In recent days, a number of photos and videos have been circulating on the internet, showing men and women covered in dust in scenes that are both shocking and artistic. Behind these productions lie the paradoxes between the lives of the people and the political and mining operators in the DRC.
"Creativity has always been the soul of our nation. When it is used by artists to bring about change and denounce injustice, it deserves to be applauded. I join their voice", says a Congolese editorialist.
Luilu is a town in Lualaba province, in the Mutshatsha territory, around 30 kilometres from Kolwezi, the provincial capital and world cobalt capital. Rich in mineral resources, Luilu is home to Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), a joint venture between the Swiss giant Glencore (75%) and the Congolese state-owned company Gécamines (25%).
But both it and the region are short of everything, including the basics. "In Kolwezi, finding water is a real challenge, and the inhabitants depend on the few boreholes. Electricity is unstable, and the Luilu-Kolwezi road is a real ordeal. Yes, people in Kolwezi are suffering. The image we show you doesn't always reflect reality," said a young man from the region.
VisitLuilu was launched spontaneously by a group of local comedians who wanted to alert the authorities to the advanced state of disrepair of the town's roads. Overall, it is a questioning of the environmental impact, the counterpart of local communities on the exploitation of strategic resources at a time when the Congo holds a large share of several raw materials.
"How can we explain that just 30 kilometres from Kolwezi, people are living in such a precarious state, even though they are literally sleeping on colossal wealth? This contrast between the resources of the subsoil and the misery of daily life is not only shocking, but unacceptable" said Joël Lamika, initiator of the Congolese consumer movement.
Professors from public universities in the Democratic Republic of Congo staged a sit-in in front of the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday to demand a direct meeting with the Prime Minister, Judith Suminwa Tuluka.
According to sources close to the delegation, the professors declined the offer of a meeting with the deputy head of cabinet of the head of government, arguing that only a deputy prime minister could represent the prime minister under the order of precedence.
This action is part of the persistent demands of the academic body for an improvement in their salary conditions, the honoring of commitments made by the government and the effective implementation of certain promised reforms.
For several weeks now, the teachers' associations have been exerting pressure in an attempt to obtain a frank dialogue with the country's highest authorities. Their categorical refusal to talk to a member of the Prime Minister's office reflects their desire to raise their voice and obtain political answers at the highest level.
No official reaction from the government has yet been received.
Tuver Wundi, JED's correspondent in Goma and Provincial Director of RTNC, is being held on the premises of the ANR in Kinshasa.
Concerned Journaliste en Danger (JED) reports that its correspondent in Goma and Provincial Director of the national radio and television station is being held by the Agence Nationale des Renseignements (ANR).
According to an official source contacted by JED, he is "being debriefed by the services".
Tuver Wundi had been in Kinshasa for several weeks, coming from Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, currently occupied by the AFC/M23 rebels.
The organization recalls that in March 2025, after the capture of Goma by the M23 rebels, Tuver Wundi had already been arrested and detained for several days by the AFC M23 intelligence services.
JED regrets this prolonged deprivation of a journalist's freedom. "The silence surrounding this arrest only fuels the concern of his family, his colleagues and the entire profession", stresses JED, which is calling for Tuver Wundi's swift release or, failing that, for transparent communication on the charges against him.
Colonialism never presents itself in its true, predatory form. It masks itself as an open hand, a benevolent force of intervention, even a civilising factor, when in truth it seeks nothing but the subjugation and exploitation of its target group for financial and political gain. Walter Rodney, a prominent West Indian Pan-Africanist, speaker and author, wrote extensively on the cyclical nature of colonialism, wherein it initially appears as a well-meaning involvement in the politics of a nation only to decisively hinder, or altogether sabotage the development of a victimised people. Rodney commonly refers to the case of the Congo, where the cycle can be seen initially through the initial interactions between the Kingdom of Kongo and Portugal, again the intervention of King Leopold and the following atrocities committed under the Congo Free state, once more with The Belgian Congo and finally reappearing with the assassination of Lumumba. Utilising Rodney’s writing, the cycle of colonialism can be observed once more with current events in the DRC and the states diplomacy with Rwanda and Uganda, where exploitative intentions are once more disguised under thin veils of righteousness.
For background, it is important to understand who Walter Rodney was both as a thinker and a person. Rodney was born in Georgetown, Guyana on the 23rd of March 1942, growing up during the country’s anti-colonial movement, led by the People’s Progressive party. Rodney’s own father was a member, providing him with an early exposure to the Marxist-aligned thought of the party. Rodney had an incredible academic upbringing attending Queen’s College, the most prestigious boys’ school in Guyana, winning an open scholarship studying undergraduate studies at the University of West Indies, Jamaica. In 1963, Rodney graduated with First Class Honors BA in History, moving across the Atlantic to London shortly after to study at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) for postgraduate studies, where he graduated at 24 with a PhD with Honors in African history. During his time in the UK, Rodney was mentored by CLR James and was an active member of the CLR James study group, emboldening his Marxist-leanings and fostering the development of his pan-Africanist thought. Rodney’s first teaching job stationed him in the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania in 1966, the city of Dar es Salaam being the base of many exiled African liberation movements such as the ANC (South Africa), FRELIMO (Mozambique) and the MPLA (Angola). Here, our thinker fully developed his Pan-Africanist perspective, which mixed with his Marxist upbringing to create his life-long anti-colonial thought. Rodney made significant efforts to empower the marginalized and impoverished, teaching working class people in depressed parts of Kingston and rural areas of Jamaica in 1968 to build Black solidarity and protest the growingly authoritarian government. For this, Rodney was banned from Jamaica, returning to Dar es Salaam in 1969 where he published his famous book “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” among other revered works. In 1974, Rodney returned to Guyana amid conflict between the East Indian based Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) and African based Peoples National Congress (PNC) to assume an open professor position but was barred by the PNC Government, which saw him as a dangerous radical. This pushed Rodney to join the newly formed Working People’s Alliance (WPA), which campaigned against the PNC’s growing authoritarianism and offered a non-racial approach to a growingly racialised political climate. Rodney increasingly became a leading figure of the WPA, culminating in his state-ordered assassination by the PNC via car bombing on Friday the 13th of June 1980. Despite his life being cut short, Rodney’s works are still highly revered within pan-African and anti-colonial groups for their powerful messaging and detailed analysis of colonial systems.
Rodney’s references to the Congo comment on the cyclical nature of colonialism within the country, where colonial agents put on a façade of benevolence to get close to key actors and exploit gaps or tensions in indigenous state structures for material gain. This phenomenon can be observed first in interactions between the Kingdom of Kongo and Europe. In the wider colonial context Europe portrayed its emissaries in Africa as “explorers and missionaries bringing civilisation to the natives”, an image while appealing to many African rulers at the time such as the King of Kongo, is recognisably problematic today, as Rodney comments “There was a large and well-developed Congolese empire before the white man reached Africa.” Beneath this portrayal lay predatory interest, wherein Europe only really sought to ensure a secure stream of gold and revenues which they would use to power the colonial machine in the Americas, all the while keeping Africa in a vulnerable artificial position behind the rest of the world. Particularly, the nations of Europe asserted themselves as the middlemen of intra-African trade, exchanging their cheap and outdated consumer goods for African goods and trading them with other African states in the stead of their original traders, removing African financial independence and rendering them much weaker in the face of growing European demands. This also meant that Europeans could fill their slave ships with little cost to actual European resources. In the case of the Kongo, requests for European masons, priests, clerks, and physicians were met with Portuguese coercions to provide slaves. These pressures only worsened as Europe quickly began exploiting contradictions and contentions within the structure of the Kongo to “play one part of the Kongo kingdom against another”, filling their slave ship holds with prisoners of war as warring sides became desperate for funding to continue their long and tiring conflicts.
The cycle can be seen repeating once more during the rule of King Leopold, who took over the Congo under the guise of an anti-slavery mission against perceived slaver kings in Africa despite the European origins to the trade. In truth, King Leopold was a representative for a myriad of European nations interested in exploiting the Congo for its gold, copper, ivory, and rubber, with the anti-slavery mission giving Europe a larger license to exercise control over the Congolese state. King Leopold’s ‘benevolent’ rule over the Congo, was especially brutal, repressive, and greed-ridden, with its “labour policies” for Congolese workers masking horrific atrocities, such as mass mutilations, massacres and famines, inciting humanitarian outcries even from other European nations. King Leopold only expressed disdain at the widespread practice of removing hands of workers who did not meet quotas, complaining about how removing hands harmed his profits. At times more than a third of the capital produced in the Congo went out in the forms of profits for European businesses, all too often at the cost of Congolese lives, dignity, and freedom. By 1906, King Leopold himself had made at least $20 million from rubber and ivory trade in the Congo, highlighting the real, financial reasons for his imposition on the Congolese people and his continued support by Europe. The later Belgian annexation of the Congo Free state in 1908, while supposedly conducted in response to international pressure on the exploitation committed under King Leopold II, was only supported by Europe as Leopold had violated the agreements on free trade, once again showing the predatory interests hiding behind the noble projections of European intervention in Africa.
In the case of Lumumba and the Congo crisis, Rodney observes how the Congolese people had regained their political independence and reclaimed the political power of governing their own affairs that had been previously lost to white imperialism. The presence of anti-western and non-Eurocentric sentiments in Lumumba’s government concerned the West, sparking fears particularly within the US who saw a potential for communist/soviet influence in the Congo. There were also fears that these anti-western sentiments would push western companies out of lucrative areas in the Congo, especially Katanga, which was rich in copper, cobalt, and uranium. Belgium and its mining companies were distinctly worried by the possibility of losing access to these resources, resultantly supporting Moise Tshombe and the secession of Katanga through military training and deploying troops to ensure continued access to their mines and minerals. Outwardly, Belgium stated they had intervened to keep the peace and support their ally, hiding their financial angle in supporting Katanga. From this we can once again observe the cycle of colonists hiding their true intentions behind peaceful, noble causes depicted by Rodney.
Utilising Rodney’s analysis, one needs to approach the current crisis cautiously. Given the history of external actors and agents of colonialism saying one thing and doing another, the stated missions of all relevant forces in the ongoing conflict must be criticised; Is Rwanda really enacting ‘defensive measures’ when there is looming evidence of the state looting resources from the DRC and assisting the M23 group in their operations in the east? Are Uganda’s insistences that they both are protecting themselves from the chaos of the Congo and assisting in the fight against Rwanda factual when there are accusations of the army plundering gold and violating the rights of civilians? Is the UN telling the truth about the intent of MONUSCO when they have ignored multiple requests by the Congolese government for withdrawal and repeatedly fail to prevent conflict and arms proliferation? The cycle of colonialism has plagued the Congo since the first interactions between the Kingdom and European merchants and has stalked the progression of the country into the modern day. For the sake of Congolese livelihood, dignity and freedom, the cycle must be broken, and that starts with measuring what actors say against what they do in today’s conflict.
In the common memory of the Cold War and wider global anti-colonial struggles, conflict is often only discussed in either military or intellectual terms, resulting in a loop of covering armed struggles such as the Vietnam War (1955-1975) or the propaganda campaigns of the US, USSR and Non-Aligned movement to win the hearts and minds of global audiences. While these battlefields, armed and ideological, are indeed key to understanding this epoch, attention must be called to the fronts beyond this binary. Notably, music stood to be a particular area of contention, wherein opposing ideas of social organization, nationalism and sovereignty fought between sheet notes, and struggled within lyrical prose. To this end, the following blog will cover the journey of Congolese Rumba and through time into the modern day, highlighting an enduring Congolese wish for unity, peace, and independence despite its utilisation by Mobutu and the Kabilas for political gain.
Rumba itself originates across the Atlantic in Cuba, springing to life as a mixture of folk music from Spanish slavers and African captives taken to the island colony to fulfil its harsh production quotas. Of these slaves, 70% were trafficked from the Congo River basin, adding a distinct African foundation to the new musical style. Rumba found its way back to the Congo in the 1930s, as colonial officers hired Cuban bands such as ‘Orquesta Aragon’ to entertain them while they occupied their posts. Rumba Lingala, or Congolese Rumba, was born shortly following interactions between Rumba and Congolese music, melding the related styles into a musical common ground between Congolese people and Black diasporas. As stated by author Bob W. White in his article ‘Listening Together, Thinking Out Loud’, popular culture such as films, music and literature can act like a “coherence machine” for collective memory, providing groups with the tools to mobilize memory beyond the abstract into political consciousness without the lengthy individual process of unravelling the social world. Therefore, Rumba Lingala became a means through which Congolese communities could come to terms with their treatment and call for the unity and independence they desired, altering the organization of Rumba Lingala from original Rumba to better reflect these messages. In terms of lyricism, Rumba Lingala was originally exclusively sung in the four principal national languages of the DRC (Lingala, Kiswahili, Tshiluba and Kikongo), challenging the colonial imposition of the French language through asserting and popularising the use of their own. Generally, Rumba Lingala challenged colonial authority, encouraging a Congolese identity that ran along national rather than ethnic lines to combat colonial ‘divide and conquer’ tactics that had pitted groups such as the Kuba, Luba and Tetela against one another. Rumba Lingala sought to stimulate sentiments of shared destiny among the Congolese community, binding warring groups together to better campaign against colonial rule. To push this messaging, compositions were notedly repeated within songs to emphasise ideological messaging and ensure points made were hammered in. Observably, Rumba Lingala also has a marked loyalty to single tonality, close harmonies reflecting a desired sense of national Congolese community within songs themselves through providing all aspects of the music with equal footing. Congolese Rumba often relies on the use of call and response within its lyricism, construing a running dialogue on independence and unity and inviting audiences to join in on conversation. To highlight their progressive orientation, many Rumba bands called themselves jazz bands, a symbol of modernity and an explicit wish to maintain solidarity with Black Americans and other marginalised groups who had popularised Jazz. As it got more popular, Rumba Lingala’s liberationist messaging quickly spread through communities via a combination of utilising radio technology and “La Conjecture” – the Congolese social activity wherein communities listen to music together, making the messaging and organisation of music a much more communal matter. Resultantly, it was music before any propaganda campaign which popularised ideas of Congolese national liberation among the masses, keeping ideas of a unified and free Congo fresh within the minds of all the Congo’s people. Congolese Rumba slowly began to influence the music of other independence movements, showcased by E.T Mensah’s “Ghana Freedom” (1957) which incorporated Rumba Lingala’s iconic guitar patterns, Latin-style horns and call-and-response vocals into African Highlife to celebrate Ghana’s recent independence from the British. Furthermore, similarly to many Rumba Lingala songs which directly referred to independence movement leaders, ‘Ghana Freedom’ uses call-and-response vocals to mimic conversation about Nkrumah, construing him as the people’s leader and a hero of Ghana. Through this, Congolese Rumba had inseparably attached itself to African nationalist expression, becoming the musical foundation for anti-colonialist songs. Rumba Lingala’s political prowess was fully realised during the Year of Africa 1960, as Le Grand Kallé and L’African Jazz released the song “Indépendance Cha Cha” to celebrate the imminent independence of Congo. Indépendance Cha Cha became extremely popular and was lauded as the “First Pan-African hit” following its huge successes in French Congo and the rest of Francophone Africa and use by countries such as Rwanda for their respective independence celebrations. Over the years, Rumba Lingala had managed to establish itself as a powerful instrument of change and political consciousness, which unfortunately, following the Congo Crisis (1960-1965) increasingly began being appropriated by regimes to legitimate themselves in the eyes of the people for their own ends.
In the early years of the Second Republic, Mobutu launched his ‘Authenticité’ campaign, wherein the last vestiges of colonial influence would be cast aside, and a singular African Congolese culture would flourish through promoting African cultural values, names and titles, symbolised by Mobutu’s own name change from Joseph-Désiré Mobutu to Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga. However, Mobutu found himself desperately needing to stabilise public opinions of him and his regime following his betrayal of Lumumba to Katangese forces during the Congo Crisis. Moving quickly to declare Lumumba as the First National hero of the Congo to placate present public outrage, Mobutu foresaw a route for legitimising himself as the next hero of the Congo through music, harnessing the influence of Congolese Rumba for his own gain. Bands such as O.K. Jazz were commissioned to create songs perpetuating controlled messages that positioned Mobutu in favourable lighting. Songs began to increasingly push both Pro-Lumumba and Pro-Mobutu messages, artificially establishing Mobutu as the destined successor of Lumumba and someone who could be trusted to continue his excellent work. This allowed Mobutu to lift opinion of him by attaching it to the much more popular figure in Lumumba, and better his standing as Ruler of the Second Republic. Going further, Rumba Lingala songs began to tie Mobutu to the idea of the Congolese nation itself, portraying the nation as a family in political organisation. This resultantly bound Mobutu’s rule and the Congolese nation together, falsifying a sense of essentiality to Mobutu’s rule to ensure the prosperity of the Congolese nation and demonising those who criticised the regime through likening it to betraying family. While efforts to stabilise his rule through music had empowered Mobutu, the success of propaganda through music became a double-edged sword to the Second Republic, as musicians gained enough political power not just to promote Mobutu, but implicitly criticise his rule, making music one of the few safe spaces for anti-Mobutu messages. Nevertheless, Mobutu managed to successfully harness the political influence of Congolese Rumba to solidify his rule and position within the Second Republic of Congo.
The trend of music as a political tool, albeit utilised on a much lower level, branches further into the Congo under the Kabilas, who endorsed musicians with political power in return for favourable songs. The best example of this is the late “Queen of Mutuashi” Tshala Muana and her relationship with both Kabila presidents. Tshala Muana rose to fame for her distinct style of Congolese Rumba, singing mostly in her native language of Tshiluba and dancing Mutuashi, the traditional dance of the Luba people as part of a loving promotion of her people’s culture in the wider world of Rumba Lingala. Muana often used her music as a platform for advocacy, giving the poor a voice and pushing for the rights of women and children. Through this, she preserved the original espousing properties of Rumba, while reapplying the centres of espousal to modern issues. Her most popular song “Lekela Mwadi” (1996) serves as a great example of this, speaking about the significant role women play in Congolese society, promoting women’s rights and achievements in the late years of Mobutu’s regime, where such discourse was obstructed by the enforcement of traditional silent, domestic roles for women. Notably, the lyrics portray the Congo in the microcosm of a village, depicting women as anchors of village community and therefore, Congo at large, mimicking pro-Mobutu motifs of the Congo as a village community for advocacy. Muana sings about often keeping things running politically and socially fall to women, making them instrumental to the survival of society. The line “Mukaji mufua bintu bibombe” – “when a woman dies, things fall apart” entrenches ideas of women as vital to Congolese society, highlighting the great loss to societal foundations when women die or are endangered. Muana was nominated into parliament by Laurent Kabila, fostering a lifelong loyalty to the Kabilas through their political support of her subsequent movements to enhance and protect the rights of women and children. Muana’s loyalty to the Kabila regime stood strong as power passed from Laurent to Joseph Kabila, with a lot of her following songs such as “Kabila very strong” pushing Pro-Kabila messages. Despite mass boycotts of her concerts in response to her support of Kabila, Muana maintained mass influence over Congolese music, helping to popularise Pro-Kabila sentiment even after his successor Felix Tshisekedi stepped forward. This ironically came back to bite her in 2020, when she was arrested due to her song “Ingratitude” having anti-Tshisekedi lyrics in it, claiming Tshisekedi had been an ungrateful mentee to Joseph Kabila and had strayed from the path preset by his predecessors. The following ban of the song from local radio stations proves that Muana’s messaging was deemed influential enough to be a risk to Tshisekedi and his regime, highlighting the continued prevalence of music in influencing Congolese politics.
Today, the sway of music over Congolese politics remains strong and Rumba Lingala remains a vehicle for voicing political strife, now often taking the form of samples for Congolese rap, as seen with Lexxus Legal and his Rumba backed hip-hop songs which criticise the current conditions of the Congo and call for social change. In 2023, the Amani festival in Bukavu featured a myriad of songs, some Congolese Rumba, to call for peace and reconciliation for areas affected by the recent conflict, especially Goma, where the festival was originally held, but had to be relocated due to M23 occupation. The festival provided young people with a chance to express their concerns and wishes, giving a voice to the underrepresented youth and once again displayed the survival of Rumba Lingala’s original function in franchising the disenfranchised.
Rumba Lingala, through the ages of the DRC, has shown its strength as a haven for anti-colonial dissent and defined itself as a herald of change, pushing for Congolese unity and peace. Despite tampering from several politicians, namely Mobutu, the core message of freedom and co-operation in the Congo has stood strong, allowing Congolese Rumba to remain an influential anti-colonial tool in current times. The music style’s evocative lyrics, use of call-and-response vocals and equal footing given to all aspects of a song has helped foster a common idea of Congolese community and disseminate the wishes of the people often left without a voice in the political world. If we are to take anything away from the continued impact of Rumba Lingala over Congolese politics, it’s that the voices of the people will be heard no matter what, if not in parliament than on the streets, and if not then, then it will find a home between the notes of music.
Torrential rain that fell on most of Bunyakiri, in Kalehe territory, on the night of Sunday 17 August caused the death of at least eleven people and extensive material damage. The provisional toll was presented on Monday 18 August by the local authorities. The victims are seeking help in vain.
According to initial reports from the scene, at least 11 people have lost their lives and there has been extensive material damage.
In a press release, civil society offers its deepest condolences to the bereaved families and assures the people of Bunyakiri of its moral support at this difficult time. It points out that this tragedy has occurred in a context already marked by the consequences of the M23 war, which makes the humanitarian situation even more worrying.
We share the grief of the families who have lost their loved ones, and we call on the Congolese government and humanitarian partners to intervene urgently to help the victims, both in terms of humanitarian aid and disaster risk prevention", said the President of the Forces Vives civil society organization in Kalehe, Prince Chiririmbo.
The organization is also calling on the authorities to step up measures to protect and assist local communities, so that such tragedies do not continue to plunge the people of Kalehe into mourning.
Located some 70 kilometers north of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province, the territory of Kalehe is regularly hit by natural disasters, due to its geographical location with steep slopes and abundant rainfall.
Almost 48 hours after the floods, aid is still slow to reach those affected. The local authorities are calling on the provincial and central governments to intervene quickly to clear the roads and help the families affected.
The NGO "Journaliste En Danger (Journalist in danger)" denounces the restrictions imposed on the media by the M23 rebels in the occupied territories. In a press release issued on Thursday 21 August 2025, the organization expresses its deep concern and strongly condemns the threats made against the media operating in the province of South Kivu by the leaders of this rebellion.
"The head of the communication, media and postal department of the AFC/M23, Lawrence Kanyuka, held a meeting on Monday 18 August 2025 with radio, television and online media managers in Bukavu, during which threats were made to close down media outlets that did not comply with regulations imposed unilaterally by the armed group", reads the statement.
At that meeting, JED reports that "media representatives were ordered to comply with a new circular note n°33 imposing an annual fee, an operating license and a frequency assignment. An inspection detachment is even planned in the coming days to force the application of these measures, under threat of outright closure of media outlets that refuse to comply. Even more worryingly, the media have been banned from relaying any information deemed favorable to the regime in Kinshasa, the FARDC or the Wazalendo, on the pretext of the "principle of reciprocity" with regard to the restrictions imposed by the Congolese authorities".
JED considers these decisions to be unacceptable and illegal interference in the operation of the media, in flagrant violation of the fundamental principles of press freedom, pluralism of information and the public's right to be informed in a balanced and independent manner.
"By imposing political and ideological censorship and seeking to silence dissenting voices, the AFC/M23 movement is directly attacking the integrity of journalistic work and jeopardizing the safety of journalists in an area already marked by instability," says the NGO, which demands:
1. The immediate withdrawal of all coercive measures imposed on the media by the AFC/M23;
2. An end to threats and intimidation against media professionals operating in South Kivu;
3. Respect for the right to information and editorial independence of the media, even in areas under the control of armed groups.
The NGO "calls on the international community, press freedom organizations and the DRC's partners to take action against this authoritarian drift, which is increasing the risks for journalists in the east of the country".
“Africa is shaped like a revolver, and the Congo is the trigger” – These are the words of French West Indian psychoanalyst, Marxist philosopher, and Algerian revolutionary, Frantz Fanon. When spoken about, Fanon is remembered for his contribution to anti-colonialist efforts against France in Algeria, and his written works covering the psychological and social trauma on the colonized caused by colonial rule. While these feats are noble and, in the case of Algerian independence, crucial against the psychological end of anti-colonial struggle, it is also important to keep his writings on the Congo and its place in African liberation in running conversation as they offer apt insight on how colonialism affected political power balances in central and southern Africa. Considering the recent crisis, this urgency has only grown, as the themes of colonial control mentioned by Fanon are observable in recent interactions between the Congo, Europe, the UN, Rwanda, and Uganda, and offer explanations for the nuances of current African power relations.
For background, Fanon was born in 1925 in the French colony of Martinique to a mixed-race, middle-class family. This unique circumstance exposed Fanon to the reality of colonial life, both the benefits of the system of the ruling and compliant classes, through his attendance at the prestigious Lycée Victor Schoeler school, as well as the costs incurred on colonized livelihoods through his Afro-Caribbean heritage. Despite this early awareness and anti-colonial education through his tutelage by Aime Cesaire, Fanon initially subscribed to the French colonial image, joining the 5th Antillean marching Battalion as part of the Free French Forces (FFL) in World War 2. During his service, Fanon became increasingly disillusioned by the racial discrimination propagated by both the FFL and Vichy France, stating in a letter to his brother Joby that he had been “deceived” by the ‘honourable’ struggle of the French and was sick of it. Following the Second World War, Fanon studied literature, drama, and philosophy at the University of Lyon shortly before doing a residency in Psychiatry at Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole. This education led to Fanon’s eventual station at Blida-Joinville Psychiatric Hospital in Algeria, where Fanon’s disillusionment spilled over into open opposition following his disgust at the enforcement of colonial norms despite their clear mental effect on hospital residents. After handing in his famous “Letter of Resignation to the Resident Minister,” Fanon joined the FLN, aiding in efforts to free Algeria from French occupation through writing and ambassador work, primarily to Ghana. Fanon continued this line of work until his leukaemia diagnosis, going to the US for medical treatment in a deal with the CIA made at the request of his comrades. Fanon’s sudden death in 1961 from double pneumonia, which he contracted during his abandonment in a hotel by his assigned CIA operative, cut the career and life of Fanon short, but his place in Algerian liberation and wider Africanist thought has preserved his memory.
Fanon wrote extensively in praise of both the Congo and Lumumba, supporting Lumumba’s mission “to liberate his people and make sure that his people no longer lived in great poverty and indignity, despite the riches of the Congo.” The writer also had a high reverence for the music of Congo, depicting it as a strong, beautiful representation of wider Black/African culture unfathomable to the white man. Musical talent was not the only quality of the Congo that Fanon praised, remarking on the profound sense of unity among peoples fostered within the nation through Lumumba’s leadership. It was his stark belief that if any tribal dissensions remained in the Congo, it was because they were kept up by agents of colonialism. These agents of colonialism were numerous, spanning from European states to the UN and all the way to rival African puppet governments. Primarily, Fanon believed these agents sought to spark rebellion by funding and arming the “lumpenproletariat,” the lazy, unemployed, and criminal elements within Congolese society, to sow dissent. These groups eventually formed the rebel armies of Kasai and Katanga.
Although initially called in as a peacekeeping force, Fanon was strongly against the intervention of the UN in the Congo, calling the organisation a “legal card used by the imperialist interests when the card of brute force has failed” in his book “Toward the African Revolution.” A unified Congo under Lumumba, to Fanon, ran counter to European interests in Central and Southern Africa, as Lumumba had proclaimed that the complete independence of the regions would follow the liberation of the Congo, dedicating support to nationalist movements in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Angola. This threatened the material interests of the European empires, which had massive ambitions in extracting the vast abundances of resources, such as gold, rubber, and diamonds, from Africa. Their desperation only doubled following realisations that Lumumba was dedicated to his cause and could not be bought unlike the many “chiefs of puppet governments, amid their puppet independence” that Fanon observed populating African governments. The UN and its bias of power to the West then formed a perfect cover for Europe and affiliated parties to undermine Lumumba. Specifically, Fanon spoke about how the independent development of the Congo threatened Belgian interests, seeing the UN as its guarantor for sabotaging Congolese efforts towards furtherment. The UN was used as a cover by Belgian soldiers to commit atrocities, as well as a safety buffer by Belgian-funded enemies of the Congolese state to arouse public opinion against Lumumba in key regions such as Katanga. During this the UN also proved incapable of “validly settling a single one of the problems raised before the conscience of man by colonialism” or stopping any of the many massacres that took place during the 60s Congo Crisis, furthering notions of its biased and ineffective involvement.
Fanon’s denunciation of the UN for its shallow and Eurocentric involvement in the Congo during the 1960s crisis is poignant, given the current opinion of the UN’s continued presence in the country. In ‘Le Monde diplomatique’, Sabine Cessou writes how, despite the investiture of up to $1.3bn between 1999 and 2016, the deployment of 22,400 personnel in the DRC and the continued support of the UNSC in the Congolese “stabilisation” mission since 1999, the UN has failed to “prevent massacres or check the proliferation of armed groups” in the east, particularly the Rwanda-backed M23 group. Furthermore, the UN has maintained its presence in the Congo, despite its council voting for an end to MONUSCO, the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the DRC, in January 2024, extending its mandate to December 2025 in the face of M23 violations of the ceasefire agreement in North Kivu. Such decisions are insulting given their documented history of failing to prevent M23 from arming itself, as well as their blatant ignorance of repeated demands from Kabila during his presidency for UN withdrawal, as well as current President Félix Tshisekedi’s push for a complete withdrawal of MONUSCO by the end of 2024. The UN’s continued lack of interest in maintaining the peace despite its constant insistence on involvement was best highlighted by its inaction to break up clashing protestors and police outside the home of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi in August 2016, showing a willingness to overlook clear-cut cases of political violence. This often-lacklustre involvement in Congolese politics ensures one thing: that the Congo is kept weak, a condition beneficial to Ugandan, Rwandan, and European interests in a mirror image likeness to the benefits destabilising the Congo had to Europe during the crisis of the sixties.
Overall, Fanon held the Congo in high regard, praising its anti-colonial unity under Lumumba as well as its musical prowess. His criticisms of the involvement of the UN in the Congo as an ill-disguised intrusion of imperial interests in domestic Congolese politics still hold water today, as evidenced by current reactions to the UN’s continued presence in the DRC. One thing to note is that, despite despairing at the loss of Lumumba, Fanon encourages hope in the face of opposition to Congolese unity, stating that “no one knows the name of the next Lumumba.” Just as Fanon held hope for the Congo in the sixties, we should have the same hope for the Congo now, as with effort and drive, the liberation of the country from colonial invasion is a question of when, not if.
After weeks of negotiations and speculation, the formation of the Suminwa 2 government was finally unveiled on Thursday 7 August. However, far from putting an end to the debate, the announcement has rekindled questions about the coherence, transparency and true motivations behind the choices made by the current government.
"It's like robbing Saint Paul to pay Saint Peter. It's just a swapping of ministers. The Head of State is being stifled by people who are anxious for their positions and don't want to give way. Take the example of one of the ministers: from ESU to rural development to agriculture", says Vedder Luebeya, a resident of Kinshasa.
Assistant Arsène Kaputu, who was approached, noted that it was a case of the same animators being assigned, but with different jackets.
"We don't see enough difference compared to the SUMINWA 1 government. It's like someone saying that there hasn't been a reshuffle but rather a permutation because there are certain ministers who were in Ministry A who will be taken to Ministry B. Those who were in Ministry B will be taken to Ministry C and even when you see the total number of portfolios in the SUMINWA 1 government, SUMINWA 2 has 53 portfolios whereas SUMINUA 1 had 54. When you look at the total number of portfolios in the SUMINWA 1 government, SUMINWA 2 has 53 portfolios whereas SUMINUA 1 had 54 portfolios. So there has been no reduction in the lifestyle of the institutions. This means that it's more or less the same team that has changed jackets", he analyses.
The timeless features of the Tshisekedi regime:
In the space of six years, almost a hundred men and women have served in government, but several have stood the test of time, becoming "indestructible" members of the national executive. There are five in all who have never left the government since Félix Tshisekedi became head of state. Julien Paluku and Didier Budimbu are the other two of Tshisekedi's "indestructibles". Paluku, who was appointed Minister of Industry, retained his post after turning his coat, joining the Sacred Union like the majority of his peers who had abandoned Joseph Kabila's camp. Didier Budimbu started at the bottom of the ladder, appointed deputy minister of EPST in 2019. After the FCC-CACH divorce, this close friend of Denise Nyakeru, wife of Félix Tshisekedi, gained influence to find himself at the heart of management. Irène Esambo is also on Félix Tshisekedi's list of "indestructibles". She is still Minister Delegate in charge of people living with disabilities.
Didier Mazenga, who, incidentally, took over the leadership of the Parti lumumbiste (PALU), has never left the government since 2019 and has been Minister of Transport, Regional Integration and Tourism in turn. But the first of them is undoubtedly Jean-Lucien Bussa. His longevity is even greater than that of the President. Having joined the government in December 2016 when he was appointed Minister of Planning, the former member of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) has settled in for the long term.
"President Tshisekedi should know that he will have no more excuses to offer the people when it is he himself who wants to keep the same people who have not been up to the job," said Désiré Tshimbekoy, a political analyst.
Criticism of certain figures:
While the government has been criticised for not being "tightened and open to the opposition and civil society" as announced, some of its new members have been the subject of criticism since their appointment. This is the case of Grace Emie Kutino, appointed Minister for Youth, who is undoubtedly the most controversial member of this new government team, even before she took office. Many analyses and criticisms are circulating on social networks, questioning her choice by the President of the Republic.
Other ministers such as Noella Ayeganagato, who has left the Ministry of Youth to take up the post of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Guy Kabombo Mwadimvita, who has been appointed Minister of National Defence and Veterans' Affairs, are also being questioned.
Journalist Fiston Wilondja Mazambi was found dead in the early hours of Tuesday 05 August in the town of Bukavu, in the province of South Kivu. Traces of torture were visible on the stunned body lying in a street in the town of Bukavu.
The organisation Journaliste En Danger (JED) is calling on the leaders of the M23-AFC rebellion to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of journalist Wilondja Mazambi Fiston, who was found dead in the early hours of Tuesday 05 August in Bukavu, the provincial capital of South Kivu.
Wilondja Mazambi Fiston, who was in his thirties, worked for the media monitoring centre (Centrale de Monitoring des Médias), an ethical and deontological monitoring program of the National Union of the Press of Congo (UNPC).
In its press release, JED states that the journalist succumbed to his injuries on arrival in the emergency room of Bukavu General Hospital, after having been subjected to "serious torture".
According to its sources, Journaliste En Danger reports that "Wilondja Mazambi had been abducted the previous day by an 'armed commando'" at around 6 p.m. in the vicinity of Place Mulamba chez Mangaza, in the Nguba district.
"A great writer has died, a victim of his commitment to the truth. The DRC has lost a man of his word, democracy has lost a defender, and the press mourns one of its own" said a journalist.
While expressing its dismay, JED is "urgently" calling on the authorities of the AFC/M23, the rebellion that controls Bukavu, to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of journalist Wilondja Mazambi, which, according to the organization, does not appear to be an ordinary case of insecurity.
