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From Zaire to the Democratic Republic of the Congo Second and Revised Edition

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From Zaire to the Democratic Republic of the Congo Second and Revised Edition CURRENT AFRICAN ISSUES NO. 28 FROM ZAIRE TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO SECOND AND REVISED EDITION GEORGES NZONGOLA-NTALAJA NORDISKA AFRIKAINSTITUTET, UPPSALA 2004 Indexing terms Authoritarianism Politics Legitimacy Economic and social development Democratisation Democratic Republic of the Congo The opinions expressed in this volume are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. Language checking: Elaine Almén ISSN 0280-2171 ISBN 91-7106-538-5 © the author and Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 2004 Printed in Sweden by Elanders Infologistics Väst, Göteborg 2004 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . 5 THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT. 7 The Legacy of Authoritarianism . 7 The Impact of the National Conference . 8 The Informalisation of the Economy . 11 FROM MOBUTU SESE SEKO TO LAURENT-DÉSIRÉ KABILA . 13 The Seven-Month War to Overthrow the Mobutu Regime . 13 A New Dictator for the Congo . 14 The War for Congo’s Natural Resources . 15 THE NEED FOR A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION . 18 Managing the Political Transition . 18 Economic and Social Reconstruction . 19 Implications for the Great Lakes Region . 21 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY . 23 Area: 2,345,410 sq km Natural resources: cobalt, copper, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, Population: 58,317,930 (July 2004 est.) silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, Age structure: 0–14 years: 48.2%; 15–64 years: 49.3%; radium, bauxite, iron ore, coal, hydropower, timber 65 years and over: 2.5% (2004 est.) Industries: mining (diamonds, copper, zinc), mineral Population growth rate: 2.99% (2004 est.) processing, consumer products (including textiles, Birth rate: 44.73 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), Death rate: 14.64 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) cement Infant mortality rate: 94.69 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) Agriculture products: coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, quinine, cassava, palm oil, bananas, root crops, Religions: Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 20%, corn, fruits, wood products Kimbanguist 10%, Muslim 10%, other syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs 10% Exports: $1.417 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) commodities: diamonds, copper, crude oil, coffee, Languages: French (official), Lingala, Kingwana, cobalt, Kikongo, Tshiluba partners: Belgium 55.6%, US 15.6%, , Zimbabwe 11.2%, Literacy: total population: 65.5% (2003 est.) Finland 4.9% (2003 est.) Independence: 30 June 1960 (from Belgium) Imports: $933 million f.o.b. (2002 est.) Chief of state: President Joseph Kabila (since commodities: foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, 26 January 2001); the president is both the chief of transport equipment, fuels state and head of government partners: South Africa 16.1%, Belgium 14.1%, France 11.9%, Nigeria 10.7%, Germany 6.5%, Kenya 5.1% GDP: composition by sector: agriculture: 55%; (2003 est.) industry: 11%; services: 34% (2000 est.) Labour force: total: 14.51 million (1993 est.) Source: World Factbook 2004 – 4 – Introduction On 4 August 1992, the overwhelming majority of the democratic forces which dominated the Na- the 2,842 delegates at the Congolese Sovereign tional Conference. They were confident that they National Conference in Kinshasa voted, by accla- had all that was needed to bring about economic mation and standing ovation, to change the name and social reconstruction without the active partic- of the country from “Zaire” back to its original ipation of all the relevant political and social forces name of “Congo”. They also adopted a Transition- of the country. As subsequent events were to show, al Charter or provisional constitution, according to they were wrong on this matter. which then President Mobutu Sese Seko was This paper examines the political and social sit- stripped of his executive powers but allowed to re- uation in the DRC since May 1997, together with main in office for two years as a ceremonial head of the prospects for a successful political and social state. The international community chose to follow transition. Consistent with the deepest aspirations Mobutu in not recognizing these decisions as sov- of the Congolese population, such a transition will ereign and binding on all parties. It chose to ignore succeed if it involves an irreversible development them. towards multiparty democracy and the full utilisa- Five years later, on 17 May 1997, Laurent- tion of the country’s immense resources for eco- Désiré Kabila changed all of this by a stroke of the nomic and social development. In other words, a pen. Having taken over Kinshasa by the force of successful transition is one in which basic freedoms arms after seven months of a virtually unchallenged and liberties will be guaranteed through democratic long march, Kabila proclaimed himself president of governance and the rule of law, with tangible im- a country he renamed the “Democratic Republic of provements in living conditions. the Congo”, or DRC. This time, not only did the The paper is divided into three major parts. The international community take notice of Mobutu’s first part examines the background to the present ouster and the change in the country’s name, it situation, with emphasis on the legacy of authori- moved quickly to recognize the new name and the tarianism, the impact of the National Conference, new ruler. The message that the world community and the importance of the informalisation of the of nations sent to the people of the Congo and economy as factors that helped undermine state Africa as a whole in these two instances is loud and authority and create a situation in which the people clear. Changes through democratic means and the of the Congo once again lost the ability to deter- rule of law in Africa are not as deserving of un- mine their own destiny. The second part looks at equivocal support as changes through the barrel of the political situation between 1996 and 2003, a gun. The first changes are slow, somewhat confus- which is marked by two wars, the seven-month war ing, and seem to rely on universal principles of to overthrow the Mobutu regime under the spon- democratic governance that some believe are not sorship of neighbouring states, and the war for applicable to Africa. The second, on the other Congo’s resources initiated by Rwanda and Ugan- hand, are decisive and led by self-reliant African da in August 1998. Finally, the third part concludes leaders who are likely to establish stable political the paper with a re-examination of the need for a orders and market economies compatible with the successful transition to democracy and its implica- interests of the developed North. tions for economic and social reconstruction at The current political and social situation in the home, and for peace and security in the region. DRC cannot be understood without reference to the failure of the National Conference to end Mobutu’s rule and win international recognition, and Kabila’s success in doing so. By achieving these two goals, Kabila and his Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo (AFDL) felt no need to form an inclusive government with – 5 – The Historical Context The Legacy of Authoritarianism with people from all walks of life ready to shed fear to manifest their permanent aspiration for freedom The past weighs heavily on the present in the and their desire for a better life materially and a Congo. The country entered contemporary history more secure future for their children. With inde- in 1885 as a personal possession of Leopold II, King pendence in 1960, the Belgian Congo disappeared of the Belgians. Jean Stengers, a Belgian historian, to give way to the DRC, amid great popular expec- has written that to the king, the Congo Free State tations that the immense resources of the country (CFS), as the country was then known, was just a would now be utilised to improve the living condi- going concern as Standard Oil was to John Rocke- tions of ordinary men and women. 1 feller. The key question was whether or not it was Unfortunately, independence and its aftermath profitable. And to make it profitable, the king hired did not fulfil these expectations. The country was an international cast of adventurers as CFS agents. plunged into a major crisis within two weeks of its The latter used so much terror and violence to ex- independence, following the mutiny of the former tract wealth from the country that they committed colonial army and the secession of Katanga, its rich- atrocities that Christian missionaries and humani- est province. The Congo Crisis, as it was known, tarian organisations such as Edmond Morel’s lasted four years and involved the up to then largest Congo Reform Association (CRA) characterised as deployment of United Nations peacekeeping “crimes against humanity”. The first person to use forces. Two major world figures also lost their lives this expression with reference to Leopold’s Congo during the crisis: Patrice Lumumba, the Congo’s was the African-American historian and journalist independence leader and first elected prime minis- George Washington Williams, who travelled across ter, and Dag Hammarskjöld, then UN secretary- the Congo in 1890. general. The first was assassinated on orders from With celebrities like the African-American US President Dwight D. Eisenhower and senior leader Booker T. Washington and the writer Mark Belgian officials as part of the anti-Communist cru- Twain leading the American branch of the CRA, sade during the Cold War, while the second died in the US government was compelled to join Britain a plane crash on a mission to find a solution to the and other major powers in obtaining King Katanga secession. Leopold’s ouster as Congo’s ruler. But the king’s The main beneficiary of the Congo Crisis and transfer of the country to Belgium did not mean the the man the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) end of suffering for the Congolese people.
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