War broke out in the eastern part of DRC again in August since which time 250,000 people have been displaced. The CNDP headed by Laurent Nkunda has seized large parts of the province of North Kivu, threatening the provincial capital Goma.
The conflict is about power sharing and access to resources in the context of a weak and discriminatory state. Besides resources, unresolved issues from the Rwandese genocide — the presence in the DRC of the Forces Démocratiques de la Libération du Rwanda [a rebel group operating in Kivu, made up principally of former Rwandan Army and militia responsible for the 1994 genocide] and the evidence of their alliance with the Kinshasa regime — draws in Rwanda, at least indirectly.
The colonial forces always organised, conquered or colonised people administratively by dividing them into tribes. The state still treats communities differently; even the formation of the government reflects those differences. The Tutsi Congolese have a history of having been oppressed by the state, for example when during Mobutu regime, their right of nationality was revoked.
Most of the neighbouring countries do not really want a strong DRC and the DRC has not been able so far to develop a posture of good neigbhourliness with its neighbours — at the moment, Rwanda is accused of involvement and Angolan troops are again on the way. Most of the neighbouring countries who have suffered because of Mobutu's gendarme regime want DR Congo to be weak and, also Kinshasha regime's contacts with China has perturbed West.
All this is because Kinshasha has no authority over its borders. Furthermore, it has got no real army, no public administration and is unable to defend her territorial integrity. funds meant for the war front are often diverted. Food meant for the army are found being sold at stores. The African union should form a neutral team to oversee the restructuring of FARDC.
Since the 1960s, at the end of each war in the DRC, peace agreements have failed to honestly take up the issue of national reconciliation. Too often, the solution has been based on power sharing favoring the strongest element and sometimes ignoring the defeated element, ie the divisions among the people are not dealt with and some continue to feel excluded, making it difficult for the state to function as a state for all people.
Since its creation at the 1885 Berlin Conference, the Congo has been an international colony entrusted into the hands of some person (Leopold II), some country (Belgium); then an international neocolony entrusted to the hands of the Troika (U.S., France, Belgium); now it’s in the hands of the U.S. and European Union.
The fear here is that, given the feeling left by the West’s doing nothing to prevent the genocide in Rwanda, they may raise the spectre of Kosovo [the carving out of a new state]. But the Congolese people will defend their territorial integrity.
The [present] U.N. mission reminds one of the ONUC, in the 1960s. The government that invited it seems to have changed its mind. Even the increased troop strength won’t change much.
Since the issue should be to achieve a long lasting settlement, the more the institutions are involved the better. During the time of the secessions (of Katanga and South Kasai in 1963), President Kasa-Vubu did meet with the leaders of the secessions.
