The DR Congo in Focus

Vol.8(5), pp. 55-63, October 2017 DOI: 10.5897/IJPDS2017.0309 Article Number: EDFD16566585 International Journal of Peace and Development ISSN 2141–6621 Copyright © 2017 Studies Author(s) retain the copyright of this article http://www.academicjournals.org/IJPDS Review National dialogue as solution to African problems: The D. R. Congo in focus Jean-Marie Mbombo Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. Recieved 25 July, 2017; Accepted 13 October, 2017 Some African leaders cause problems in Africa when they breach peace accords, rig elections or manipulate their respective constitutions in order to remain in power indefinitely. At the same time, they expect a frustrated opposition to come along through national dialogues and help to quench the fire which they have deliberately ignited. It appears however that lasting solutions to political crisis are yet to be found in countries such as Burundi, Congo and Gabon to name but a few. This paper focuses on a series of actions initiated by the government of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in recent times. Such actions included the reluctance of the Kabila administration to fund the Independent Electoral Commission, the Constitutional Court’s interpretation of Article 70 of the Constitution that ruled in favour of the incumbent to remain in power until a new president is elected and the inconclusive nature of the national dialogue to discuss the future of the country beyond 2016. The study relies on secondary data (review of extant literature) and adopts a paradigm of elite clientelism in order to make sense of the current political stalemate. Findings suggest that the government-initiated political dialogue was a sophisticated strategy of dividing the opposition and rewarding a few sympathisers to the regime with political appointments in order to maintain the status quo ante. The study calls on donor countries to step up pressure on the regime and condition their development aid on its readiness to hold credible elections in order to avert another major crisis looming. Key words: National dialogue, constitution, Kabila, elite clientelism, term limit, conflict. INTRODUCTION At a book launch in Addis Ababa in 2008, renowned his point clear when he deplored the “so-too-must-we” economist George Ayittey coined the catchall phrase syndrome of uncritical imitation of the West: “If all they „African solutions to African problems‟ (Fiquremariam, can do is to imitate, they might as well bring back the 2008), urging political leaders to stop recycling colonial foreigners to come and rule Africa” (Ayittey, 2005: 85). clichés that no longer work for the people of Africa in the However, one thing is for African politicians to claim 21st century. In his early publication, Africa Unchained: ownership of the solutions they adopt in their respective The Blueprint for Africa‟s Future, the same scholar made constituencies and another thing is for them to agree on E-mail: [email protected]. Authors agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International License 56 Int. J. Peace and Dev. Stud. what African problems really are. Former president national dialogue to discuss the future of the country Yayha Jammeh who had ruled the Gambia for 22 years beyond 2016. As usual the opposition camp was not and refused to step down after losing the December, prepared to negotiate power with the government that 2016 elections created an African problem (refusal to was about to change hands whereas the ruling coalition hand over power peacefully) which if left to him alone, known as Famille Presidentielle (Presidential Family), would have led the country into a civil war. An African beefed up massive campaigns locally and internationally solution had to come from the Economic Community of in an attempt to induce selected audiences that another West African States (ECOWAS) that threatened to use inter-Congolese dialogue was necessary if the country force against Jammeh before he was able to leave the was to escape another cycle of violence. Gambia. Little wonder that major power players in Washington Elsewhere on the continent, incumbents create similar and Brussels supported the move for such a political problems when they breach peace agreements, rig dialogue construed as the best way of finding „African elections or manipulate their respective constitutions in solutions to African problems‟. At the AU summit a former order to remain in power indefinitely. Whether in Gabon, Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity, Congo or Niger and Chad, government-initiated Edem Kodjo of Togo was chosen to facilitate the dialogues have been used as a template in the Congolese dialogue. Worthy of note however is the fact management of post-electoral violence with little or no that many members of the opposition boycotted the success. As far as the DRC is concerned, President proceedings but the government seized the opportunity to Joseph Kabila invited the Congolese people to a national identify a few personalities that were willing to dialogue in order to discuss the country‟s future toward compromise and together they signed an agreement on the end of his second term in office. This paper October 18, 2016. To cap it all, the Constitutional Court addresses the question as to whether the said dialogue interpreted the Art. 70 of the Constitution (as amended in was meant to generate innovative solutions to the 2011) in favour of the incumbent: “The President remains Congolese problem or to legitimise the continuation of the in power until a newly elected President takes office” Kabila regime. The study relies on secondary data (VOA, 2016). (review of relevant literature) and its argumentation is On 19 December, 2016, street protesters issued a red divided into five sections as follows. A call for national card to the regime, calling on President Kabila to step dialogue that came at the end of the Kabila‟s last term in down despite the Constitutional Court‟s ruling in his office is taken at face value as a nice way of finding an favour. Security agents were mobilised nationwide to pre- appropriate solution to the Congolese perennial problem empt any action that might resemble the popular of leadership. The latter transpires in the political history movement that ended the rule of Blaise Compaore of of the country through a series of legitimacy struggle at Burkina Faso in 2014. It was at this critical juncture that the helm of power right from the beginning of the First the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (CENCO) Republic and throughout subsequent regimes. The came on board to revive the stalled dialogue between paradigm of neopatrimonialism provides the study with a government and opposition parties (Gettleman, 2017). theoretical framework which is followed by a discussion On 31 December, 2016, a compromise agreement to be on the failure of the dialogue to produce a roadmap for a known as the St. Sylvester Accord was reached after a peaceful transfer of power in the near future as a result of series of talks between those who signed the Kodjo deal elite clientelism coupled with an institutional weakness of of October 18, including the government and those who regional communities. held out. According to the new compromise, Mr Etienne Tshisekedi was expected to lead the Transition Council and so pave way for President Kabila to leave power in GOVERNMENT-INITIATED DIALOGUE 2017. Another point of agreement had to do with the appointment of a Prime Minister from the opposition According to Article 70 of the 2006 Constitution of the quarters known as Rassemblement, to be charged with Democratic Republic of Congo (IDGPA, 2015), the the duty of forming a transition government. president is elected according to the universal suffrage Even though the country was able to avert bloodshed for a five-year term renewable once. At the beginning of through the good office of CENCO, the latter lacked his second term in office, President Joseph Kabila political muscles to oversee the implementation of the St. launched a round of national consultations in a symbolic Sylvester Accord. Out of frustration the Congolese gesture of reaching out to the losers of the 2011 general prelates decided to discontinue their services on 28 elections. Accordingly, the ruling party and a large March, 2017 and let Mr Kabila face the impasse alone. number of opposition parties were able to form a coalition Capitalising on a weakened opposition, the President met government in December, 2014 which was expected to with a few malleable dissidents of the coalition of end by December, 2016 with the general elections. opposition parties and on April 7, 2017 appointed Mr However, in a televised broadcast to the nation on 28th Bruno Tshibala as new Prime Minister that would head November, 2015, the incumbent made a call for a the government of national unity. In short, the current Mbombo 57 power struggle cannot be appreciated in isolation. Far between the two offices which turned out to be the from being an innovative strategy of the Kabila beginning of a long and bloody struggle for the control of administration to remain in power, it translates the legacy a devastated country called Zaire. Until his death in of the past being re-enacted by new actors as the Morocco in 1997, he wielded absolute power to appoint historical narrative below suggests. as prime ministers only loyal members of the regime who owe their survival to him. He eventually left behind less order, less peace and less security (Ferguson, 2006; A BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Dowden, 2009). Accordingly, foreign troops took advantage of the mess The struggle for political power goes back to the First and moved into Zaire like hungry dogs fighting each other Republic.

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