Francois Beya, DR Congo's 'Mr Security' Under Suspicion

Known as DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi's "Mr Security", Francois Beya has been at the centre of the vast, conflict-scarred country's state security apparatus for almost 40 years

Kinshasa, Feb 9 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Feb, 2022 ) :Known as DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi's "Mr Security", Francois Beya has been at the centre of the vast, conflict-scarred country's state security apparatus for almost 40 years.

Beya, Tshisekedi's special security adviser, was arrested on Saturday while the president attended an African Union summit in Ethiopia.

The 67-year-old is being held and questioned by the organisation he once served, the Democratic Republic of Congo's National Intelligence Agency (ANR), after the government on Tuesday said "indications of serious actions against state security" were uncovered.

But the authorities have provided no information on Beya's arrest, sparking protests, fears of instability within the government and even rumours of an attempted coup.

A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that Beya was "suspected of wanting to try something in the absence of the head of state".

- From dictatorship to democracy - Beya, who has served dictatorial and democratically elected leaders during four successive regimes, has the nickname "Fantomas" due his ability to pass unnoticed like a ghost despite his major responsibilities.

A retired ANR intelligence officer told AFP that Beya was "a true grandee of the civil service, unassuming, efficient, rational and professional".

Beya was recruited by a forerunner of the ANR in the 1980s while longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko ruled the Central African country, receiving training in Europe, the United States and Israel.

The retired officer said Beya took up the position despite being from the central region of Kasai, home to historic opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, the current president's father.

In 1994, Beya joined the National Security Council as a senior aide to Mobutu's special security adviser as Congo's tumultuous transition towards democracy reached a crisis point.

Beya briefly went into exile after Mobutu's 32-year reign imploded as a coalition of rebel groups led by Laurent-Desire Kabila ousted the dictator in 1997.

But Beya returned less than a year later and became chief of staff to Didier Kazadi, then head of the ANR and the State Security Council.

Beya played a major role in the return of several Mobutu supporters who fled after Kabila seized power.

Laurent-Desire Kabila was assassinated after four years in office and replaced by his son Joseph Kabila.

"Having stood out due to his expertise," Beya then became the younger Kabila's head of the strategically important General Directorate of Migration for 12 years, the retired ANR officer said.

- Figure of continuity - After Tshisekedi won 2018's presidential election, he named Beya his special security adviser and head of the Congolese National Security Council, covering all national intelligence services.

When Tshisekedi took office in 2019, it was the DRC's first peaceful transfer of power since independence in 1960, and Beya was an important figure of continuity at the heart of the government.

"Beya helped President Tshisekedi establish his power and his regime because he acted as a link with former president Kabila," said the former ANR officer.

But Beya could not prevent a split in the government alliance between Tshisekedi and Kabila's supporters in December 2020.

The uncertainty at the top of the security apparatus comes as DRC remains riven by conflict, with a kaleidoscopic array of armed groups operating in the east of the country.

Now the long-serving security adviser's fate seems uncertain as the nation waits for details of his arrest and a suspected plot to destabilise the DRC to emerge.

"It seems to me that he did not retire in time," regretted the former ANR employee.