Marya Smith

2/7/15
Chapter 4- The Flood Continues
Unstable, corrupt, violent, and developing, decades of conflict and lack of
government have made the lives of those in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) far
from bearable. The atrocities occurring to the people of this country are inhumane as the
innocent are murdered for their name. Sounds of gunshots outside ones home, followed
by the scream of a starving child as they watch their mother raped in the back room, are
examples of mistreatment from imperialism rule that still resonate vigorously across the
country today. The DRC has a long road ahead of them; a road paved with a poor
economy, a weak government, starvation, violence, and rape. The lost hope for a bright
future of the DRC is in the hands of Joseph Kabila, their declared leader. While
struggling to dig out of an already dug grave, the DRC remains in constant recovery from
their violent and unstable past.
*
*
*
Nineteen years ago, the army-green and dusted brown jackets of angered men
wait for their opponents like a tiger waiting for its prey, as a never ending battle
continues. The shot of a rifle releases with echoing screams of mothers and their children
bouncing off the clouds engulfing the country in Africas World War. Terrorized and
robbed, the Congo fights without a glance back at the bloody footsteps left behind.
Since 1996 the DRC has been embroiled in terrorism that has killed more than 5.4
million people. With the first glance into this blood stained country, cloth covered tents
barely held up with torn tree branches, line the borders of the east where violence lingers
in the air like a ghost from past wars. More than 100,000 people have fled their homes in
fear of a recreation of the battles of the past. Faces of frightened children and women
stand in the open air wondering what will come tomorrow. Stretching across the Congo
land like crops on a field are cut down trees, smoggy air from gunshots miles away, and
crowded tents filled with infection and parasites. The sky is thickening as dark rain
clouds hover over makeshift villages waiting to pour down with the drops of starvation,
economic troubles, and a weakened government by the day.
*
*
*
Responsible for these hardships is Joseph Kabila, the current leader. After the
assassination of his dictator father, Laurent Desire Kabila, Joseph Kabila was inaugurated
as president in 2001. While young and still new to learning, he tries to follow in his
fathers footsteps having a great mind for change and accomplishment. He takes initiative
in policies of government, but then turns a blind eye to the murder, rape, kidnapping, and
unnecessary acts of violence that are daily occurrences for millions living in the DRC
today. While many disagree with his actions, Kabila continues to lead his country "For
the sake of peace." But Bruno Mavungu, Secretary General of the opposition, Union for
Democracy and Social Progress, distrusts Kabila and voices,The people are tired.
Despite these protests, Kabilas violent past dictates his actions as he struggles to fill the
shoes of his tyrannical father.
Kabila continues to work towards peace with the Congos surrounding countries,
but struggles to do so with opposition. Making changes to the governmental structure, he
focuses on change rather than progress. In 2006, Kabila establishes a new constitution

that paves the way for the first multiparty elections. As the 2011 election drew near, the
tension throughout the country grew more intense. A shot was fired into the air on
election day as the lives of 14 people were taken. A mother with her five children
crouched beneath her knees, took a bullet to the head as dark red blood dripped down her
face hitting her young ones on the cheek. Mobs barricaded over poll stations as workers
were slapped across the face, leaving a handprint left to rot on the their cheek. Barely
stepping ahead, Joseph Kabila surprised his country and was reelected by only two
percent of the vote. The race demonstrated to Kabila that broken promises from his 2006
campaign had cost him the trust and support of many of his followers.
During his second term in office, Kabila creates conditions for political chaos that
require unnecessary use of political and financial resources to bring the political situation
under control. As 45,000 people are dying each month, with the life expectancy of 54
lowering by the day, the Congolese people, particularly those living in the east, begin to
realize his promises of peace and improvements in living conditions, would not arrive in
the DRC during his time in office. "We no longer know if even God can end this war,"
one individual shares, as he is surrounded by
women buying groceries living in fear of being raped, vendors selling fruits and
vegetables living in fear of being robbed, and submissive children playing kick the can
living in fear of being kidnapped and forced to kill. A dark cloud of hopelessness begins
to fall over the Congolese people, as the damage inflicted by the armed conflict in the
Congo is irrecoverable.
*
*
*
Despite the close election race, Kabila again governs a country covering 905,000
square miles with a population of 63 million people. Although much of the population is
the poorest in the world, Kabila knows his country is considered to be the richest in the
world when it comes to natural resources. He is also aware that the fighting taking place
in North and South Kivu, on the DRC and Rwanda border, is not only due to political
beliefs (conflict caused by Hutu refugees from the Rwandan genocide who are now living
in the DRC), but also the demand for natural resources of gold, copper, diamonds, and
coltan. Unfortunately, Kabila knows the money from the sales of these minerals is not
enough to strengthen the country's economic state, and with education and healthcare still
in a poor state, the depletion of many other natural resources, such as rubber and ivory
during imperialistic rule, has affected the current economic conditions greatly.
What Kabila doesnt see due to the economic conditions of the DRC, is the sweat
that drips from Congolese workers foreheads as the beating sun shines down on their
back as they work with hope of bringing home enough money to live another day. He
doesnt see children, as young as five years old working in the mines to earn fees for
school or pocket money. The hope of holding a pencil in their hand becomes only a
dream as they sit in the dark and dusted mines in search of a future. For many, that future
will be one of mining and farming, day in and day out, in abysmal conditions,with the
average income less than what is needed to sustain a family. Mothers are then required to
work to put food into their starving childrens stomachs as their daughters end up
dropping out of school to stay at home to help with the household work.
*
*
*
Kabila knows the depth of problems in his country, problems that have inflicted
the DRC since its independence was granted in 1960 and when his country was the

second most industrialized in Africa. But since 1960, corruption, war and political
instability have left his home one of the world's lowest GDP per capita. Rwandan
genocide was the initial spark that started the vast fire between the regional lands in 1994.
Hutu-power groups embarked on mass killings, as they murdered over 800,000 Tutsis and
pro-peace Hutus, leaving no end to this bloody violence for many years to come. The
tightness between Rwanda and the Congo grew stiff and the rope eventually snapped
when an estimated two million refugees poured over the western border of Rwanda.
What Kabila fails to recognize is that much of the violence in the DRC mirrors
the Rwanda genocide that occurred 21 years ago. As a result of the Rwandan Patriotic
Front taking over and with nearly 2 million Hutus fleeing into neighboring countries
including the DRC when the Rwandan Patriotic Front took control, their refugee presence
had added to the already aroused conflict between the two countries. As of August 2014,
70,000 refugees from the Central African Republic, Burandi, and Rwanda fled to the
DRC where they now benefit from UNHCRs protection and help. As of last year, 2.7
million people have been forced to leave their homes due to violence and ongoing
conflict in the east. While the UNHCR has the leading role in the protection of refugees,
there is only so much they can give, and this burden has been put in the hands of Kabila.
Provided tents sprawl across the open land as refugees inside cry themselves to
sleep dreaming of the day when they wake from their living nightmare. Congolese
residents, displaced from their lives and homes by their nations conflicts, tell stories of
the disastrous state of their country. The chaos, hopelessness, and never ending violence
that continues during Kabilas reign sends a message to all those uprooted that they will
never return home, as stated by the New York Times, quoting a refugee woman, There is
still fighting in and around my village, we are hiding ourselves in this camp. We are still
living in insecurity. Of the 72,000 people living in these camps, most are beat and
abused by more than 40 militia and rebel groups still active in the DRC today. These
militias are one of the main reason more than 5 million people have died in the DRC
since 1998, making the central African nation the deadliest killing field since World War
II.
*
*
*
As grief and anger linger in the air, the long term effects of imperialism continue
to plague the DRC, leaving the future in hands of a hopeful leader. The cry of starving
orphans wailing for their mothers, the sounds of gunshots in once peaceful villages, and
the lost hope in the chocolate brown eyes of every Congolese will forever be held in the
black clouds that cover the DRC today. Visions of a new light shining over a developed
country, promising potential for wealth and success, are only illusions for the Congolese
struggling to survive from sunrise to nightfall. Kabila has the responsibility to be the
voice of his country and provide a safety for all Congolese people, or will he let the
future of the DRC fall into the hands of corruption, economic decline, and violence. Let
us hope his words are at the forefront of this countrys future, No more blood must
run...There is a time for war. There is a time for peace.

Sources:
Democratic Republic of Congo. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from
http://www.globalissues.org/article/87/the-democratic-republic-of-congo
Democratic Republic of Congo profile. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13283212
DR Congo. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from
http://www.our-africa.org/democratic-republic-of-congo
DR Congo | Refugees International. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from
http://refugeesinternational.org/where-we-work/africa/dr-congo
Indigenous peoples in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9,
2015,
from http://www.iwgia.org/regions/africa/democratic-republic-of-congo
Grief and Anger in the Congo. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jan/26/democraticrepublic-cog
o-protests-joseph-kabila
Joseph Kabila | biography - president of Democratic Republic of the Congo. (2013, May
30).
Retrieved January 26, 2015, from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/761179/Joseph-Kabila
Pitaro, A. (n.d.). The Congo Today. Retrieved January 26, 2015, from
http://drcimperialism.weebly.com/the-congo-today.html