Elsewhere in Africa

Democratic Republic of Congo
June 27, 2005

The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been the bloodiest in the world since 1945, with an estimated 3.8 million people having died between 1998 and 2004. The war started when the unpaid soldiers of the then despot Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled the country from 1965 to 1997, refused to fight against rebels led by the current President’s father. The war engulfed neighboring states until the government made peace with most of the rebel factions in 2003.

Elections were supposed to be held June 30, 2005. These elections will be delayed. No census has been held since 1984. The political will to hold elections is not evident in the interim government. The government finally approved a draft constitution. The constitution needs to be approved by a referendum.

The peace accords allows for two six month delays in the election. It is still a long shot that the 60,000 electoral workers needed will be hired, trained, and deployed within the next 12 months. The leader of the opposition says the government will cease to be legitimate on June 30. The opposition could paralyze the country in strikes, but may just be angling for more power in the interim government.

If Congo can remain stable, then Africa’s heart would be healthy. If it descends again into civil war, it could spark other conflicts on its borders such as Burundi and Uganda. In Northeastern Congo, rival militias backed by Rwanda and Uganda respectively, have killed at least 60,000 people over gold fields and border trade. Those responsible for Rwanda’s genocide lurk in the forests in eastern Congo. Rwanda’s President has threatened to have Rwanda’s army invade, as it has done twice before, and try to eliminate them.

According to the UN, their peacekeepers have maintained a fragile peace to date, storming militia camps and getting many of the genocide veterans to agree to lay down its arms and go home. Human Rights Watch analyses the situation differently however, having just issued a report that states that there is continuing “widespread ethnic slaughter, executions, torture, rape and arbitrary arrest” in the Northeast area of Ituri.

Congo is the largest recipient of French aid and the fourth largest recipient of the US government. Macroeconomic stability has improved with inflation falling from 135% in 2001 to 4.4% in 2003. Growth is expected to be 7% in 2005. But the average Congolese only has an annual income of $100 a year. Some civil servants only make $2 a month!

The next President, whenever he is elected, will need to keep the rebels in check with a mixture of threats and inducements, make the people feel they have a stake in the government enough to not overthrow it, and show enough progress so the donors do not walk off in disgust.

People are urged to write President Bush to increase financial assistance to the election efforts in Congo. Write to the President at president@whitehouse.gov , call the comment line at 202.456.1111, or the White House switchboard at 202.456.1414.

Excerpted from The Economist magazine, June 11, 2005