Shannon Williams ends her Dec. 9 editorial – “Situation in Congo Has Significance to U.S. Blacks” – on an uplifting note, calling on her African-American readers to get involved because they need to “be educated on other parts of the world,” especially when that “part of the world” is their “ancestral home.”
Yet, Congo’s predicament should mobilize all people, not just African-Americans, for what has unfolded there since the mid-1990s amounts to a crime against humanity. Since long-time dictator Mobutu was ousted by a Rwandan-backed rebellion led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila, the country has experienced what by all accounts stands as the deadliest conflict since World War II, with more than 6 million civilian casualties and hundreds of thousands of victims of rape and sexual mutilations.
The war in Congo has been fueled by our insatiable desire for everything flat and sleek – iPads, smartphones, Gameboys, digital cameras, flat TV screens, etc. – which all use Congo’s “blood minerals,” especially the three Ts, tin, tantalum and tungsten, and gold.
In 2001, after the assassination of his father, Joseph Kabila assumed power and has ruled the country with an iron fist for nearly 11 years. Bad governance and mismanagement of Congo’s mineral cornucopia coupled with corruption and nepotism have taken their toll on a population that had chafed under four decades of a brutal dictatorship since gaining independence in 1960. Congo ranks last on the 2011 Global Hunger Index, which the International Food Policy Research Institute uses to measure malnutrition and child nutrition.
Faced with mounting unpopularity, Kabila orchestrated a bid for another five-year term against his main rival, veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi. The presidential election took place on Nov. 28 amidst massive frauds and irregularities prompting several observers to denounce its credibility.
For the first time in their history Congolese of all walks of life and ethnicities, in Congo as well as abroad, have taken to the streets to protest Kabila’s electoral “hold-up.” Yet, at a time when the media is extensively covering anti-Putin post-electoral demonstrations in Russia and the so-called Arab Spring, Congolese historic mass protests have gone largely unreported.
On Dec. 15, through its main spokesperson, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, the State Department sent out a signal that bolstered Kabila’s claim. At the U.S. Senate hearings on elections in the Congo, Carson stated, “It is important to note that we do not know – and it might not be possible to determine with any certainty whether the final order of candidates would have been different from the provisional results had the management of the process been better.”
Taking a cue from Carson’s quasi endorsement, Kabila took the oath of office on Dec. 20, with only one head of state, President Mugabe of Zimbabwe, in attendance. Prevented from organizing a big rally in Kinshasa’s main stadium and held under house arrest, Etienne Tshisekedi took the oath of office on Dec. 23, in a private ceremony at his home in Kinshasa.
Congo has now two presidents and is on the verge of a calamitous civil war that could potentially destabilize the whole region if the international community does not act and demand new, fair and transparent elections in the Congo.
Please call your elected officials: André Carson (317) 283-6516; Dick Lugar (317) 226-5555; Dan Coats (317) 554-0750 and sign an online petition to President Barack Obama at http://signon.org/sign/stop-election-fraud-by?source=c.em.mt&r_by=1816494.
Didier Gondola is professor of African History at IUPUI and currently is a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Nantes, France.
