How did Joseph Kabila become president in 2001?

Joseph Kabila became president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in January 2001 following the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila.123

On January 16, 2001, Laurent Kabila was shot by a bodyguard at the presidential palace in Kinshasa. Although officials initially denied reports of his death, it was later announced that he had died while being transported to Zimbabwe for medical treatment. Following his father's death, Joseph Kabila was inaugurated as president on January 26, 2001.123

At the time of his inauguration, he inherited a nation deeply affected by the Second Congo War, which had left the country without a functioning government and its economy in ruins. Initially, there was speculation that he might serve merely as a figurehead for his father's former advisers, but he soon began taking independent initiatives to address the ongoing conflict and reform the government.23