Volume 2, No. 3, March 2001

The strife in war-torn Congo gets intensified with the assassination of Laurent Kabila, in mid-January, by his own bodyguard. As president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)—or, what remained under his control—he was sustaining the Kinshasa government, with military assistance from neighbours. His death created further chaos in the government, with it taking a week to announce it. Finally, his 31 year-old son took over the reins of power, amidst rumours of all kinds of conspiracy theories floating around. The strife in the DRC continues.

A number of civil wars are going on in Africa. Angola, Sierra Leone, Congo, Sudan and other countries where a number of forces are clashing, representing various interests. The imperialist powers are trying to create ‘international opinion’, as a prelude to an open intervention, or to impose sanctions to turn the outcome of wars to their own advantage. Sierra Leone has already been trampled upon. In Angola and Congo they are backing and abetting various forces, at times changing sides as the behaviour of different forces undergo changes. Africa has long been a hunting ground for its natural resources and the human commodity—the slaves. From the colonial times, to present day imperialism in the age of "globalisation", African people have been ravaged, plundered and exterminated by the ‘cultured’ brutes. In this essay we shall see how a resource rich vast country like Congo has been a victim of international vultures and continues to suffer despite repeated attempts by its people to regain dignity, respect and independence. The current war in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a legacy as well as a result of imperialist intrigues and interference. Of machinations by its neighbours who have little respect for their own suffering people. And on top of that, of the treachery and opportunism of its own leaders who are least concerned with the miseries, exploitation and backwardness of their own people.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country that borders nine African states on all sides, with a small coastline in the west. Its inhabitants belong to the Bantu tribes, that include the Congo in the west, the Luba in the south-central part, the Lunda in the south, the Mongo in the centre, the Bemba in the southeast, the Kwango in the southwest and the Zande in the north. There are also about 100,000 Pygmies living in the Kibali and Ituri forests and also along the Tanganyika and the areas of Kivu. French has been the official language, but more than 400 languages and dialects are spoken in the country, the most widespread among them being Swahili, Tashiluba, Lingala and Kikongo. The country is a part of the Great African Plateau of crystalline rock with a vast network of rivers, Congo being the largest and the fifth longest in the world. There are thick equatorial rain forests with an abundance of mahogany, baobab and other valuable timber. The land is one of the richest in the world, in natural resources like cobalt, diamonds, copper, tin, zinc, gold and cadmium. 78% of the economically active population is engaged in agriculture and most of the rest in mining.

Pygmies are considered the original inhabitants of this land who arrived here in the Stone Age. The Bantu people settled between the 10th and 14th centuries.

The systematic exploration of Africa started in the 19th century. To exploit the riches of Central Africa, King Leopold of Belgium founded the International African Association in 1876. And at the Berlin Conference of 1884 of the European colonial powers, the colonial capitalist brutes decided on the "freedom of navigation" on the rivers Niger and Congo for the ships of all the plundering nations of Europe, and declared the establishment of the Congo Free State. This state had nothing Congolese in it and was, in effect, the personal property of King Leopold. A 388 kilometer long railway line to freight the riches from Congo was constructed from Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) to Matadi between 1890 and 1898 through forced labour. The natives rose in revolt against the practices of the colonial administration resulting in the Batatele revolt. After the revolt was crushed the Belgian king formed an army of the natives, officered by Belgians to suppress the native rebellions. During the first fifteen years of Belgian rule three million Africans died of illness and maltreatment. When Leopold failed to repay the loan he had taken from the Belgian State he had to relinquish the ownership of the Free State of Congo and ceded it to the Belgian State which renamed it as Belgian Congo.

Belgium’s cruel policies towards Congo found resistance mounting after World War I. Several opposition movements based on religion sprang up.

Later, Joseph Kasavubu founded the Bakongo Association that aspired to re-establish the ancient Bakongo kingdom. Moise Tshombe launched the confederation of Tribal Association (CONAKAT) at the same time. Tshombe acted in close collaboration with the white colonists’ Katanga Union Party in the south of Congo. Patrice Lumumba’s National Congolese Movement came into being in 1958 calling for the independence of Congo.

But, like all other countries, where anti-imperialist forces could not rally the masses around a revolutionary line, the imperialists could easily manipulate the situation in Congo, and were able to thwart the independence movement. A conglomerate conference of all the political parties of Congo and the representatives of the Belgian parliament and state was held in Brussels in Jan 1960. Many tribal groups and parties, as expected, adopted a conciliatory approach towards the Belgians. Although, Patrice Lumumba struggled against the conciliators over the question of independence but due to the absence of a powerful revolutionary movement behind him he agreed to the formation of an interim political body which included the leaders of all the political parties and presided over by the Governor General. The date of "independence" was set to be the 30th of June 1960. Imperialist intrigues started from the day the interim body was formed. In fact this body itself was the result of collaboration between colonialists and many a non-revolutionary and pro-imperialist forces where Lumumba had to struggle against great odds. The transfer of power took place on the agreed date with Kasavubu assuming the Presidency and Lumumba becoming Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense.

Just after five days of declaring "Independence" on June 30, the country’s police forces "Force Publique" launched series of protests. Belgian officers took command of the Congolese national army under the pretext of putting down the rebellion staged by Force Publique. On July 11, Moise Tshombe, the governor of Katanga declared the secession of the province at the instigation of Belgian corporations and big business interests. Lumumba, having lost control of the armed forces requested the UN to send troops to quell the disturbances. The US dominated UN sent troops, who were under the Moroccan General Kettani to help the Lumumba Government, instead started fighting against the forces loyal to Lumumba.

Albert Kalondji, head of the Luba inhabited Kasai State also announced the formation of a separate mining state and joined forces with Tshombe. The two formed a confederation. Patrice Lumumba found himself caught in a very difficult situation. The Belgians, the US dominated UN, imperialist corporations and local reactionaries all got united to get rid of Lumumba. On Sept 14 the CIA man, Mobutu, set up a Council of Commissioners and thereby formed a separate government. Next day he arrested Lumumba and handed him over to Tshombe’s troops. On January 17, 1961, Tshombe’s men murdered Lumumba. The quick succession of events in Congo was enough to prove the conspiracies of the imperialists, the UN and local reactionaries and a grim testimony to the fact that how transformation to neo-colonialism was ensured in many of the so-called independent countries where there was a presence of radical nationalist forces threatening imperialist interests. Years later, an investigation commission of the US Congress disclosed that the CIA had planned the murder of Lumumba.

Inspite of being a radical anti-imperialist, Lumumba like many other nationalists of those times, fell victim to the ideology of the Soviet Social imperialists on the national liberation struggles. This, in fact, worked against the liberation of nations and served the political interests of the Russian revisionists in the then ongoing "Cold War" between the two superpowers. The Russians made use of many a national liberation wars and distracted them from the real path of liberation. Yet the peoples of the colonies worldwide fought heroically and made numerous sacrifices. After the death of Lumumba many of his followers in Congo took up arms against the local reactionaries and continued to battle for many years. Congo continued to be torn apart between various vested groups till 1965, when Mobutu carried out a coup and proclaimed himself President. He renamed the country as Zaire and changed all the colonial names of cities, towns and even the people. He himself changed his name to Mobutu Sese Seko and came to be known in African history as one of the most hated dictators and an arch imperialist agent. Under the garb of asserting African nationalism he Zairizied the names but opened the flood gates of economy for rabid imperialist exploitation, mainly the US. When the whole of Africa had broken off all kinds of relationships with the Zionist State of Israel he continued to have a close military relationship with it. Alongwith the Apartheid State of South Africa it militarily intervened against the struggling people of Angola and supported the reactionary state powers in various African countries. Acting like a dirty puppet and a cruel ruler he worked to enhance the western imperialist interests in the region. While the people of Zaire suffered under unbelievable poverty and degradation he and his cronies pocketed billions through corruption, state control and business partnerships.

However, his rule was never without resistance on the part of the Congolese people. After the so-called independence in 1960, civil war raged for full five years till 1965. Pro-Lumumba rebel forces occupied three-fourths of the land in 1964 when the apartheid army of South Africa and the European mercenaries helped Mobutu forces to regain control over Congo. The US, Britain, France and Germany supplied him with sophisticated arms worth billions of dollars which he paid for with the blood of workers and peasants who laboured in the mines and fields of Zaire. He invited many ex-guerrilla leaders to travel back into Zaire. Once they returned he had them killed. In 1968, Pierre Mulele, an ex-minister in the Lumumba cabinet, turned guerrilla leader, was killed thus. In May 1978, when forces of the National Liberation Front for the Liberation of Congo, led by Nathaniel Mbumba staged a rebellion in the Shaba province, he invited French, Belgian and Moroccan troops to quell the FNLA forces. The US provided C-141 air transports for supplying weapons to the French and Belgian troops fighting in Shaba. Portugal and Britain also extended military help to Zaire to fight the rebels. Later, Moroccan troops arrived to replace the French and Belgian troops and stayed in Shaba for a long time. Thus, we see the imperialists and their lackeys have been actively participating in the military campaigns to defend their economic and political interests in the so-called independent Zaire. These are the forces that cry foul when revolutionary forces extend their help to the struggling people and accuse them of exporting revolution. For them the military interventions to install and defend the counter-revolution is a ‘democratic right’ of the ‘free world’ capitalists, while the fightback of the people is "horrendous".

In 1995, the Zairian dictator allowed the Hutu marauders from neighbouring Rwanda into the eastern part of the country. These marauders had massacred nearly a million Tutsi people in Rwanda during 1994. After the massacre their government was toppled from power and Hutu officials, armymen and politicians were forced to flee by the joint forces of Rwandan Tutsi rebels and state armies of neighbouring Uganda and Burundi States.

The CIA man Mobutu ruled Zaire with massive military help in arms and armed forces from the imperialist countries whose interests it served most slavishly till April 1997 when he was forced to flee by the advancing rebel forces of Laurent Kabila.

Whatever peace there has been in Congo was a result of the ruthless suppression campaigns conducted by the pro-imperialist anti-people rulers. Mobutu ruled the country for 32 years as a despot. The people of various tribes inhabiting various provinces have always felt betrayed by the government in Kinshasa. Time and again, they have either rebelled against the government or have acted as cannon fodder for the local reactionary chieftains. When the Ugandan and Burundian forces chased the Hutu marauders into Eastern Zaire the French troops protected the fleeing Hutus. But in the eastern part of Zaire, where there is a sizable concentration of Tutsi people, the Ugandan and Burundian forces secured the support of Tutsis and started a war against the Hutu "refugees" inside Zaire. As the people of Zaire are desperately poor and the rulers cruel they turn against the latter whenever an opportunity arises. Tutsi tribes extended their war to fight against the Government in Kinshasa. On the other hand, Uganda and Burundi states thought to take advantage of the situation and started implementing plans to carve out chunks of Zaire for themselves. The Western press reported in 1997 that the war in the eastern provinces had displaced about one million people in 1996. Meanwhile, in 1996, an Alliance of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL), launched a war against the hated Mobutu regime from the South of the country and sweepingly advanced towards the east pushing the Hutus towards Rwanda and Burundi. This Movement quickly extended its hold in the north and central provinces threatening the very survival of the Kinshasa regime. The US and Western powers who had remained "silent" over the Rwandan massacres sat down to think of intervening militarily "to solve the refugee problem on the eastern borders". On November 13 the US president, Bill Clinton announced the initial approval of the deployment of several thousand US troops as a part of a multinational force. But the real problem in Zaire was Mobutu himself who had increasingly made himself unpopular with the Congolese masses. The people were happy that the Hutu refugees and marauders had been thrown out and were eager to see Mobutu thrown out. Now, the unpopular Mobutu was no longer needed by the imperialists, as the "Cold War" rivalries had ended, and Angola, Zambia, Tanzania and Congo-Brazzaville were no longer considered as enemy states in the new situation. The US decided to postpone the sending of troops and watch which way the ADFL forces go. The situation was no longer favourable for radical nationalist movements as all the previous ones had degenerated. Although, before coming to power Laurent Kabila had declared that he was a follower of Patrice Lumumba, he was not destined to go too far, though he was looking somewhat difficult to be managed. The US adopted a watch and wait policy and let the discredited Mobutu go off the Zaire scene. This time Mobutu did not find any saviours and fled in the face of the advancing ADFL forces. Laurent Kabila overran Mobutu’s forces in 1997.

Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi had welcomed the ADFL forces when the latter defeated the Hutu militias. So did the Tutsis, as they were fighting against the Hutu militias as well as the Mobutu regime. But when Kabila refused to consider the rights of the Tutsi people, the Tutsis started fighting against him. Ugandan and Rwandan armies returned, to back the Tutsis and thereby slice off a part of the Congolese territory for themselves. The war continued with Rwanda and Uganda, together with Congolese dissidents fast cornering the Kabila forces. Cities of Goma, Kisangani and others in the East were taken over by the rebels. To survive Kabila had to take the assistance of Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The hostilities continued with six countries involved. Finally, in July 1999, a ceasefire agreement was signed, termed the ‘Lusaka Accord’. The agreement chalked out a detailed plan for peace in the DRC. Needless to say, in the 18 months since the Accord, there has been no progress. And as the Africans fight for control, the imperialists tighten their control over the rich mineral wealth. The US and EU (particularly France and Belgium) are scrambling to increase their share of the booty.

The present state boundaries in Africa are a legacy of the colonial administrative entities. The formation of various nations is in the making. The only way of uniting different peoples is to end their national exploitation and ensure that the interests of various peoples are served in a proletarian democratic way giving each one its rightful place. But in Africa, as has been the case everywhere else in the world, except for a brief period of the Socialist Soviet Union, colonial as well as post-colonial national or petty bourgeois progressive rulers have not been able to give a scientific answer to this problem. Their class position, as well as the influence of international revisionism had been a big impediment to this. And this continues to take its toll. The people of various regions rise time and again only to be betrayed by their own leaders in the end. Western politicians term these wars as "diamond wars". These wars in fact start as attempts of various peoples to assert their national rights over their traditional lands and their natural resources but their leaders betray the cause and turn the wars into a dirty affair. The wars become an amalgam of various interests, genuine as well as vested. In the end vested interests take up command and the aspirations of the people get trampled upon. These get reduced to a conflict among the exploiters. Here enter the imperialists to play their own dirty game that is solely concerned with the advancement of their own exploitative interests.

The imperialists eye only diamonds or petroleum or uranium or other natural resources in all parts of the world. They don’t see the people. For them it is either the "Rivers of Gold" or the "Great basins of black gold". The bourgeoisie of various oppressed countries also vie for these things but the people want an end to their sufferings. Precious metals or other riches don’t help them. These are pocketed by the traders, the big business, the corrupt politicians and top bureaucrats. The people continue to live in abject poverty while new extractions add to the already gigantic stocks of the wealthy, foreign and local, every year. Whenever the imperialists think of intervening somewhere they blow up reports of the alleged atrocities out of proportion and move in and when their own henchmen perpetrate enormous crimes they keep silent. Every little event is raked up when they decide to move. In Sierra Leone they are already there.

The situation in Congo is being watched intently and various forces are being abetted and twisted to serve imperialist interests. The west wants it either to see to the western interests fulfilled or get ready to face the exit. Ugandan and Rwandan forces, egged on by the US, are helping and heading the anti Kabila forces and are also fighting amongst themselves. Burundi is also in it, to take a bite and is helping the rebels. On the other hand, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia helped Kabila to consolidate his power. As far as the African governments are concerned, Angola and Uganda are the main players backing opposite parties. Interestingly, the imperialist sharks back both these states. In 1998, the World Bank and the IMF doled out to Uganda a loan of $ 2.2 billions to help it jack up in its anti Kabila war, and to reward its president Yoweri Museveni’s decision to reduce political interference in the privatisation process. Although the European Union had "warned" countries having troops in Congo that they might face "aid cuts" yet the money was given to the Ugandan government. Currently, Uganda is dependent on imperialist ‘aid’ for 55% of its budget.

Angola, on the other hand, is the new friend of the US. After the collapse of the revisionist empire, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) dropped its pseudo Marxist mantle and adopted open collaboration with the western imperialist powers. This friendship of the US is based on oil interests. The MPLA government supplies big quantities of crude oil to the US and Angola is set to provide 10% of US oil imports by 2004. For this the US has also ditched Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA rebels whom it used as the best bet to thwart the victory of the MPLA in the seventies. The US had been constantly supplying UNITA with arms and equipment to topple the MPLA government since it came to power with the help of the Soviet revisionists. It may look strange that the US friend Angola is helping the US headache Kabila. But in this world the bandits change friendships and enmity according to the changing needs and equations of the looting game. Angola has its own business interests to meet in Congo. It is jointly exploring oil in Congo at the invitation of the Kabila government. The US is tolerating it and is working through Angola to rein in the Kabila regime. Along with Angola, the Robert Mugabe government of Zimbabwe and Namibia’s so-called nationalist regime are also helping Kabila with armies, to thwart the Ugandan and Rwandan bid to clip off mineral rich territory of Congo, in return for diamonds and other metals.

On his part, Kabila had no radical anti-imperialist programme (though he promised one) to give to the Congolese people and for which they had fought for him. To consolidate his hold over power he struck deals with his supporting neighbours to have a share in the loot in the name of "Africans helping Africans". But these "helping Africans" have themselves opened their economies for unrestrained imperialist plunder. Finally, he fell to a bullet from his own bodyguard.

The people again will not gain from the sacrifices they have made to seek a better alternative to Mobutu’s corrupt rule. Their neighbours, the imperialists, and their own leaders are pitted against them. Without recognising the need to forge a real unity of all the oppressed against all variants of oppressors and collaborators they will have to rebel time and again only to be betrayed again and again. The history of liberation struggles in Africa is a testimony to the fact that the need of the hour is to analyse the real interests of all the forces engaged in these conflicts and build a unity of those who are really committed to the cause of liberation. One has to go beyond Patrice Lumumba to fight for real liberation, to go beyond narrow nationalist interests to forge a unity of the oppressed nations, to go beyond the narrow bourgeois ideological barriers to carry the struggle forward to end all kinds of oppression and exploitation.

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