC-Goma) rebel movement.
The RCD, operating in the east of the DRC, was a major factor in launching the
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...
(1998-2003), a rebellion against the government of Laurent-Désiré Kabila. At first the RCD was led by Professor
Ernest Wamba dia Wamba
Ernest Wamba dia Wamba (; 1942 – July 15, 2020) was a prominent Congolese academic and political theorist who became a commander of the Kisangani faction of the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy during the Second Congo War.Katanga. His faction of the RCD was dominated by
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
, which wanted to eliminate hostile Interahamwe militia forces that it believed Laurent Kabila was supporting.