What the Kabila is Going on in the DRC?
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (not to be confused with the Republic of the Congo to its immediate west) has been one of the most active conflict zones in the continent of Africa. It has been the world’s deadliest conflict zone since World War II, and has involved more than seven armies and killed more than 5 million people. This is a very complex conflict, and a chart will be available on the Fiat Lux website with the article to assist the reader.
Like those of most of the African continent, the DRC’s problems trace back to European colonization. From 1885 to 1908, the territory was the private property of King Leopold II of Belgium, and resource-exploitation devastated the population, killing as many as 10 million people in less than 20 years. Due to international pressure, the Belgian parliament claimed authority of the territory away from Leopold in 1908 and held control until 1960.
Forced labor and imposed secondary status as citizens during this time period evolved into intense nationalism, and by 1959, Belgium finally agreed to allow the country to hold its own elections in order to transition into an independent state. In 1960, Patrice Lumumba’s Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) party won the parliamentary elections, with Lumumba acting as Prime Minister. The presidential position was assumed by Joseph Kasavubu of the Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO) party. While this was a promising sign of inter-party cooperation, Kasavubu dismissed Lumumba the same year. The chief of staff of Congo’s new army (the Armee Nationale Congolais or ANC) Joseph Mobutu, lead a coup with the financial support of the United States and Belgium, who feared disorder would make the country ripe for communism. Several presidents resumed power after the coup, but only for brief periods of time. In 1965, another coup was led by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, who held power until 1997, during which time the country was known as Zaire. Under his rule, there was mass embezzlement of international funds, intense human rights abuse, and general corruption at all levels of the government.
In 1996, the year before Mobutu was forced to flee the country, the genocide and the events that followed in neighboring Rwanda spilled into the DRC. The rebel Hutu group, known as Interahamwe, used refugee camps to launch attacks against the predominantly Tutsi forces, known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), who had taken control of Rwanda’s government. The Zairian Armed Forces (FAZ) joined with the Interahamwe and attacked the Tutsis residing on the eastern part of the country, and the Tutsis formed their own militia movement against Mobutu and the Interahamwe. They created a coalition with forces from Rwanda and Uganda under Laurent-Desire Kabila, and called themselves the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaïre (AFDL). Shortly after the AFDL attacked the FAZ, President Mobutu fled the country. Kabila assumed power as the President in 1997, and promptly changed the name of the country from Zaire to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
One year later, a rebellion consisting of opposing Rwandan and Ugandan factions, known as the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) lead by Jean-Pierre Bemba, began fighting the government, who joined forces with Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Angola. Kabila was killed in 2001, and his son Joseph took his place as the President of the DRC. Joseph Kabila was able to broker a peace agreement with the presence of United Nations peacekeeping troops, and this lasted for roughly a year.
In 2002, tensions exploded and the government’s AFDL began fighting the MLC once more, this time focusing on regions with valuable resources such as diamonds, copper, and zinc. Fearing an eventual defeat, Kabila agreed to share power with some of the MLC leaders, but only if the foreign troops from Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Uganda would leave. The agreement was relatively successful, and all troops except Rwandan left willingly.
For three years, this transitional government maintained order and, in 2006, the DRC held its first actual elections since its independence in 1960. Kabila won more votes than Bemba, but intense fighting followed between the two for a few days in the capital city until a recount could be held. Once again, Kabila was victorious and was sworn in as President, something that Bemba has refused to accept.
In addition to Bemba’s continued uprisings, other rebel groups have been created, notably Laurent Nkunda’s National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), and have caused extreme casualties in the Kivu province on the eastern part of the country. Rwandan paramilitary forces continue to use the country as a launching pad for attacks on one another, and Ugandan Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has moved its bases from Uganda and Sudan to northern DRC.
With the presence of so many non-domestic military forces, it is almost impossible for Kabila or any other potential political leader of the country to maintain order. Furthermore, estimated death tolls of the conflict have ranged from 3 to 5.4 million people since the civil war of 1998. Famine and disease run rampant, just as political corruption and continued warfare prevent the civilians from receiving any kind of foreign aid. Despite the continued presence of the United Nations peacekeeping forces, the three years that have followed Kabila’s election have seen no decline in violence, nor has it provided any semblance of hope for a stable country in the foreseeable future.
The purpose of this column is to inform people about global events. While one article is not enough to fully explain a conflict, it is enough to provide the reader with the basics. It is my hope that when you are finished reading, you can readily answer the question, “What the (blank) is going on in (blank?)”
