Editor,You have to grant the Congolese one thing; no matter how seemingly insurmountable the evidence staring them in the face, they can never seem to give up manufacturing their own facts to conform to their upside down view of the world. Which brings me to the inescapable conclusion: nothing requiring their contribution to a solution to THEIR OWN AND ONLY THEIR OWN problem will ever work. It is high time Africa accepted the painful reality of the Congolese incapacity to be part of any solution to their condition, and impose a trusteeship on the entity known as the DRC. It should then undertake a wide-ranging consultation involving the entire population – following at least a 10-year preparatory phase – to determine how the Congolese view their future. It may be that majorities in different regions, such as Katanga, the Kivus, Kasai, and the area covering the territory of the former Kongo Kingdom might opt for secession or a loose confederation or autonomous states. The alternative tried so far – a strong centralised administration based in far-away Kinshasa – has clearly failed to fulfill the basic needs of the populations in the peripheral provinces of the east. And as we all know, continuing something that has clearly failed over and over again and expect a different outcome is the very definition of insanity.Mwene Kalinda(Response to the story titled "AU backs regional approach on DRC” – The New Times, September 21)