|
FOR decades the Democratic Republic of Congo has been the subject of envy and controversy. The West, particularly Britain and the United States, have through their neo-colonialist imperialist machinery managed to possessively control Africa’s diamond bosom. Sensing the ascension of an independent, pan-Africanist and incorruptible mind in the form of Patrice Lumumba, US President Dwight Eisenhower ordered the assassination of the country’s first prime minister in 1960. CIA chief Allen Dulles sent a CIA scientist to Congo with a lethal virus. But before the plan could be activated, Lumumba was deposed. He was later captured with CIA help and killed by rebel forces, according to London-based political scientist David Pallister. In his stead they put their administrative harlot, Mobutu Sese Seko. This US-backed Mobutu dictatorship was blessed by the Congolese naivety, making a conducive atmosphere for American plunder, the effects of which are tragically visible today. Explaining Congo’s gradual plunder, international affairs analyst Antonio Figueiredo lays a great deal of the blame on the effects of the post-independence mental hangover and the masses’ ignorance, arguing that "it doesn’t take much imagination to realise that successive generations of the Congolese in the mining of strategic minerals such as uranium (used by the US for the Second World War atomic bombs) up to the present with coltan (used for mobile phones and computers), did not even know the value, the nature or the use of what they were (or are) producing!" To this day, the West’s plunder of Congo continues. Armed with Congo’s background information, it is therefore easy for one to understand America’s alarm when she was caught flat-footed by the Sadc allied forces’ quick and decisive intervention in the Congo in 1998 as they, led by Zimbabwean forces, embarked on a military exercise meant to safeguard Congo from the threat of rebel forces, a campaign which the US saw as a threat to her interests. Hence Rwanda and Uganda, America’s traditional blue-eyed poodles in the region, joined the war to confront the allied forces on the farcical and preposterous pretext that they were merely safeguarding their nations’ security, which they feared could be compromised. The UN, whose shots are called by the US, is believed to have been coerced into standing back in the belief that the allied forces would falter, a dream which did not materialise. The US decided to use the "financial aid" trump card, tightening the screws, especially on Zimbabwe’s economy. No wonder therefore that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, widely deemed as extensions of the US administration, demanded the withdrawal of Zimbabwean forces as a prerequisite for financial aid. The call was ignored, resulting in the total withholding of funding to Zimbabwe. Their plans having failed, the US and the UK tried to "divide and rule" Sadc through the use of our (very beloved but unfortunately politically anachronistic) friend down South, Nelson "Madiba" Mandela. Though the ploy worked partially, it did not manage to succeed in the main agenda of halting the allies’ campaign of securing the Congolese people’s sovereignty. All ploys having failed, the neo-colonialists decided to fight their war from the battle front and started accusing the allies of plundering Congolese resources and looting diamonds in a character assassination plan which they employed concurrently with programmes of economic sabotage within the allied countries’ homelands. This, along with the forming and funding of counter-revolutionary civic groups and political parties, notorious for their sermons in which they preached (and are still preaching!) senseless rhetoric and high-sounding nothings, became the US and the UK policy, particularly in Zimbabwe. This drive, alarmingly, could have worked had the West done their homework and imposed brainy puppets rather than empty vessels and kindergarten dropouts like Morgan Tsvangirai. After the final withdrawal of allied forces from the Congo, it emerges that the Congolese are the biggest losers in this drama. Fortunately, the UN, too, is in a fix thanks to it getting embroiled in the US and the UK’s sinister agenda. Today, the Sadc allies sit back rubbing their hands in glee as the new drama unfolds, and the UN finds that, because of the absence of her prompt action, it is in a quagmire. In the week preceding May 11, fierce fighting was reported to have broken out between thousands of ethnic militia in one of the Congo’s eastern provinces, ironically, with the UN troops coming under heavy fire. In the Ituri provincial town of Bunia, 18 people were reported dead, with fears that the number of casualties could rise. Decaying corpses littered the streets in this fresh cataclysm which promises to last quite a while to come. The UN’s plans to take over from the allied forces-created peace and claim the credit have failed as the latest clashes have seriously set back hopes of a UN-brokered peace. Unfortunately the proverbial saying "when two bulls clash it is the grass that suffers" is becoming a sad reality as civilians, previously protected by the pan-African allies, are now unprotected targets and now have to self impose a curfew or risk being killed. Even the elderly are not spared either. "We’re sitting here with no sanitation, no water, no food. We are too frightened to go anywhere," said a frail 71-year-old man, Paul Impunga, as he spoke to journalists. Meanwhile, the UN commander was seriously injured with a machete by a mob which stomped his facility. Only a confrontational response saved the situation and helped disperse the militiamen. The Congolese Minister of Human Rights, Ntumba Luaba, escaped death by a whisker when his plane was shot at Bunia Airport as it was about to land. It had to fly to neighbouring Rwanda, an hour’s distance, on one engine as the other had fuel flowing out and was on fire. As things stand, disorder seems to be the order of the day with no end in sight. To date three million people have died in clashes since 1998. A further 50 000 have died since June 1999 in ethnic rivalry between the Hema and Lendu and the Congolese Minister of Peace, Vital Kamerhe, blames Uganda for having "fuelled tensions by saying that the Lendu would kill the Hemas". The total UN contingent to date in the populous country is a paltry 450! Now the power and security vacuum created by the withdrawal of Zimbabwe’s gallant sons is being felt. The situation now is more desperate than ever and it does not look like the void will be filled any time soon. The UN recently launched a plea for more peacekeepers from the international community and only Nicaragua and France have responded positively. The US and Britain are nowhere near the horizon! The facts remain agonisingly clear. The Congolese shall continue dying, their children shall continue starving, the realms of their soils shall continually be plundered, their ears shall continuously hear international rhetoric ranging from "Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world" to "blah blah . . . blah" from the world’s Tony Blairs. Yet, may history treat Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, etc, kind by being truthful tomorrow. May our Congolese brothers and sisters declare that they have experienced social torture, not because their Zimbabwean counterparts did not do enough for them or ignored their plight, but rather because of the United Nations’ inertia, the West’s greed, and its infinite selfishness. May our troops, castigated by the West for their honourable role in the Congo, not lose heart, but know that chivalry and heroism is theirs and that it does not take a knighthood from the Queen of England to be a hero, but rather the soothing smile of gratitude on the charcoal-black face of an African child! The
Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" |
