The Congo Problem Explained: Be the Judge

By RW

This is the problem with East Congo (GOMA). The Banyamulenge people are Tutsis who are the same with Tutsis in Rwanda, just like our Ndau people, are the same people with Ndau people in Manica Province in Mozambique, the Alfonso Dhlakamas. Before the Independence of Zimbabwe, we had Manica Province in Zimbabwe bordering Manica Province in Mozambique, one Province in two countries. That is like Kivu in East DRC and part of Western Rwanda.

Mobutu Sese Seko wanted the land in East Congo, not the people, whom he labelled foreigners; so like Donald Trump is saying let the people of Gaza be driven to Egypt and Jordan where other Arabs are, so Israel can occupy the land in Gaza, Mobutu said let us drive out the Tutsis in Eastern Congo into Rwanda where other Tutsis are and keep East Congo to ourselves.

It is like us at Independence in 1980 saying let the Ndau Chimanimani and Chipinge people got to Manica Province in Mozambique where other Ndaus and Shangani are, but we keep our Chimanimani and Chipinge. Exactly like that. Tribalistic intolerance and hate.

So, Mobutu did not provide any government services to East Congo, not that he provided that much anywhere else to begin with, but the neglect in East Congo was tellingly apparent, as were his targeted hostilities.

M23 now, or Banyamulenge forces then, armed themselves to resist being driven out of East Congo. They hated Mobutu, but they were only defending themselves and their homeland.

Laurent Kabila teamed up with these disgruntled people to overthrow Mobutu in 1997. Banyamulenge helped Kabila to overthrow Mobutu based on the agreement that he would not chase them away from Eastern Congo, and also would not marginalise them in terms of welfare and development. They agreed on inclusion in the Kabila government, among other agreements.

Not too long after the fall of Mobutu, Kabila reneged on his promises, angering Museveni in Uganda and Kagame in Rwanda, his erstwhile allies in toppling Mobutu. They were less than impressed of course, so they teamed up to topple him in a sudden turn of events.

They almost succeeded, but just as they were entering Kinshasa on the 2nd of August in 1998, us Zimbabwe and Angola flew in our fighter jets and repelled them, bombing the crap out of the advancing forces, heroically rescuing our President’s friend, Laurent Kabila. That was the beginning of a very expensive 5-year war for us, with telling aftereffects for our country lasting to this day.

So, that marked the beginning of a 5 nation war pitting DRC, Zimbabwe and Angola on one side, then Rwanda and Uganda backing Banyamulenge (now M23) on the other side. The war ran from 1998 to 2002, long after the assassination of Laurent Kabila on 16 January 2001.

We Zimbabweans installed Kabila’s son Joseph after the assassination of our ally Laurent Kabila, or is it our President’s friend? Yes, we did, and he frequented Harare for tutorials on how to run things. But we lost him to his other new allies in DRC as he sought new strategic partnerships for survival.

While we were fighting Ugandans, Banyamulenge and Rwandan troops, Nelson Mandela happily sold arms to all parties fighting and made billions of Rands. He argued you guys are all fighting, you need arms, and someone has got to supply them, and that’s where our brotherhood to all of you kicks in. It’s a win win situation. You get the guns, we make the money, otherwise some Western imperialist will sell you the guns.

Robert Mugabe and Mandela were fighting a fierce personal war over the control of SADC, Mandela being the SADC Chair and Mugabe chairing the SADC SECURITY ORGAN, and unilaterally dragging first Namibia, Mozambique and Angola to the war in the DRC, and later fighting it out with Angola alongside the DRC, when the other two withdrew. Mandela said, “hey I am the Chair of SADC and you can’t just drag SADC members to war without SADC approval,” and Bob replied, “Get lost Nelson. I am the Chair of the Organ on Politics and Security, and don’t you dare stretch your hand to my organ.”

I was in the DRC in 2003 with others in government trying to negotiate our share for the blood we shed in that country. Joseph Kabila was now giving us a cold shoulder and the snub, and all lucrative mining concessions and deals had been given to South Africa, ostensibly because they had investment money, and we did not. Our delegation leader General Vitalis Zvinavashe trembled with indignation, but we were basically screwed.

So today South Africa has a good reason to be fighting in Goma. They are defending their mines there. We went there to secure the same mines, but we were let down.

We have our little business to do with our army locally at the moment, so we will not be bothered this time around. But a sudden deployment of our boys to the battlefield might distract the tide rising in our midst.

Let us see if the SADC chair will have the latitude and opportunity to make such a decision in the next few days. That would be dicey.

I hear Kagame is declaring “war any day” with South Africa. For him it is simple. You don’t want these people they can be part of Rwanda with their land. They are not coming here without Goma, not without their land. You can’t have it both ways.

This is a problem created in Germany in the 19th century at Berlin when they drew these ridiculous borders separating families, one brother into Mozambique and the other in Chipinge in Zimbabwe. It’s there everywhere across Africa.