Leadership and Citizenship in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): a Christian-Ethical Appraisal
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Leadership and citizenship in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): a Christian-ethical appraisal CJ Mualaba orcid.org 0000-0002-9608-0409 Dissertation accepted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Theology in Ethics. at the North-West University Supervisor: Prof K Vorster Graduation ceremony: July 2020 Student number: 31475922 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 1. ABAKO: Association (socio-cultural) of Bakongo (i. e. whose members are all people from Kongo Central province). 2. ADF-NALU: A group of rebels from Uganda operating actively in the eastern part of the DRC, along with other rebels groups such as FDLR, PARECO, RLA, LMIA and Maï-Maï 3. AFDL: Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation (of Congo), a political movement created in Lemera in 1996 first in order to obtain the Congolese nationality for Banyamulenge people, then to set Congo-Kinshasa free from the dictatorship of Mobutu. 4. BBC: British Broadcast Corporation 5. CENCO: National Conference of Congolese Roman Catholic Bishops 6. CDF: Congo (Democratic Republic)’s currency/francs 7. DGM: Direction Générale de Migration/General Direction for Immigration 8. DRC: The Democratic Republic of Congo 9. EME: Emerging Market Economy 10. FARDC: Armed Forces of the DRC i. e. Congolese army 11. GKSA: Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika/Reformed Churches in South Africa 12. i. e. : That is to say 13. MDGs: Millennium Development Goals 14. MIN. EPSP: Ministère de l’Enseignement Primaire, Secondaire et Professionnel (English : Ministry of Primary, Srcondary and Vocational Education) 15. M23: Rebels’ military group created in the eastern Congo on 23 March 2013. 16. OCDD: Observatoire Congolais des Objectifs de Développement Durable/Congolese Observatory of Sustainable Development Goals 17. ODD : Objectifs de Développement Durable/Sustainable Development Goals i 18. PPRD : Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et la Democratie/The People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy 19. RDC_DSCRP: Document de la Stratégie de Croissance et de Réduction de la Pauvreté en République Démocratique du Congo/Document of Growth Strategy and Poverty Reduction in the Democratic Republic of Congo 20. RTNC : Congolese National Radio and Television Station airing from Kinshasa 21. SDGs : Sustainable Development Goals/Objectifs de Développement Durable-ODD 22. UN : United Nations 23. UNDP : United Nations Development Programme 24. UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ii ABSTRACT The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is endowed with natural resources to the extent that it could be one of the richest countries in the world. Nonetheless, this country is one of the poorest (in the world) with more than 70% of its population living in abject poverty. Economists, political scientists and sociologists have all been puzzled by how a country that is so rich in resources can be so abysmally underdeveloped and conflict stricken. Is a scramble for the country’s resources to blame for the conflict; or are incipient inequalities and economic injustice the primary cause; or perhaps the two are related in some way? Slants such as “greed versus grievance” or “the paradox of plenty” have animated the literature and caught the public’s imagination. This study argues that the lack of ethics in this country is the reason why all attempts to stop the organized plunder of Congolese riches and to address the economic and political crises in order to alleviate the hopeless situation always fail. A thorough consideration of the country’s history reveals the depth of this problem. Christian ethics can lead to sustainable liberation of the entire Congolese society. As such, the Christian tradition and biblical revelation should be the primary source that is tapped during the process of building new Congolese citizenship and leadership. Christian principles aiming at peaceful living and working together remain the answer to sustainable salvation of people and the social transformation of this country. ***** La République démocratique du Congo (RDC) est connue comme l’un des pays les plus riches au monde en termes d’atouts tels que les ressources naturelles, l’espace, ainsi que des hommes et des femmes actifs. Néanmoins, ce pays est compté parmi ceux les plus pauvres du monde, avec plus de 70% de sa population vivant en dessous du seuil de la pauvreté. En raison du manque d'éthique dans ce pays, certaines tentatives visant à mettre un terme au pillage organisé de la richesse du peuple congolais, de s'attaquer à la crise économique et politique afin d'atténuer la situation désespérée (dans laquelle sont plusieurs familles congolaises sont plongées) et d’introduire des changements sociaux ont toujours échoué. L'éthique chrétienne est la voie qui peut conduire à une libération durable des personnes et de l'ensemble de la société congolaise. En d’autres termes, la tradition chrétienne et la révélation iii biblique devraient être placées au-dessus des sources auxquelles l’on doit se référer dans le processus de construction d’une nouvelle citoyenneté et d’un nouveau leadership congolais. De ce qui précède, il est clair que l’argument central de mon projet de recherche est que les principes chrétiens visant à vivre en paix et à travailler ensemble demeurent la réponse (ou simplement la clé) pour le salut durable des personnes et à la transformation sociale dans mon pays. iv Key terms: ethics, Christian ethics, leadership, citizenship, new Congolese citizenship, Kabila, Mobutu, peace, social peace, peaceful living together, distributive justice, Tshisekedi, sustainable development, sustainable development goals, emergence/emerging market economy and Democratic Republic of Congo. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... I ABSTRACT ........................................................................... ERREUR ! SIGNET NON DEFINI. OPSOMMING ........................................................................ ERREUR ! SIGNET NON DEFINI. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background and problem statement/rationale ............................................... 1 1.1.1 Background ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Research question............................................................................................ 6 1.3 Research methodology and preliminary literature study .............................. 7 1.3.1 Research methodology ....................................................................................... 7 1.3.2 Preliminary literature study ................................................................................. 7 1.4 Aim and objectives ........................................................................................... 8 1.4.1 Aim ..................................................................................................................... 8 1.4.2 Objectives ........................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Central theoretical argument ........................................................................... 8 1.6 Work subdivision .............................................................................................. 8 1.7 Research proposal table .................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 2 CHRISTIAN ETHICS OF LEADERSHIP AND CITIZENSHIP: BRIEF DEFINITIONS ................................................................................................... 10 2.1 What is ethics? ............................................................................................... 10 2.2 Christian ethics ............................................................................................... 13 2.3 Leadership ...................................................................................................... 14 vi 2.3.1 Autocratic leadership ........................................................................................ 16 2.3.2 Laissez faire leadership .................................................................................... 16 2.3.3 Benevolent autocrat leadership ........................................................................ 16 2.3.4 Democratic leadership ...................................................................................... 17 2.4 Citizenship ...................................................................................................... 17 2.5 New Congolese citizenship, quid? ................................................................ 19 2.6 Social justice................................................................................................... 20 2.7 Peace ............................................................................................................... 22 2.7.1 Building the defences of peace in the minds of men and women ...................... 24 2.7.2 What do Congolese people ask? ...................................................................... 26 2.8 Sustainable Development .............................................................................. 26 2.9 Emergence ...................................................................................................... 27 CHAPTER 3 DRC LEADERSHIP FROM INDEPENDENCE (1960) TO 2018. A CHRISTIAN ETHICAL EVALUATION