This speech comes in a crucial moment : The nation is at war. Almost three quarter of Congolese are internally displaced; Goma and few cities around her are under threat of imminent attacks; There is continuous insecurity in Ituri; in Fizi, warlords rule on part of the national territory, and have the right of life or death upon citizens. Terrible exactions are committed, particularly in the North and South Kivu from where I write these lines.
In addition to the crisis we have, the Congo under living in extreme poverty. According to Professor Collier, the DRC needs 50 years of uninterrupted peace to come back to its 1960’s growth! If we are to evaluate our development using any development tool, Congolese people are amongst the poorest in the world! Our education, health, infrastructures, employment, water, electricity, everything is dragging in « the bottom billion ». The plundering of natural resources scandalises the most capitalists, especially after the Getler saga.
The tearful speech of President Kabila focussed on the M23 rebellion, the last of Congolese’s evils. He said nothing we did not know already. He said that the people were tired to wait for change and that the numbers reflecting our national growth did not change their daily lives. He said that national integrity was under threat; he also said that the M23 were supported by Rwanda and that the Balkanisation of the country was threatening our national integrity. The President called us for national cohesion. He mentioned diplomatic, political and military offensives. This sentence, repeated ad nauseum since April this year is nothing but an empty slogan to me because his actions, or lack thereof, are not materialising.
What is done to get out of this crisis? I did not see in this speech what we all expected: An action play to get out of it. Not only on the M23 rebellion, but one or multiple positive actions that could end this war. On the diplomatic side, he brags about progress made in establishing an International Neutral Force, but the said force is composed of Rwanda and Uganda. How is this force neutral since it contains our aggressors?
On political efforts, that aim at regrouping various tendencies, he creates frustrations by maintaining officially or insidiously under house arrest opposition leaders, by excluding women in national dialogues or by ignoring some members of the local civil society altogether. On his military efforts, I will not even mention General Amisi scandal (a.k.a. Tango Fort) or exactions commuted by the FARDC on the frontline.
What we expected was a positive vision, a man who inspires trust and who tells us with confidence that all will be well soon. Once again, the president has just confirmed his total lack of leadership skills. This speech is even more depressing than the situation it describes!
What can we expect from President Kabila? Well, nothing. He will keep discussing with our aggressors, and ignoring our development needs taking war as a motive. The misery and despair generated by this war will remain one of the causes for enrolment of incompetent youth in an army of looters and rappers. If these youth had an alternative in terms of education, health, employment, they would eventually be useful to their country.
The next national budget has been adopted and unsurprisingly, there are no major changes. We will keep depending on foreign aid, NGOs, religious organisations for health and education. On infrastructures, we will keep depending on the plunders of our natural resources. No real governmental initiative. He also mentioned a Human Right Commission. I don’t believe this will happen, i don’t expect anything from such a commission. How can we believe that the government is sincere in this country where the freedom of speech, cornerstone of human right abuse denunciations, is so often violated? According to our friends of Journalistes En Danger, this year has witnessed one of the worst records in abuses on this right. I even believe that by publicizing this article I have just won an interpellation in the national security agency.
My friends, dear compatriots, the hour is critical… we should not lean on President Joseph Kabila, he has no idea on what is to be done, he is waiting to consult a few people here and there to get a clue. If we want some change, we should bring our own.
I know that some of us already belong to movements aiming at changing the situation in the Congo. I encourage all these initiatives and hope that we will be able to coordinate our efforts from wherever we meet, from wherever we discuss and put our heads together to come up with a real exit strategy that considers leadership at the top level of the state, the repetitive incursions of our Eastern neighbours, the extreme poverty that Congolese are living in, the flagrant human right abuses committed by the army, the government and other state organs that are used today to maintain a few people above our laws, and other problems that really affect us on a daily basis.
Very soon, through our joint efforts, things will be different; soon the Congo will be free, sovereign and strong.
PS: this article was written in french. the original version can be found by clicking here
