Days 9-11. Heading home.

 

DR Congo –> Rwanda  –> Uganda  –> UK  –> Canada

Tuesday October 18. Today was my last day in Goma. Enjoyed a last buffet lunch at Hotel Nyra Guest House. Nice vegetarian options, love the cassava French fries, not to mention the fresh passion juice and fruit salad.

All the logistics were laid out now. My driver picked me up at 1:30pm at Nyra for the 10 minute drive to the border. Then I retrace my steps thru the confusing and awkward immigration system. Haul my bag up six steep steps to the window with the Congolese immigration fellow. All’s good. Back down the stairs, drag my bag on wheels across the rough road and around behind the “hut.”

Then walk between the two countries to the Rwandan side of the border to Gisenyi. Odd feeling even in daylight.

Yassine, the taxi driver from Kigali was there waiting for me.  A few kerfuffles with immigration (my Rwanda visa said I was arriving in Kigali and yet there I was in the flesh as presenting my documents in Gisenyi) but only slowed me down for a few minutes. Then in the taxi for the beautiful drive on smooth paved roads to Kigali. We made good time. (Stopped only once for speeding, but Yasinne knew the police officer so he was spared a $100 fine.)

Yassine directed me to a post office right at the Kigali Airport. I had bought some postcards on my way in at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda, and written then while in the Congo, but turned out there isn’t a post office in Goma anymore. So they got mailed from Rwanda.

Nice short flight from Kigali to Entebbe. Arrived around 10pm. Entebbe’s quite a nice airport. Spent the night at the airport.

Wednesday October 19. In the wee hours of a long night, I was fatally tempted by a mini veggie pizza at the 24 hr cafeteria. Even as the man behind the counter was warming it up I knew it was a mistake. Took less than two hours for the stomach consequences to hit. My own bloody fault.

Around 4am a lovely man in a white lab coat approached me to do a survey! Well, I’d be DE-lighted to do a survey! Very well written survey getting customer feedback on airport services.

Managed to get in a couple hours sleep before hopping on the British Airways flight in the morning. Nine hours to London. The Mercator maps have permanently distorted our perception of just how huge Africa is. Heathrow Holiday Inn Express Hotel was heaven.

Thursday October 20. At Heathrow ate a pickle and cheese sandwich from Pret a Manger . I find pickle and cheese sandwiches to be absurd and make a point of having one every time I pass thru London. One.

Received a text message that Qaddafi had died and was I available to talk to Global TV’s new morning show. Would have liked to, but was reading to board my next (and final) flight.

Landed in Toronto in the early evening. Exhausted.

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Day 9. DR Congo.

MONDAY OCT 17. My last full day in theCongo and four research interviews. Nice way to end the research trip. (The power is out again so I won’t be able to post this blog today.)

On the drive back from my last interview, I found a hole-in-the-wall — but highly functioning — internet café where I was able to print out myRwandatransit visa for tomorrow. The last logistical detail before the three day trip home toToronto. All set now.

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POINTS OF INTEREST (from interviews)

Peace Dividend.  After war, people need to see the tangible benefits of peace – a Peace Dividend.  The absence of war isn’t enough if the promises of peace are not realized.  In many countries, the lack of progress post-conflict along with poverty and joblessness and other problems fuel renewed violence. I asked everyone I spoke with to give me their opinion on what the top priorities were for a Peace Dividend in eastern Congo. 

I was offered many ideas:

• build three schools in the poorest areas of Goma
• pay the salaries of elementary school teachers for five years
• re-build roads so goods can get to market
• address the FDLR rebel issue
• integrate former child soldiers into society
• train more police so communities are safer at night
• get street kids off the streets and care for them
• settle land disputes
• pay for weapons to get them out of circulation
• livelihood training for adults
• open public forums where people can express diverse ideas safely
• and more. 

Pragmora will carefully explore each of the Peace Dividend options suggested to us and vet with external experts.  We will then narrow the list of possibilities down to 2 or 3 items that are most likely to have a positive impact and establish a Peace Dividend Action.

CNDP.  There are so many rebels groups and former rebels groups, I know it’s hard to keep track. The CNDP were a Congolese Tutsi rebel group that stopped opposing the Government of theCongo and was formally integrated into the Congolese Army in early 2009. However, the CNDP maintained their external command structures and instead of fully integrating into the Army and society, it appears the “former” CNDP is gaining strength as an independent body even while its members remain in the Congolese Armed Forces. 

Repatriation of FDLR Rebels.  The FDLR rebels are the most feared armed group in easternCongo.  They are Rwandan Hutus who fled across the border into theCongo after the Rwandan genocide as Tutsi forces were regaining control of the country. Some of the FDLR are believed to have directly participated in the genocide inRwanda.

Curiously, most Congolese I spoke with think the FDLR soldiers are stuck in theCongobecause they will be arrested and put in jail if they return to Rwanda. They feel that Rwandan President Kagame (a Tutsi) has shoved a Rwandan problem onto the Congolese. 

In fact, FDLR soldiers who are captured in the Congo or who give themselves up to the UN peacekeepers are taken to a transit station on the Rwandan border and then put into a transition facility in Rwanda for a couple of months before being released into society. A former FDLR soldier is only arrested and put on trial is a Rwandan citizen recognizes that person as someone who committed a crime. I was told that only in a few extreme cases has an FDLR soldier been arrested after repatriation.

It is misunderstandings like this that continue to fuel the anti-Rwandan sentiments among many Congolese in the eastern region and maintain social readiness for more inter-ethnic conflict and cross-border conflict.

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QUOTES

“I am not free here. I cannot talk about politics. I fear. I fear that I can be put in jail or even killed.”

“President Kabila is not popular but people may vote for him to avoid war.”

“I fear if Kabila wins, the opposition will not accept the results and be obliged to fight. If the opposition wins, Kabila will not accept that this time is up.”

“Corruption is inside the poverty.”

“The EU Election Observers will be a guarantee that there will at least be transparency [in the elections.]

Glenys: “I hear the FARDC (Congolese Army) sometimes pillage villages and force villagers to carry their supplies and equipment long distances to the next village.”
Interviewee: “ALL the time.  And often do much worse. The FARDC are predators.”

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Ready to head home. Tomorrow, Tuesday, I make the 3 hr drive back toKigali then a short flight to Entebbe, Uganda. Sleep overnight at the Entebbe Airport, then fly out in the morning to London.  Overnight Wednesday in London.  Then fly out Thursday afternoon to Toronto, arrving  home early evening!  Donated frequent flier miles save Pragmora a lot of money on travel costs for in-country research trips, but gosh they make for convoluted itineraries.

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Day 8. DR Congo. Goma pics

SUNDAY OCT 16. A quiet day today. Went for a long walk around Goma and tried to take photos that would give you a feeling for Goma.

 

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Day 7. DR Congo.

SATURDAY OCT 15. The plan was to leave Kalonge at 7am so I could make the boat from Bukavu to Goma at 11am. At 7am we were having breakfast (hot water, powered milk, and sugar, plus bread).

During breakfast, the elderly sewing instructor arrived with a shirt that had been made for me. I put my jazzy blue shirt on on top of the t-shirt I was wearing. It fit me perfectly. I shook the man’s hand, but for a Canadian that hardly expressed my feelings. So I gave him big hug. Culturally inappropriate, but totally understood and appreciated.

Finally on our way at 7:40am. The original crew plus a young woman and her baby (18 month old?) and a lot of large packages. A slight drizzle. Slow going again on the roads. A number of stalled vehicles to get around. I was very nervous about making it back to Bukavu by 11am.

As we plodded along, Theo’s wife was thinking about options for getting me to my boat on time and she found one – I could get on the back of a passing motorcycle and make the rest of the way to Bukavu that way. Oh boy, I was the only one seeing the good news/bad news joke in that. Fortunately, a path around the largest of the blockages was being completed just as we arrived, and ultimately I made it to the boat in Bukavu with a full 20 minutes to spare.

Back in Goma mid-afternoon.

As was preparing for my Saturday evening interview, Pastor Emmanuel dropped by my Guest House with a gift for me. A wooden relief of a woman and two children. He said that I can put it up in my office and whenever I look at it I’ll remember why I am working and who I am working for.

OF INTEREST (from interviews)

Poverty puts limit free expression of the press. Journalists here sign contracts on ethics with their media outlet, but in the journalist live day to day, often with no salary. “All journalists are ready to be ‘correct’ but they can’t be in the current conditions” – which translates as, they can be bought and can be bought easily to ignore a story or slant a story.

Election and violence. Again, I hear that President Kabila will use all means necessary to be re-elected. He will “arrange to win.” Again, I hear that the likelihood of violence after the election is high. The problem in the Congo is the same at the problem in Liberia – the opposition just needs to claim that the election was not fair and the grounds for conflict are set. The European Union Election Observers and the Carter Center had better be ready for the enormous responsibility they hold in their hands. It will be no easy task to declare the winner, and yet, it may be the deciding factor between conflict and no conflict.

MORE QUOTES (from interviews)

“I talk to the foreign development agencies and they say, ‘when you have peace, we’ll develop your country.’ The Congolese say, ‘Give us peace, and we’re going to develop’.”

“You can give people the message about their rights, but they are hungry. Given them food, then they can listen.”

“That’s why I am in the world. I have a target. I’ll die for freedom. I’m ready for that. I’ll die for human rights. I’m ready.”

Yes, also getting good information for Pragmora’s conflict resolution work. Looking forward to tomorrow’s interviews…

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Day 6. DR Congo. Kalonge.

FRIDAY OCT 14. I was picked up at 6:30 am this morning to go down to the port where I caught the boat to Bukavu. The boat trip took 2½ hours from Goma at the south tip of Lake Kivu to Bukavu at the north end of Lake Kivu.  It was an easy boat ride with spectacular views – Congo on the right side of the Lake Kivu and Rwanda on the left side.

BUKAVU

I was met at the port in Bukavu by Theo, the Coordinator for a local Congolese NGO called GRAM-Kivu. He speaks English quite well, which I hadn’t expected.  And he constantly has a huge smile on his face.

Bukavu surprised me. It seemed so much bigger than Goma – and far more lively.  People everywhere buying and selling things.  Lots of stores, lots of vehicles, much better roads, new construction underway.

Theo and I first dropped by the GRAM-Kivu office, where we added two more to our entourage, then picked up his wife. The six of us, including driver, set off for Kalonge village.

Kalonge is 60 km north of Bukavu. The three hour drive that took four hours and could have been much worse.

The villages we passed through appeared very orderly and clean with obvious drainage systems. Most homes I saw were rectangular and made of clap board, or mud and clapboard – like a small cabin in northern Ontario.  Some were round with mud walls with a thatched roof.  Larger buildings are made of brick. At one road block, a man was taking full advantage of the vehicles stopping to canvass passengers on behalf of one of the presidential candidates for the upcoming election.  Democracy at work 🙂

As we kept driving, the roads got progressively worse and worse. They started out paved and ended up wet mud. After driving for some time on the bad section of road, Theo turned to me and, with a huge grin, said “Now the road gets bad.”  Oh my gosh, he was not kidding.  Our maximum speed slowed to a maximum of 12 km/hr. This worst section of the road is in Kahuzi-Biega National Park.

KAHUZI BIEGA NATIONAL PARK

Kahuzi-Biega National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is home to the endangered Eastern Lowland Gorillas. It is also home to the feared FDLR rebels / Interahamwe (genocidaire Hutu group from Rwanda) who hide in the  forests in this region.

We weren’t too far into the park when we faced a massive mud hole the full width of the road.  The driver, Bertie, stopped for a moment.  “This is it,” I thought, “we turn back now.”  But the driver gunned the engine and headed for the mud hole. “This is it,” I thought, “we spend the night stuck in a mud hole.”  But no, Bertie drove through.  And he drove through and around many worse mud holes we encountered.  Like nothing I’ve ever even seen in a movie… because no one would believe it if they put this in a film.

But ultimately even brilliant driver Bertie was brought to a halt by a large truck that had broken down across the road.  After some waiting, much discussion, and the exchange of money, the fellows in the broken down truck agreed to lend us their pick axes and shovels and help us widen the road.  Yup, that was the answer.  We’d dig into the soft side of the mountain and widen the road by a few feet so we could drive past the truck. Have to wonder what UNESCO would think of this.  (photos below.)

KALONGE

Kalonge is a relatively large village and, to me, seemed idyllic.  Soft red dirt roads, lush vegetation, colourful flowers, well-maintained homes/huts, activity in the market, cutie pie kids galore, and heavenly singing emanating from the church in the town square. Really.

The harsh poverty is hidden.

As are the FDLR rebels who live in the forest around the village. Everyone fears an all-out attack– in the eastern Congo, the FDLR rebels occasionally attack an entire village, raping and pillaging.  The vicious rape of women here is not uncommon.  Just a few days before I arrived, a woman had been attacked by men in uniform, gang raped, and was now in the local hospital run by Mercy Corps International.   (Wasn’t clear whether it was the FDLR or another armed group.)

I visited the GRAM-Kivu projects in Kalonge.  GRAM-Kivu provides counselling, support, and livelihood training in the region broadly for 1) women and girls who are victims of sexual violence and 2) for teenage boys and young men who had been child soldiers.  The women and girls were learning sewing and tailoring, while the boys were learning metallurgy.  They were definitely gaining skills, but lacked materials to grow. To the great amusement of everyone, the elderly instructor took my measurements to make a shirt for me while a young man gleefully shouted them out as he recorded them .  It seems the entire town of Kalonge is now in knowledge of my bust size. Sigh.

The Boy Soldiers. It was really hard to hear the boys’ stories.  Three of the four I talked with had been abducted and forced to fight.

When they demobilized after the war, the boys returned to their homes but each of them was rejected and sent away.  Even their families were afraid of the former child soldiers.  They had nothing and nowhere to go. UN promises of education and training didn’t reach them in their remote villages.  GRAM-KIVU is everything to them now, although it’s not much.

Each of these teenagers/young men seemed so vulnerable.  Used and thrown out.  Childlike and innocent in their demeanour. And each of them absolutely likeable. I wanted to tell them that the whole world believes that what happened to them as children is wrong, but knew I couldn’t say it out lourd without choking up.

In a post-conflict society, it is always a concern that former combatants may return to a rebel group if they can’t find a place in civil society. It is very very difficult for me to imagine any of these four returning to violence, even though they have little more now than poverty, hopelessness, and rejection.

All in all, I was the white woman paraded about Kalonge. I drew the line at being presented to the village chief.  Frankly, none of this related to Pragmora’s research work which was extremely frustrating.  

We spent the night in the village at GRAM-Kivu’s local ‘residence.’  Hard to describe but a great experience.  My GRAM-Kivu hosts were wonderful. Even conjured up a vegetarian meal for me.

Today was an adventure.

(Can’t figure out how to put the photos in order)

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Kahuzi-Biega National Park UNESCO World Heritage Site: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/137

The Eastern Lowland Gorilla: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Lowland_Gorilla

Gorillas surviving against the odds in Kahuzi-Biega:  http://www.gorillas.org/eastern_lowland_census

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Day 5. DR Congo. We must.

THURSDAY OCT 13.  Thank you all for the birthday wishes. What a real treat!!  I so appreciate the connection when I’m on my own in this rather out of the way place.

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OF INTEREST (from meetings)

In praise of President Kabila. Finally heard the case in favour of voting for Kabila. It goes like this… Kabila has one fault – he accepts corruption, but that is his only fault.  Kabila is a President for all Congolese people – which is a great feature in a country divided by ethnicity, tribe, and language. He is moderate. He is a strong Congolese nationalist but at the same time works well with international governments. In contrast, I am told that while Etienne Tshisekedi is a good man, he has xenophobic tendencies, is a radical, sees things in black and white, and insists things are done his way -> dictatorial tendencies. Six weeks to the Nov. 28 presidential elections…

Another great war in the Congo is possible. It horrifies me. It is chilling to sit and be told  that another massive war in the Congo is possible… all depending on the election outcome.  One person said “of course!” when I asked if another great war could happen.

Yes, yes, Pragmora has been warning of this possibility for more than a year now and has advocated vigourously for international election  observers and for a Peace Dividend with the specific argument that a “potential explosion of conflict” is possible. But honestly, I’ve never gone cold like I have here when I’m told point blank all-our war is possible. That another massive war could be around the corner horrifies me.

Do I think this will happen?  No, I don’t.  I think Kabila will win the presidential elections (by hook or by crook), the international election observers will say he won despite “irregularities”, some violence will follow, and then things will settle  back on their ruinous, but not all-out-war, path.

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HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY

Drinking the “juice of passion” with lunch – the young waiter’s description 🙂

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QUOTES (from meetings)

“You put your life, your family in danger if you want to change things. Your children will be killed. The danger is very real.”

“Money is the key answer to anything and anyone.  You can buy any judge. You can buy health attention. The corruption affects the social situation. The corruption enters the consciousness:  ‘he knows that I know that he knows he can buy me, that he is expecting money…”

[In the absence of corruption] “If the people can work on their projects, they will ask for peace and safety. The more they can develop their economic potential, the more they will want normalcy.”

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “WE MUST”

For two hours this morning, I met with Pastor Emmanuel. He is the protestant church representative for the repatriation and demobilization of foreign combatants in the Congo. (Rwandan Hutus in the FDLR rebel group control large amounts of territory in eastern Congo and terrorize the local Congolese populations.)

The conversation was pretty much in French, although Emmanuel threw in a few English words here and there. He talked at length about the violence perpetrated by the FDLR rebels and the challenges of getting them out of the Congo and back over the border into Rwanda.

When our meeting was over, as we were collecting our papers and things, he paused and said firmly to me in English, “We must.”  I looked up and agreed, “Yes, we must.”

I knew exactly what Emmanuel meant.  We must try to prevent more violence. We must try to solve the armed conflict even though we cannot see any solutions.  We must try to protection the people of the Congo today as they cannot protect themselves against the armed groups and FDLR rebels.

We must try. We must persist.

We must.

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Day 4. DR Congo.

WEDNESDAY OCT  12.   Rough start to the day.  No electricity, no running water, no internet connection. While taking my first sip of morning coffee (good coffee), the hotel manager presented me with an invoice.  I was a little confused since I don’t leave here for another couple days — turns out, he needed the money to pay for running the generator.  A running generator means running water.  Glad to help.

Good meetings again today.  Research progresses well.  Continuing to develop the inventory of non-violent options to address the conflict, and to vet some of the leading options.

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POINTS OF INTEREST (from today’s meetings)

–  President Kabila may not win the presidential elections in November. The November 28 presidential elections are not a done deal.   Perhaps wishful thinking by locals, but they have hope that the opposition
forces may yet unite behind Etienne Tshisekedi – whom the Congolese reverently call, Le Vieil (“The Elder”). While a change of government is desirable due to the omnipresent corruption, insecurity, and lack of general progress, Kabila
is unlikely to give up power without a fight.

–  Elementary school is free in the DR Congo, but… parents have to pay for school uniforms,
teachers’ salaries, period registration at the discretion of the school director, and other assorted “fees.”  Corruption abounds. Simply beyond the means of  many.

–  International funding to the Congo is being diverted to the famine in Somalia

–  The Congolese Army regularly employs forced labour. Whenever the Army moves or has a new
project, it calls on the local population to build things or carry things. Might require a 30 km walk.

–  Rebels integrated into the DR Congo Army are becoming less integrated.  I will ask around about this to verify.  Would be a bad turn of event.  The CNDP rebels had never fully integrated into the Congolese Army and had
been answering to two chains of command: the DRC Army and to their former rebel leaders, but all efforts had been towards greater integration.

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QUOTES OF THE DAY (from today’s meetings)  

“Bad government affects everyone – corruption, lack of personal safety, impunity, lack of hope. This is the cause of the poverty.”

“Poverty is the protection for Bosco [wanted for war crimes]; it creates his followers.”

“The foreign governments are Kabila’s accomplices.”

“These are very courageous people to survive. Really impressive. ”

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AHEAD

Trip to Bukavu on Friday now all settled.  Theophile from GRAM-Bukavu will meet me at the boat and we’ll drive directly to the village where GRAM has a child soldier rehab program, stay overnight in the village, then return to the port and I’ll
be back to Goma on Saturday afternoon.

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I’ve attached a few pictures.
(John, Miriam, now don’t you wish you were here with me taking care of the photography thing properly.)

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Day 3. DR Congo.

This blog is definitely a matter of teaching an old dog new tricks.

Let’s get caught up a little.

SUNDAY OCT 09.

I arrived in Kigali, Rwanda on Sunday afternoon. Already had stomach trouble so decided to take a taxi to the eastern Congo border instead of the public bus. Got lucky with a fascinating taxi driver, Yassine. We were driving out of Kigali when he pointed out a white building shining on the hillside. “You must go there when you come back to Kigali”, he said, “it’s a memorial to the victims of the genocide.” Now that’s a great conversation opener. I asked him a zillion questions about the genocide for the first two hours of the drive. (In the last hour, jet lag got the better of me and I could barely keep my eye open.)

Yassine had been a driver for SkyNews UK during the height of the genocide.  He would accompany the
journalists to the genocide site immediately after they happened.  He witnessed the horror.  The worst was 10,000 killed in one
incident.  He talked of driving his journalists to meet with General Romeo Dellaire. Yassine would stay outside,
but many times he saw General Dellaire standing on the balcony above him,  looking down the road to assess the situation – where were the Hutu Interahamwe genocidaire,  Paul Kagame’s liberating Tutsi rebels?

What struck me the most was Yassine’s absolute confidence that Rwanda could never return to inter-ethnic violence. He credited this remarkable change to the post-war local election of community judges all across the country who tried and sentenced local perpetrators of war crimes in their own communities, and also to the government’s persistent communications for
reconciliation.

Rwanda is an extraordinarily beautiful agrarian country. The drive was spectacular. I was amazed at the orderliness and great conditions of the roads. Which halted abruptly the second we reached the border.

We arrived at 7:15pm at the Congo-Rwanda border. It had already been dark for an hour. Yassine could not cross the border into the Congo, so we unloaded my bags and Yassine headed back to Kigali.

I stood alone there in the darkness.  Two barriers across the road and a load of taxis and men standing about in between.
When in doubt, follow the crowd. Near the first barrier was a small crowd standing on uneven mud ground outside a lit window. I worked my way to the front and was handed a Rwandan customs form.  Filled it in, handed it back, and was waved on.  Uh, now what?  As a foreigner standing alone, I was quickly attracting new taxi friends.  Spotted a line of people ahead snaking behind a small guard building.  I joined the queues and followed the line in the dark behind the little building and around the barrier on the Congo side of the border. A taxi driver pointed to another lit window up a small embankment. I presented my passport there (while one of my new friends asked for “some money;  just one hundred dollars.”)  All good.  Nice older man took my passport and stamped it.  Found a taxi driver who got me safe, sound, and extremely tired to my hotel.

MONDAY OCT 10

No functioning internet at the hotel.  Got up in the morning and walked to Hotel Nyira — a small guest I had stayed at while in Goma last year  (stopping along the way to buy a local cell phone.)   Although it had changed hands,
still looked good to me and I changed hotels.

Later Monday afternoon I met with the Country Director for Merlin UK and hit gold.  He had lived in eastern Congo for four years and had unique perspectives on issues related to public mood, security, peace stabilization, and the upcoming elections.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 11 (today)

The roads in Goma are insane.  I can’t believe my driver is able to get thru on them. Massive pot holes. Back roads untouched since the volcano erupted a few years ago sending the lava flows thru town into Lake Kivu. Zero sign of improvements since May 2010.

Two meetings today.

Spent much of the day on logistics for other meetings and confirming my boat reservation for travel on Friday to Bukavu.  Everything takes so much time.

It’s now going on 7pm.

Dark. Sitting in the lovely outdoor work/eating area at Hotel Nyira.  Aid workers, UN staff, and
assorted others come and go here.  A  favorite meeting place.

Time to order dinner and wind down for the day.

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DR Congo’s democratic vote against democracy.

Attention now! More than 5 million Congolese people died as result of the Second Congolese War (1998 – 2003). These five million plus deaths missed the attention of the world, weary of Africa in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide.  We must pay attention now, close attention, as democracy in the Congo slips and conflict bubbles up.

Parliament changes election rules. With sadness and a sense of foreboding, I read yesterday that the parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo had voted to eliminate the run-off vote in presidential elections.

What exactly changed? In the previous system there was a run-off vote between the two leading contenders so that the President would ultimately win by majority vote of the population. Now, with just one round of voting, the person with the most votes becomes president – even if that person had only 20% of total votes.  

Why does this change matter?  In the Congolese political landscape, the opposition to the current President is fragmented. With a run-off vote between the top two contenders from the first round of voting, either President Joseph Kabila or an opposition leader might have won the upcoming November 2011 elections. Now, with just one round of voting, President Kabila has all but secured his re-election in November. Which was his intention in proposing the Constitutional change in the first place.

Democratic means to justify less democratic ends. To be clear, this Constitutional change was undertaken by parliament through a democratic process consistent with Congolese Constitutional law. But that doesn’t mitigate the fact that the outcome is LESS democracy for the people of the DR Congo. In part, this is because the will of the majority will no longer determine who becomes President. In part because the intention of the Constitutional amendment was not to serve the public interest, but rather to benefit private individuals, as Jason Stearns points out. Further, this amendment was only one of eight amendments. Some of the other amendments concentrate power in the hands of the president. For example, the President now has the legal authority to dissolve elected provincial parliaments and to fire elected provincial governors! 

The big picture.  Peace, human rights, and economic development in the DR Congo need democracy. But democracy is slipping away.

Last June, at the insistence of President Kabila, the MONUC peacekeeping force began to withdraw from the Congo. Given the ongoing conflict in the country and the obvious need for the 20,000 strong force, it has been suggested that Kabila insisted MONUC leave the Congo entirely in 2011 in order to limit international observation of the November presidential elections. MONUC is uniquely able to access remote areas of the country. In July, three opposition radio and TV stations were shut down for three days with no official reason given for the action.  That same month a well-known human rights leader was flagrantly killed by police. While there is no link to President Kabila, his government has in the past used violence and intimidation to eliminate political opponents.  Now, the President initiates a Constitutional amendment to enhance his power and increase his chances of re-election.

Free and fair elections in November 2011 are critical if the people of the DR Congo are to have a chance at peace, human rights, and economic development.

What you can do.  Please stay tuned. In late January Pragmora will launch its Peace Plan for the Congo. You will receive notification. At that time, the Pragmora website will have specific actions you can take to help prevent conflict and stabilize peace in the Congo. We will have an easy-to-use link to an email letter you can send to your government to encourage the implementation an international Election Watch 2011 for the DR Congo.

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