What’s in a name? A lot—especially if you’re a Congolese-born Kyenge.
Nathalie Kyenge could have quietly basked in the global spotlight as the younger sister of Cécile Kyenge, Italy’s first Black cabinet minister and a pioneering advocate for immigrant rights.
But back home in the Democratic Republic of Congo, she’s crafting her own controversial legacy—by joining the political-military alliance AFC/M23.
Her recent affiliation with the Alliance Fleuve Congo/M23 (AFC/M23)—a group denounced by Kinshasa as a terrorist movement but hailed by sympathizers in eastern Congo as a liberation force—has sent ripples through the country’s political landscape.
However, just as loud as the political noise was the confusion over her identity.
Initial reports falsely claimed that Nathalie is the sister of Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge, current President of the Senate and former Prime Minister.
The shared surname triggered a flurry of speculation, but sources close to the Senate leader have dismissed it as nothing more than a coincidence.
“There are certainly Kyenge in the Kasenga territory, from which the large Lukonde Kyenge family also originates, but Nathalie Kyenge and Sama Lukonde Kyenge have no family connection,” said a source close to Sama.
“The ties between the two end with the name they share, purely by chance.”
In truth, Nathalie Kyenge belongs to the respected Kyenge family of Kasenga and is the younger sister of two prominent Congolese figures: Ghislain Kyenge, former provincial minister of mines in Haut-Katanga, and Dr. Cécile Kyenge.
Cécile Kyenge made history in 2013 when she was appointed Minister for Integration in Italy’s government under Prime Minister Enrico Letta. Born in Kambove, DR Congo, she moved to Italy in 1983 to pursue medical studies, eventually becoming a naturalized Italian citizen in the 1990s.
A practicing ophthalmologist in Modena, she entered politics with the Democratic Party and became a powerful voice for immigration reform, notably championing jus soli—the right to citizenship for children born in Italy to immigrant parents.
While Cécile Kyenge's work in Italy focused on inclusion and integration, her sister Nathalie’s move aligns her with a movement calling out systemic exclusion—this time of Congolese communities in the conflict-ridden east.
According to Kivu Today and other media outlets in eastern DR Congo, AFC/M23 leaders described Nathalie’s defection as a turning point, saying it signaled growing cracks within Kinshasa’s elite and broader support for their platform.
As AFC/M23 consolidates control in parts of North and South Kivu, and Kinshasa remains unwavering in its denunciation of the group’s legitimacy, Nathalie Kyenge’s alignment adds fresh urgency to ongoing national questions about inclusion, decentralization, and power.
From Rome to Rutshuru, the Kyenge name now carries different meanings—one forged in diplomacy and human rights, the other in resistance and rebellion.