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Special Bulletin ASSOCIATION OF CONCERNED AFRICA SCHOLARS Special Bulletin · October 1998 No. 53/54 .~ . r : . • . ' • g ISSN 1051-08442 Five Dolla-rs ACAS Executive Committee* Co-Chairs Political Action Committee Bill Martin Jim Cason University of Illinois 101 N. Carolina Ave., SE, #310 326 Lincoln Hall Washington, DC 20003 , 702 S. Wright Street E-Mail: [email protected] Urbana, IL 61801 Tel: (217) 333-8052 Meredeth Turshen E-mail: [email protected] School of Planning & Public Policy Rutgers University Merle Bowen New Brunswick, NJ 08903 University of Illinois Tel: (908) 932-4101 361 Lincoln Hall E-mail: [email protected] 702 S. Wright Street Urbana, IL 61801 Tel: (217) 333-2956 E-mail: [email protected] Treasurer Bulletin Editor Steven Rubert Daniel Volman Department of History Africa Research Project 306 Milam Hall 2627 Woodley Place, NW Oregon State University Washington, DC 20008 Corvallis, OR 97331 Tel: (202) 797-3608 Tel: (503) 737-1261 E-mail: [email protected];org E-mail: [email protected] ACAS Board of Directors*, Adotei Adwei (Amnesty International) Salih Booker (Council on Foreign Relations) Joye Bowman (U. of Massachusetts, Amherst) Carolyn Brown (Rutgers U.) Allan Cooper (Otterbein College) ·Jennifer Davis (American Committee on Africa) William Derman (Michigan State U.) Ed Ferguson (Smith College) Allen J. Green (Wesleyan U.) Asma Abdel Halim (WILD AF-Sudan & U. of Ohio, Athens) Frank Holmquist (Hampshire College) Allan Isaacman (U. of Minnesota) Willard R. Johnson (MIT) Tilden Le Melle (Africa Fund) Sidney Lemelle (Pomona College) Pearl-Alice Marsh (Afi:ica Policy Information Center) Bill Minter (Africa Policy Information Center) , James Mittelman (American U.) Prexy Nesbitt (Baobab Notes) · Thomas Painter (Centers for Disease Control) Hans Panof~ky (Northwestern U.) Christine Root · Joel Sarnoff (Stanford U.) Ann Seidman (Clark U.) frnmanuel Wallerstein (SUNY-Bingharnton) Michael West (U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) David Wiley (Michigan State U.) *Affil iatiol1 for identification purposes only Table of Contents Editorial 2 Political Declaration of the Congolese Rally for Democracy 3 The Removal of Kabila and the Alternative: the Position of the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie (RCD) 6 Position du Professeur Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja sur la Crise en Republique Democratique du Congo 9 Academics and Politics, by "The Scrutator" 12 Why Wamba dia Wamba Needs to be Heard, by "The Scrutator" 15 Rwanda-Uganda Intervention in the Congo, by M. Mamdani 17 South African Initative in the Congo Crisis, by M. Mamdani 20 Comments on Regional Security and the War in the Congo by Yusuf Bangura 23 Union for Democratic and Social Progress (UDPS): Memorandum of the Democratic Opposition Forces, by Etienne Tshisekedi 30 Angolan and Zimbabwean Troops in Our Country, by RCD 35 The Congo Crisis: a Replay of the Middle-East?, by Issa Shivji 39 Notes on the Pace of the Struggle for a New Mode of Politics in the Congo, by Horace Campbell 47 An Agenda for Peace in the DRC and the Great Lakes Region: More Pan-Africanism is the Answer, not Less, by Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem 64 Preliminary Thoughts on the Congo Crisis, by M. Mamdani 74 Declaration on Political Conflicts in Africa, by the African Association of Political Science 82 Message from ACAS Co-Chairs 83 ACAS Meetings and Panels at the 1998 ASA Conference 84 2 Editorial This special issue of the ACAS Bulletin has been produced in late September and early October. It was prompted by three factors. First, Congolese colleagues of ours, Wamba dia Wamba and Jacques Depelchin, are in the political leadership of the rebellion; both are known to many ACAS members from days at the University of Dar es Salaam and from their participation in panels sponsored by ACAS at the annual ASA meetings. Jacques, who is the rapporteur of the Congolese Rally for Democracy, came to the US for a short visit in mid-September and made available some of the organization's statements which had not been available to us previously. We believe that our membership will be interested in reading these documents. The second factor has been the availability over the worldwide electronic media of a number of insightful analyses of the course of events in the struggle written by African scholars on three continents. Most of these have limited circulation via electronic mail, so we are making them available in hard copy to our readers. The third--and most important--motive is a genuine concern that the p e.ople of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have the opportunity to live in peace and begin the difficult task of reconstructing their nation after decades of exploitation and plunder by imperialist powers and domestic tyrants. Many of the contributors to this Bulletin offer their thoughts on how these goals might be achieved by means other than warfare. A broad range of source materials are found here, ranging from unpublished analytical works and opinion pieces that have appeared in the foreign press, to individual and organizational statements by those involved. Members will recognize a few of the authors as long-time ACAS activists while others are scholars affiliated with the University of Dar es Salaam in the past or present. Both of these forums have been centers of progressive political analysis and theoretical debate, and it is the purpose of this issue to continue that tradition. Contributions are generally arranged in the chronological order in which they were written. Selections begin with the CRD statement of August 12th and end with that of the AAPS on October 3rd. All address the immediate crisis and most are concerned with the need for (1) opposition to external invasion; (2) recognition of internal opposition; (3) and demilitarization of politics so that internal reform may be induced to build a democratic state in the DRC. Many thanks to contributors and colleagues. Ed Ferguson, Editor October 12, 1998 3 Political Declaration of the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD/CRD) Coma, August 12, 1998 We, Congolese patriots and democrats, members of CRD, meeting in Coma on August 12, 1998 to assess the situation prevailing in our country, have noted the following facts: 1. The worsening of the crisis in state institutions coupled with the very anti-values decried upder the Second Republic: corruption, misappropriation of public funds, nepotism, votes-catching, the reign of the arbitrary. 2. The collapse of the economy undermined by perdition of national resources and the increase in the number of one-sided contracts. 3. The ever-growing impoverishment of the population owing to gross mismanagement characterized by embezzlement of public funds by Mr. Laurent Desire Kabila and his entourage. 4. The incapacity of the regime to restore peace, security, unity and national as well as sub-regional stability. 5. The clear intention to divide the army while at the same time setting up tribal private militia. 6. ·Return in strength of the repression of all democratic forces; wholesale massacres, political assassinations and imprisonment, discrimination and human rights violations. 7. The incitement to violence, hatred and the fueling of ethnic sentiments. Besides the above-cited facts which have compelled the Congolese People to take up arms and fight for democracy, the current situation proves that the evil causes at the root of the ruin of our country have been made worse by Kabila's new management of malpractice, namely: a) Usurpation of the people's sovereignty through autocratic rule designed to consolidate his own domination as well as that of his entourage. b) Personalization of the institutions: the army, the government, the parliament, justice and the central bank. c) The draft constitution meant to shield his totalitarian rule. 4 d) The deprivation of the people's right to a say in the management of national resources. e) The stalling of the country's democratization process giving as a pretext that there was no security. f) The deliberate policy of placing our territory at the disposal of military- fascist groupings for their acts of destabilization throughout the sub-region. Therefore, we, Congolese patriots and democrats, hereby inform the Congolese people and the international community that on August 1, 1998 in Coma, Democratic Republic of Congo, formed the "Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD /CRD)." This is a platform of political personalities, political organizations and the civil society. It is open to the entire living strength of Congolese Society. The CRD is a politico-military structure whose overriding aim is to topple Kabila's dictatorship and to usher in a democratic regime founded on a truly popular legitimacy. CRD's Objectives: 1. At the domestic level: • Bring to an end any form of dictatorship by establishing the rule of law and good governance. • Build a united, democratic and prosperous state by safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial integrity and equal rights to citizenship. • Encourage the process of national reconciliation, democratization and reconstruction. • Fight tribalism, ethnicism, nepotism, corruption, misappropriation of public funds, the arbitrary, widespread impunity. • Encourage peasants, workers, women and the youth to self­ organization for them to be able to defend their material and moral interests. • Promote the Congolese peoples' social welfare through specific measures more particularly in the areas of health, education and employment. • Build an integrated economy through a rigorous and responsible management starting with priority sectors, in order to eradicate the extreme poverty the people are living in and to lay a foundation for the country's economic development. 5 2. At the sub-regional and international levels: • Safeguard security by striving for peace and stability in the sub-region and in Africa as a whole. • Undertake to never allowing the Congolese territory to be used as a base to destabilize neighboring countries. • Promote sub-regional and regional integration and solidarity through economic development.
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