| Mixed feelings as DR Congo celebrates 50th anniversary | Send to a friend |
| Friday, 02 July 2010 09:21 |
 By JUAKALI KAMBALEMore than 50 per cent of DR Congolese were born after 1960, the year of independence from Belgium. They don’t know much about the Belgian Congo or the 80 years of colonial rule. The ‘new Congo’ they know of leaves them with mixed feeling even as they celebrate its 50th anniversary. For the officials and the so-called “Fathers of independence”, who inherited power from the Belgians, the Jubilee is a great event. But for the younger generations, it is almost a non-event. They consider the government’s investment of millions of dollars in the celebrations to be wastage in a country suffering from acute economic malaise and underdevelopment. Jean-Pierre Tshibanda was born on June 30, 1960, the exact day of independence. He will be 50 years old on the Jubilee day. “I am proud to belong to such a big country called DRC in Central Africa, but at the same time, I regret the way the country has been managed. People live in great poverty while the country is so wealthy,” he says. Tshibanda’s sentiments are shared by many. Kamanda Kabongo, also 50 years old, is a taxi driver living in Kinshasa. He used to hear from his parents how life was better during the colonial period. Indeed, there are many in that generation who refer to Le bon vieux temps (the old good times) whenever they talk of the high cost of living today. They like to say: “We had good schools and good hospitals and we did not suffer from hunger but, nowadays, we are lacking the minimum we need to live.” Of course, this exaggerated nostalgia does not quite capture the rapacious colonial rule of the Belgians. It is a pointer to the massive disappointments the Congolese have endured since independence. Kabongo’s taxi business does not earn him enough money to educate his five sons, two daughters and two nephews. His wife does not earn much either despite spending most of her time in the local market in Kinshasa’s Masina district. In the course of his taxi work, he has to deal daily with the awful traffic jams of Kinshasa as well as the diversions caused by road projects in various parts of the city. Indeed, there have been a lot of infrastructure projects going on in the city, but residents link them primarily to the government’s desire to spruce up Kinshasa to impress the visitors attending the Jubilee celebrations. Since January 2010, several Chinese companies have been contracted to rehabilitate the main streets of the capital, especially Boulevard Triomphal where the official ceremonies are planned. The country has been led by four presidents - Joseph Kasavubu, Joseph Desire Mobutu alias Mobutu Sese Seko, Laurent Desire Kabila and his son Joseph Kabila. The country has changed its official name four times, starting with the Republic of Congo, then to the Democratic Republic of Congo during Kasavubu’s rule, then to the Republic of Zaire during the Mobutu regime, and then back again to the Democratic Republic of Congo following the coming to power of Laurent Kabila. The consensus among Congolese is that none of the four has succeeded in using the country’s enormous natural potential for its good. The country remains a veritable scandal of un-exploited and mismanaged natural resources. Worse, it has been home to civil wars and rebellions that are largely ignited because of these same natural resources. The trend started in July 1960 in the copper-rich province of Katanga where there was a secession attempt backed by Belgian mining companies. A month later, the diamond-rich province of Kasai followed, creating the autonomous state of South Kasai under the leadership of Albert Ditunga Kalonji. He too was supported by Belgian mining interests, in cahoots with South Africans. And since 1996 to date, the eastern DRC is troubled by various rebellions generally supported by Rwanda and Uganda. These rebellions and insecurity nightmares have stunted development. There is the copper of Katanga, the diamonds of Kasai, and the coltan of the two Kivu provinces in the east. There is a lot else, like cobalt, uranium, manganese, gold and hardwood. What’s more, oil has since been discovered in the east and off the Atlantic shelf to the west. The Katanga province alone used to generate 80 per cent of national income until the early 70s, when international copper prices collapsed. In the 90s, the market for diamonds dipped, too. Rather than diversify or tackle its inefficiencies, DR Congo went on a debt-accumulation spree. Currently, the external debt is valued at $14 billion. Fortunately, things have improved marginally on several fronts. In December 2002, the government and the various armed groups signed a peace agreement in Sun City, South Africa, which led to the establishment of an all-inclusive transitional coalition government. Then the incumbent president, Joseph Kabila, won the subsequent election and promised to restore peace and to rebuild the country. About 12 heads of state are expected to join the Congolese in celebrating their Jubilee. Among them will be King Albert II of Belgium, whose presence carries much symbolic significance. It will be his first visit to the former Belgian colony. www.africareview.com Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
