African leaders are poor listeners; as a result, they deploy brute force to replace tacit diplomacy. SADC forces in the DRC epitomize what is wrong with the African leadership. Not every problem you throw military brawn, and go to sleep in the hope when you wake up, you expect the problem to have spirited away. Here comes the disappointment when you wake up: the problem has metastasized. Problems rarely go away because you can impose your will with a gun barrel. This article recommends SADC get out of this mess now before it is too late because wallowing in it can only worsen the conflict. And African unity is needed to resolve colonial-imposed injustices.
“You can’t resolve the problem of DRC with force of arms “. Former SA President Thabo Mbeki last year April: “You can’t resolve the problem of DRC with force of arms……this is a political problem which cannot be resolved militarily…and those rebel forces already in the East DRC should be left there while the real political problems are being addressed…..SADC forces will kill and maim innocent people, aggravating the situation there …“
When a senior African elder such as Thabo Mbeki speaks, the rulers of the day ought to listen very carefully. Former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s efforts in the DRC have miserably failed largely because he lacks moral authority to begin with. His family’s exchequer history in Kenya mimicked all regimes to govern DRC: amassing wealth and land at the expense of the majority poor. He is not part of the solution but part of the problem. He exemplifies what is wrong with African leadership: acute narcissism. To his credit, Uhuru Kenyatta had urged the Kinshasa government to officially recognize Banyamulenge as citizens of the DRC. DRC government accused Kenyatta of siding with Rwanda. From that moment, the peace talks collapsed. Whether a solo effort by Uhuru Kenyatta was part of a problem is a discussion for another day.
True, there are many methodologies in conflict resolution in an African context that require the involvement of elders, women and the youth. The late Kenyan professor Ali Mazrui did extensive work on how Africans can tap into their own human resources, experiences and intuition in conflict resolution. Kenyans during her 2007 elections, violence had successfully involved elders, and by a whisker, navigated the horrors that were unfolding before her eyes. Former President Benjamin Mkapa (now deceased), Former First Lady of South Africa, Graca Machel, former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (now deceased) and others were pivotal keys to thawing the tensions and ill-will that had engulfed Kenya.
Prior to that, our own First President Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere and later South African Nelson Mandela led peace initiatives in Burundi, and we can all see the result today. The most important question is why military force is taking precedence over political negotiations? South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s comments were fundamentally wrong, and SADC needs to upbraid him. What he is saying to justify sending his men and women in uniforms into the DRC is to protect the mines that, according to him, are being looted by Rwanda through her military proxies: M23. However, in a later official communique, South Africa sought succour in the SADC resolution to explain why her forces being in the DRC was part of the peacekeeping initiative. But can there be one without involving M23? The non-involvement of M23 may narrate why SADC forces have been attacked and killed inside the DRC. M23’s perception is that SADC is aiding the DRC government in exterminating her legitimate claims on the DRC.
While it is true that Rwanda has been milking the DRC about 150 tons of coltan every month, that problem does not justify military intervention at the expense of protecting the lives of the vulnerable now at the mercy of the warring sides. The first priority is the cessation of military warmongering, which alone will save lives.
What is of interest: SADC & EAC will summon peace talks that exclude M23! If peace talks in the Middle East must involve the warring parties of Israel and Hamas, what stops them from sending an invitation to M23? Will there ever be peace in the DRC when the juggernaut of the conflict, M23, is ignored? Unless M23 is fully involved in any peace talks, we should not expect the war to end. Nobody can speak on their behalf because they are Congolese citizens harbouring grudges against tribalism and bigotry.
Both SADC and EAC need to continue drumming Kinshasa to accept and acknowledge Banyamulenge as her citizens or agree to a cessation of East DRC, just like South Sudan. Colonial boundaries came with the responsibility to honour the people inside those boundaries, a failure which led to the breakup of a country into two fragments. Colonial DRC assimilated the Banyamulenge. However, postcolonial DRC had an on-and-off relationship with Banyamulenge. Sometimes, they accept them to help the rulers of the day subdue their political threats, but no sooner have those aims been achieved than the beneficiaries tend to dump them. It was a relationship of “use and dump.”
Such toxic engagements have to end now as a prelude to working out serious stuff leading to a devolved government. As DRC stands today, it lacks structures to spearhead equal regional development. East DRC is the least developed, which is another source of discontentment. Postcolonial DRC has failed to address these regional disparities and cannot now be trusted to right an endemic wrong: Looting Eastern DRC to enrich those in power somewhere in Kinshasa and elsewhere. President Kagame of Rwanda has accused South Africa of being one of the major beneficiaries of mineral extraction in the DRC. He indirectly linked South Africa with sending her military to the DRC not for anything else but to protect her strategic mining interest.
When a CNN reporter asked him whether there were Rwandan troops in the DRC, his response was as good as no answer. President Kagame said he didn’t know whether his troops were there. Strangely, what is not being observed is the DRC conflict is jolting our amnesia and xenophobia in order to carry out major citizenship reforms.
Africa needs to answer this question: What is stopping her from having one citizenship for all Africans? All these African organizations are useless unless they begin to reverse the historical injustices inflicted by colonialism. The most negative impacts of colonialism are borders and citizenship requirements. Nothing has weakened Africa more than borders and citizenship.
Dismantling borders and citizenship are what is hindering Africa from realising her aspirations, dreams and hopes. We are our worst enemies when we are more than willing to wage wars to reassert. We are still mentally and psychologically enslaved by colonial, very addictive opioids that are more destructive than synthetic methyl.
Read more about How equipped are SADC Forces in DRC?
