Congo, a revelator of Western Hypocrisy

“There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. ” Sun Tzu, the Art of War A highly regarded observer recently posted on his blog the following: “A lie repeated a thousand times becomes information, repeated by authorities it becomes truth”. He was referring to the narrative on the DRC crisis situation, I couldn’t agree with him more. A couple of years ago, the Donor Community was consistent in describing the Democratic Republic of Congo as a failed state. Calls for a dramatic change in the political landscape of that country reached a record high when it came time to elect a new President. Such criticism from the West has come to be widely expected, as Western Powers often view themselves as morally superior and irreproachable champions of ideals of human rights and freedoms; this delusion of grandeur and sanctity governs their approach to the rest of the World, especially Africa, serving us our daily dose of dependency on aid with unwanted dictates of how we should behave while receiving it. The ‘white knights’ are there to protect us against “new” invaders, such as China, and serve the cause of our dependency to their systems; effectively convincing some of us Africans of our incapacity to come up with homegrown solutions to our problems, and our inability to come together in executing them for the benefit of our people. The truth stands at antipodes of this assessment, and they know that to be a matter of fact!!! It seems to me that their greatest fear is not to see us fail, but rather to see us succeed… without them! For it is true that we are more likely to turn away from them rather than turn the other cheek, and rightly so! Despite their grim depiction of Africa, a quick fact check on where we stand speaks of a totally different story; the reality is that Africa has steadily demonstrated exemplary growth, despite the current global crisis, with East Africa as its best performer in terms of economic growth; this is the result of almost two decades of stability, security and state capacity build up at a domestic and regional level. The East African Community is the best example to illustrate how regional integration has been beneficial for member states, in terms of economic growth, sustainable regional peace and security. That which was best understood by the founding fathers of the European Union after two World Wars and a continental one, didn’t escape our own analytical minds; the undisputable fact that strength lies in the numbers, that any given people are much stronger together than apart, that regional integration contributes towards economic growth, through peace and stability, and is, therefore, better than being at perpetual odds with your neighbors. The Great Lakes Region of Africa could easily attest to that fact, if not for the troublesome DRC! Somalia and Sudan, in contrast, are, respectively, two examples of how regional players saw it in their interest to make contextual assessments of each situation, resulting in realistic roadmaps leading to stabilization and conflict resolution. In both cases, the International Community has been loudly supporting the African initiatives. Why the different stance when it comes to DR Congo? Different strokes for different folks, you say? Not really. Truth be told, the mineral riches of this troubled land seem to have everything to do with this double standards ever changing approach; until recently, President Kabila was the bad guy who needed to be replaced… now he is the good guy whose ‘sins’ can be forgiven and forgotten, if only he would deliver the head of one Bosco Ntaganda on a silver platter to the International Criminal Court (ICC). With his Presidency at stake, arresting the ex-rebel General, previously integrated in the regular army (FARDC) as a result of a peace deal, became Kabila’s number one priority as re-elected president, even if it meant plunging the country back into the pits of Hell. It was either that or enlisting the assistance of the very country that helped broker the peace with the CNDP: Rwanda. After the visit of Belgian Foreign Minister in Kinshasa, it became crystal clear that the chosen path was war, as Kabila made the announcement of the end of AMANI LEO (which literally means Peace Today); the gloves were officially off. Deprived of the wise counsel of his one-time adviser Mwanke Katumba, may his soul rest in perfect peace, Kabila found himself surrounded with warmongers who were convinced of their ability to defeat the ex-CNDP fighters, whom they believed to be in a weakened state. This newfound confidence in their armed forces was based on the new training received from their Belgian counterparts; according to Kabila’s entourage, victory would be swift and unforgiving! It is fair to conclude that the peace-loving, lesson-giving Donors pressured a poorly advised Kabila into launching a war with the risks of political escalation and setting the whole region ablaze… in the name of the WELFARE of the Congolese people! Interestingly, Rwanda was asked to assist in the arrest of General Ntaganda, first by the DRC, then by the Donor countries, suggesting (and where is the evidence?) that he was frequently spotted tossing beers inside our borders. This proved to be unacceptable to Rwanda’s Leaders, who plainly refused to subscribe to the notion that a solution for the DRC would be produced as a result of arresting a stakeholder in Congolese internal affairs; moreover, the approach was more accusatory then anything. Not used to taking ‘no’ for an answer, the Donors Community retaliated by openly accusing Rwanda of aiding and abetting the M23 insurgents; yet, they (Donors) are the ones to carry the full blame for the ensuing human tragedy; thousands upon thousands have lost their lives and many more fled to neighboring Rwanda and Uganda, in spite of Kigali’s warnings of such inevitable ramifications. Those who say that Rwanda has vested interests in Congo are partially correct: we do! But not the mercenary kind; the mineral wealth of the DRC is, indeed, not ours to share, contrary to claims from cynics and critics. Rwanda’s interests lie in our own prospects for regional peace and the limitless potential for economic growth through the region of the Great lakes, through mutually beneficial economic cooperation, business partnerships and intra-regional trade. That is what Rwanda has been doing in the past and the vision remains unchanged. The truth is that Western Donors made a tactical mistake and are now trying to make Rwanda a scapegoat , digging the ditch deep enough to bury their own guilt. Threats of annihilation of the M23 rebel movement in the midst negotiations for the establishment of a dialogue, by and large favored by regional players, is as reckless as it is potentially destabilizing. Why the sudden obsession with the M23? The FDLR, made up of remnants of the army and militia that championed the 1194 genocide, in contrast, never attracted nearly as much mobilization, yet their reign of terror and record of ruthlessness is a secret to none. Most troubling though is the US and UK authorities willingness to go above and beyond the call of the duty sanctioning Rwanda for a crime, they, admittedly have no tangible evidence to prove. Calls from Rwanda to be treated with fairness have been met with frozen aid and fake smiles all across the board. I am not so saddened by the withheld funds as I am outraged by the ease with which baseless accusations are given weight in the West when it comes to anything African. Not racist, you say? I beg to differ. Race is the elephant in the room nobody ever wants to talk about, because it makes people ‘uncomfortable’… well, get over it! If you are not of color, for lack of a better term, you might want to try sucking up the minor discomfort it may cause in your life for it will never amount to the level of torment it causes in ours (the coloreds).Western mainstream media has been propagating fictions labeled as facts without so much as second guessing their veracity for the sake of making news. And after repeating these falsehoods a thousand times, the lie became information, and as pointed out by the blogger at the beginning of this piece, authorities relayed the information and made it ‘truth’. Once this train had left the station, there was no turning back; not the questionable profile of Steve Hege who single-handedly masterminded the ignominious UN report, and the whole mess that ensued… not even the tearful cries for justice and peace of the suffering masses of the Kivu region. So why should I, as an African analyst, believe in those who have no moral authority to bring about a viable solution in this crisis? I’d rather trust the region and its stakeholders to come up with a comprehensive and lasting solution. Not a single one of them, let alone Rwanda, can afford to have this ‘Damocles Sword’ hanging over our heads for much longer. The wisdom of Sun Tzu in the Art of War says it best: “There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare”.Albert Rudastimburwa is a social commentator and media owner in Rwanda.