This week marks the 22nd anniversary of Rwanda's and Uganda's Six-Day War in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Both nations fought each other on Congolese soil from June 5 – 10, 2000 for control of Congo's riches. Hundreds of innocent Congolese in the city of Kisangani perished and scores were injured. The victims of Rwanda's and Uganda's war are still demanding justice nearly a quarter century later. Congolese filmmaker Dieudo Hamadi documents the Congolese victims' valiant pursuit of justice in his award-winning film, Downstream to Kinshasa.

The recent outbreak of military confrontation on May 22nd between the Congolese military and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group represents the latest episode in Paul Kagame's 25-year war of pillage and aggression against the Congolese people. The Congolese military in coordination with a United Nations authorized international force made up of South African, Malawian and Tanzanian soldiers defeated the Rwanda-backed M23 in 2013. A lot of the leadership fled back into Rwanda and Uganda where they evidently have been incubated and reconstituted to launch yet another attack on the Congolese people. The stark reality is that there is no M23 without Rwanda. The Congolese military captured two Rwandan soldiers among the M23 rebels in the latest incursions. Tensions have risen between the two nations and is escalating. According to the Congolese military, Rwanda has recently dispatched 500 soldiers in the east of Congo alongside the M23 rebels.

Paul Kagame's Rwanda and Yoweri Museveni's Uganda have both invaded the Congo (1996 & 1998), occupied large swaths of the country, and backed and sponsored militia groups such as the M23 in order to sew mayhem and destruction as both nations profit from Congo's riches. In a 2001 report, the United Nations noted “Presidents Kagame and Museveni are on the verge of becoming the godfathers of the illegal exploitation of natural resources and the continuation of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

Both leaders are able to have their way in the Congo in large part due to the backing they receive from the United States, Great Britain and a number of other Western states. They are authoritarian figures who have been in power for decades - over two decades for Kagame and over three decades for Museveni. They have benefited from U.S. tax payer dollars to the tune of billions in donor aid, military equipment, intelligence, training, etc. In addition, they take full advantage of the diplomatic and political cover provided by the United States in particular, in order to skirt international justice for the mass crimes they have committed in the Great Lakes region of Africa. The exception was Uganda. The International Court of Justice found the Ugandan government culpable for war crimes and plunder in the Congo and order it to pay $325 million in reparations to the Congo. Rwanda would have likely befallen the same fate if not worse but it is not party to the International Court of Justice and hence outside of its jurisdiction.

The cover and protection that Rwanda has experienced has its origins in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda where the United States shielded Paul Kagame and his military from prosecution for war crimes and crimes against humanity that they committed during the Rwandan genocide. The crimes that both Kagame and Museveni have committed in the region have resulted in what the United Nations has called the deadliest conflict in the world since WWII and the greatest humanitarian crisis at the dawn of the 21st Century. An estimated six million Congolese perished between 1996 – 2007 due to the conflict and conflict related causes. The United Nations stated in its 2010 Mapping Exercise Report that if the acts committed by Kagame's military in the Congo were to be "proven before a competent court, could be characterized as crimes of genocide."

Because of the impunity, lack of accountability, and lack of justice combined with the tacit endorsement of Western powers of the criminal actions by Paul Kagame, he has been able to sew murder and mayhem not only in the Congo but in different parts of Africa. He has dispatched assassins in several countries (Kenya, South Africa, Belgium, Netherlands, and England to name a few) in order to silence or assassinate dissidents. South Africa responded forcefully in 2014 by expelling three Rwandan diplomats as a result of Kagame sending his henchmen to assassinate former Rwandan colonel and dissident, Patrick Karegeya. Even today, Kagame recently kidnapped a Belgian Citizen and US resident, Paul Rusesabagina, the real-life hero of the movie Hotel Rwanda. Don Cheadle who played Rusesabagina is a part of a campaign to free the hero who courageously saved lives during the Rwandan genocide. Rusesabagina's family has filed a law suit against the Rwandan government for Kidnapping their patriarch.

In spite of Paul Kagame's well documented crimes, he and his government have been rewarded with leadership in institutions like the Commonwealth and the Francophonie. The red carpet is rolled out for him in Ivy League universities in the United States. Sports associations like the National Basketball Association (NBA) and teams like the Arsenal Football Club of London fully embrace him and he is often found at the World Economic Forum in Davos as a feted guest. The cover that Western governments and institutions have provided to Kagame has enabled him to fight while denying is military’s presence in the East of the Congo and his government’s sponsorship of militia groups like the M23. In a tweet that he later had to walk back, rationalizing the latest incursion by the Rwanda-backed M23 in eastern Congo, former U.S. Ambassador/Special Envoy for the Sahel & Great Lakes Regions of Africa, Dr Peter Pham is yet another example of how Kagame has been given cover.

However, the DR Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi is undaunted. He emphatically states “The resurgence of this armed movement, which was defeated in 2013 with the confiscation of its military arsenal, can only be due to Rwanda. This is no longer a secret.” Tshisekedi goes further by calling for justice for the victims of the Rwandan government’s crimes in the Congo through the implementation of the UN Mapping Exercise Report and the installation of an international criminal tribunal on the crimes in the Congo. This is a  cause that the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dr. Denis Mukwege has long championed.

The Chair of the African Union, Senegalese president Maky Sall said he has spoken to both Paul Kagame and Felix Tshisekedi. He has called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Regional efforts to deescalate the conflict are also being led by Angolan President João Lourenço as head of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).

The U.S. government’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has called for dialogue, which is for all intents and purposes reasserting the status quo of the past quarter century whereby Paul Kagame backs militia groups in the Congo while skirting accountability. As the U.S. government calls for dialogue, the Congolese people are demanding justice and an end to the carte-blanche given to Paul Kagame by the U.S. government while he sponsors atrocities in the Congo.

U.S., UK and EU citizens can play a key role in demanding that their governments cease the military and financial support they lavish on Paul Kagame. Citizens can help put an end to the diplomatic and political cover their governments have provided the Rwandan strongman for past quarter century of criminal wars of aggression Kagame has waged against the people of the DR Congo.

FOTC Team!

Friends of the Congo is saddened and shocked by the sudden passing of our dear sister Nita Evele. We extend our condolences to Nita's family. Nita was a champion for peace and justice in the Congo and Africa. Although carrying a full plate with her responsibilities as a caring mother and a dedicated wife, she always had time to be socially and civically engaged with the challenges of her native country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She marched, testified, spoke and did whatever was necessary to raise awareness about the humanitarian disaster in the Congo. She advocated for policy changes toward her country at the highest levels of the U.S. government. She served in leadership in several organizations striving for a peaceful, just and prosperous Congo. She was serving as the chair of the board of the Panzi Foundation. Nita also served on the advisory council of Friends of the Congo for over a decade.

Nita was the quintessential role model for young girls and women. She consistently advocated for the participation and representation of Congolese women in nontraditional roles, especially in politics and industry. She was a champion for women's rights and equality for women in every sphere of human activity. Her gentle spirit and calm steadfastness in the pursuit of aims beyond herself was admirable.

We will truly miss our sister friend, yet her spirit will live on in the indefatigable pursuit of peace, justice and dignity in the Congo and Africa.

FOTC Family!

Click here to find out how to pay respects to Nita.
Support Nita's family in this time of sorrow.

The deal between former President Joseph Kabila and his coalition, Front commun pour le Congo (FCC) and current President Felix Tshisekedi and his Coalition, Cap pour le changement (CACH), has come to a predictable head. The country is in gridlock due to the internecine battles of the two coalition partners. The political blocks of the two prominent figures on Congo's political scene have repeatedly bumped heads. Since the formation of their coalition, they have been at logger jam, a product of the fraud-riddled 2018 elections.

Many analysts and observers of Congolese politics maintain that the results of Congo's 2018 elections were fixed and arranged by then-president Joseph Kabila so that the most pliable opposition figure, Felix Tshisekedi, could assume the presidency. The French newspaper Le Monde  put it best when it states that Tshisekedi became president through a secret accord with Kabila and a manipulated electoral process. While Tshisekedi would hold the presidency, Kabila and his FCC coalition would control the overwhelming majority of governorships and provincial assemblies, the Parliament’s upper and lower chambers, and ultimately, the Prime Minister’s post. Kabila and his coalition maintain control over the parliament, Prime Minister, key ministries (Finance, Defense, Justice), and parts of the security apparatus.

The Crisis
The factors that brought the crisis to a head revolve around the control of two critical institutions that are fundamental to determining the outcome of the 2023 elections. Both Tshisekedi and Kabila's camp are vying to dominate the so-called National Independent Electoral Commission (Ceni in French) and the Constitutional Court. The two blocks have clashed over a new president appointment to the Ceni and Tshisekedi's installation of three new judges on the Constitutional court. Whichever party or coalition controls these two institutions can determine the elections’ outcome, irrespective of how the Congolese people vote. The 2018 elections are a case in point; the electoral commission announced the winners, and The Constitutional court validated the announced winners even though the CENI published no final breakdown of the election results as required by law.

Tshisekedi's Sacred Union
Kabila and Tshisekedi have met several times over the past two years, presumably to iron out disagreements. Tshisekedi has even cited Kabila as a source of consultation and vowed not to dig into the past to go on a witch hunt against him, and the illicit network he has installed over the past two decades – reportedly one of the conditions of the deal between him and Kabila. However, the latest impasse between the two prominent political figures is different. In a nationwide televised message on the 23rd of October, Tshisekedi issued a call to form a new parliamentary majority, under the emblem of establishing a "sacred union." Tshisekedi launched a nationwide consultation of social and political forces on the 2nd of November to carve out a new majority, which is a direct challenge for all intents and purposes to Kabila and his FCC coalition. According to Kabila, Tshisekedi's undertaking also represents a betrayal of their deal. The mobilization of social and political forces under a “sacred union” that Tshisekedi has called for actually happened already in 2018 when the Congolese masses mobilized to force Joseph Kabila to relinquish power by organizing elections. During those elections, the masses again demonstrated their unity by making it impossible for Kabila to name his anointed successor Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary as the winner. In fact, the people’s aim and purpose was to oust Kabila and his network. It was Tshisekedi who threw Kabila a lifeline by entering into a deal with him that left the bulk of his network and power intact.

The formation of a new majority will be a daunting task, especially considering that Tshisekedi's coalition only controls 47 of the 500 parliamentary seats. Kabila's coalition holds 341 seats. The opposition coalition,  Lamuka, has 112 seats. At least 251 seats are needed to form a new majority. Therefore, Tshisekedi will have to persuade or "buy off"  Kabila's FCC coalition members to join him and the current opposition to create a new parliamentary majority.

Kabila's Response
Kabila has responded swiftly by summoning his coalition members to his farm in Kinshasa, ostensibly to ensure that none of them leaves his camp to join Tshisekedi in his efforts to create a new parliamentary majority. He prohibited members of the FCC from participating in the consultations without his authorization. The FCC governors, however, have been allowed to participate.  During the meeting with his coalition partners, Kabila lambasted Tshisekedi for going back on the deal. Tshisekedi's camp has spent the past two years, denying that such an agreement ever existed. Kabila threatened to make the deal public at the appropriate time.  Kabila shared with his coalition members that the agreement between him and Tshisekedi was “confidential and signed in front of three heads of state.”

France, U.S. and Regional Players
The United States through  its Ambassador, Mike Hammer and Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, have fully backed Tshisekedi's offensive tactics and seem to be well informed of Tshisekedi's moves. Before Tshisekedi delivered his speech to the nation, Ambassador Hammer tweeted that the president has a “big announcement” to make in his upcoming address. The US Ambassador also made it clear that he did not see a need to entertain Joseph Kabila. Meanwhile, France, for its part, does not want to see Kabila marginalized. France dispatched its top diplomat for Africa, Rémy Maréchaux, head of the French foreign ministry's Africa and Indian Ocean section, to meet separately with Tshisekedi and Kabila. The Kenyan vice president, Kalonzo Musyoka, also visited Kinshasa to discuss the political impasse with president Tshisekedi and Kabila.

The Consultations
During the consultations, Tshisekedi has engaged a broad cross-section of Congolese leadership: Opposition parties including major figures like Jean Pierre Bemba and Moise Katumbi; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Denis Mukwege, former presidential candidates; faith leaders; civil society; youth movements; and many other Congolese leaders. Noticeably absent in his consultations are two key members of the Lamuka Coalition, former Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito, and former presidential candidate, Martin Fayulu, who many believe actually won the 2018 elections. Over the past two years, Fayulu has remained unremitting in his denouncement of Tshisekedi, and the deal he made with Kabila to appropriate the 2018 elections at the expense of the will of the Congolese people.

Kabila stepped up his response to Tshisekedi by launching an international diplomatic offensive. He sent letters to the countries that witnessed the signing of the accord (Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa). In addition, he reached out to neighboring Rwanda, the Southern African Development Community and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Gueterres. Tshisekedi, for his part, has visited both Congo-Brazzaville and Angola personally to discuss the crisis with Denis Sassou Nguesso and João Lourenço, respectively. The impression is, as the United States, they support Tshisekedi. Following his visit to Angola, the DRC and Angola’s Air Force conducted a joint military air exercise over Kinshasa, the DRC capital. The Kabila camp took it as an attempted show of strength and a possible threat, which implied  that Tshisekedi was prepared to use force, if necessary, to achieve his objectives. A close advisor to Kabila and his former ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, Kikaya Ben Karubi ridiculed the exercise on his Twitter account. In yet another apparent hard power move, On december 1st, Tshisekedi summoned the heads of the military and police who renewed their pledge of alligiance and fidelity to the president.

The inflammatory rhetoric from both Tshisekedi and Kabila camps warrants serious concerns. Kabila’s FCC has called on Tshisekedi to return to the table to iron matters out. They have repeatedly stated that the resolution to the current crisis can only occur within the agreement and coalition framework. Otherwise, Tshisekedi should opt for cohabitation instead of a coalition government or call for elections at all levels, including the presidency. In a cohabitation  scenario, the FCC would run the government independently without sharing ministries with Tshisekedi’s coalition (CACH).

Tshisekedi's pursuit of a new majority is a long shot and not likely to succeed. The leaders of his political party, The Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), have called on him to dissolve the parliament and organize new elections, but that would be unconstitutional as there is not a crisis between the parliament and the government. Both of which are controlled by Kabila's FCC coalition. It is only if there is a crisis between the Parliament and the government that the president could step in and dissolve Parliament, not if there is a crisis between the President and Parliament.

Congolese politics is fluid and mostly unpredictable. One cannot rule out Tshisekedi returning to the table with Kabila and continuing with the coalition as contentious as it may be. Cohabitation is also an option but is not likely. Another scenario being floated is that Tshisekedi will return to the coalition with Kabila while demanding additional space for key figures from his recently completed consultations. Tshisekedi’s consultations concluded on the 25th of November. He is expected to give an address to the nation, outlining how he plans to move forward.

The Peoples' Dire Material Conditions
While the politicians battle for positioning and advantages, the overwhelming majority of Congolese continue to live in abject poverty and deep misery. Seven out of ten Congolese live on less than $2 a day. Less than 2 out of every ten households have access to electricity. It is the third-largest population in the world without access to electricity. According to the World Food Program, conflict and instability combined with COVID-19 have driven 22 million Congolese or a quarter of the population on the verge of starvation. The east of the country continues to suffer widespread instability and lack of security. According to the Kivu Security Tracker, the first 20 months of the Tshisekedi presidency has witnessed 2,127 civilians killed, 1,450 abducted, 938 kidnapped, which is worse than the last 20 months of the Kabila presidency. According to the Human Rights division of the United Nation’s mission in the DRC, the Congolese Army and Police continue to be the main source of human right’s violations.

Conclusion
The Congo’s enormous challenges would already be daunting with legitimate leaders at the helm who reflect the people’s will  and act in their interest. However, when you have leadership that lacks legitimacy and is a product of a deal among elite politicians, it exponentially complicates the challenges. It makes it nearly impossible to address the basic needs of the people.

The current crop of leaders’ primary concern is their acquisition and maintenance of power by manipulating weak institutions such as the CENI and the Constitutional court. Unfortunately, delivering services to the people and improving their material conditions are not crucial factors in maintaining their power and privilege.

The social movements and resistance that forced Kabila to hold elections in the first place in 2018 must continue to educate, mobilize and organize the Congolese masses for fundamental and lasting change. The charge and appeal remain the same; the people must rid themselves of opportunistic politicians and produce a leadership that will serve the interests and needs of the sons and daughters of the Congo.

By Maurice Carney, Executive Director with contributions by Volunteer Coordinator Bibi Ndala and Intern Achint Das.

Jean-Paul Kibambe, Ingrid Schulze, and Samuel Yagase discussed the impact and importance of the Congo Basin to the rest of the world, with host Lys Alcayna-Stevens presenting and leading the discussion. Each panelist has been involved in developing the Congo positively, such as bridging the divide between rural communities and intellectuals or working in or funding higher education and rainforest conservation. The Congo Basin stores more carbon than the Amazon and Asian rainforests combined and can affect the climate on other continents. This shows how significant the Congo Basin is. The discussion focused on topics of international funding, respecting the local agenda, and letting Congolese citizens be the leader of changing their communities.  

Click here to support flood relief in Isangi, DRC.

Friends of the Congo-Atlanta organized a forum on the Pan-African Response to COVID-19, and the call was moderated by Carl Kananda, who is part of the Friends of the Congo Atlanta network. It covered a diverse array of topics, all related to the global epidemic disrupting society today. All the speakers, including Mr. Martin Azaboy Bunziga of the Telema Youth Movement, Mr. Diallo Kenyatta of the African World Order, Mr. Kambale Musavuli of the Center for Research on the Congo, Dr. Patricia Rodney of the Walter Rodney Foundation and Partners in Health, Education and Development (PHEAD), and Mr. Bernard Warner of the A & B Association of Persons with Disabilities, brought very important insights into the conversation that widened the audience's perspective on the outbreak response effort on the African continent and throughout the African world.



Perhaps the most important takeaway is that similar to most issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the issue boils down to key core elements: malnutrition, misrepresentation, and oppression. If the people of the Congo are hungry, how can they focus on proper prevention techniques to keep them safe in the outbreak? Mr. Musavali's experience in supporting efforts to distribute soap and information speaks volumes about this issue. He was able to share how Congolese youth organized efforts to distribute over 20,000 soap bottles to the people of Kinshasa and educate them about best practices for avoiding the Coronavirus. The youth were met with this response: "we thank you for the soap and information, but before that, we need food." Adding to this is the issue of running water and stable homes, which unfortunately not every citizen has access to. Thus, the response effort does not start with social distancing and vaccination. Instead, it must be adapted to the community itself, a point brought up by many of the experts. If the Congo has the potential to feed the expected increase in the world's population of 2 billion by 2050, why are its people starving? Infrastructure has to be improved at the local level, and basic amenities must be established, closely monitored, and maintained before any other measure. Moreover, control of food production must not be in the hands of the elite, rich, and large international organizations.

We see this consistent issue of how people in the Congo are not the ones in control, even though they are the ones who have the right to be represented and accounted for. It is the typical "power lies in the hands of the few" to the extreme. In political, administrative, and governmental institutions, the common citizens are not the priority - money and influence are. This mindset leads to corruption and exploitation, even of healthcare and humanitarian efforts - the 70-page review by UN forces and aid groups that exposed corruption within the Ebola response, sexual exploitation of women and girls, and manipulation of delivery and procurement of supplies, is a prime example of this (link to this report.

Thus, the overwhelming call from the forum really highlighted how an effective health response and a permanent solution works from the ground up - attend to the basic needs of the people, push for institutional reform, and then call for Pan-African unity. That way, we can expect to see success like the nations in the Caribbean and Mauritius have experienced during the Coronavirus pandemic. If you are interested in viewing the archive of the forum, please click here.

We encourage you to support the efforts of the valiant Congolese youth in combating the Coronavirus by making a contribution to their GoFundMe Campaign.

We, members of the popular mass movement, TELEMA, striving not only for the unity of Africa but also for its solidarity; reflecting on pan-Africanism as articulated by Thomas Sankara, gathered within our organization to reaffirm our solidarity with our African-American brothers and sisters.  Their oppression has been exposed yet again by the brutal and inhumane killing of George Floyd after the police officer of Minneapolis Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost 9 minutes while he was handcuffed and laid face down on the road.

Faced with this act of murder, the popular mass movement, TELEMA demands:
1. The African Union to follow closely the legal processes against Derek Chauvin;
2. African heads of state to challenge and confront the United States, especially at the level of the United Nations, about its human rights abuses of African-Americans;
3. Our brothers and sisters in the 54 African countries to demand of their political leaders to summon the American ambassadors in each country to account for the abuses that are occurring against African Americans;
4. Pan-African movements and organizations to stand together and be vigilant against the injustices that affect the sons and daughters of our dear African continent who were separated from us by the European slave trade.

Long live African American solidarity
Long live African American freedom
Long live African American unity
Long live the pan-Africanism of the people.

Done in Kinshasa, May 31, 2020
Secretariat.

The administration of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the country where the majority of my family was born and raised, announced an initiative to enforce free education for primary school-children. A policy which has been introduced in the past and guaranteed by the constitution. The refund of school fees is in the works. I have my reservations.

While it is written in civil law, the ideal of compulsory education is simply not met throughout the DRC. Enrollment numbers are not suitable for a country nearing 81 million inhabitants. According to Northwestern University, enrollment rates stand at “40% overall for primary and secondary schools, and attendance is even worse in rural areas of the east where ethnic conflict persists”. In 2017, a national study on the DRC conducted by UNICEF found that an average of 95% of Congolese children are not participating in early childhood education or primary education. With the battered history and context of the DRC, government spending is a national concern. Unfortunately, a lot of progress has been at a snail's pace due to mismanagement of funds and corruption. There are so many systemic issues at play with the DRC and the education sector is no different.

Relatively, the public education I have seen in America while attending a public school myself is, granted, one that's ideal compared to places around the world. I'm familiar with “free education” being somewhat circumstantial. This past year, my fees for taking my chosen courses came out to $147. That’s just for classes. In my high school career (3 years), my family has spent around $1,000 for fees.

School fees are mandatory. They go directly towards providing adequate supplies and materials, teachers' salaries to recognize their labor and continuous training, the upkeep of school maintenance, ensuring transportation as a way to acknowledge the wide radius of students. Technology, lunches, courses, etc., etc.. Fees are the indirect costs to allocate for a school’s infrastructure and resources. So, it does act as a condition to getting an education.

America strongly enforces the law that requires a child to attend school for however many days out of the year. It’s an obligation to send your child to school. For low-income families at a greater disadvantage, they can be accommodated in order to maintain equal opportunity. For example, lunch fees would be reduced or completely waived if a family expressed financial insecurity. All in all, the system does its best to cater to a student's situation. The American school system as a whole centralizes and develops the change-makers of tomorrow because it’s free in its’ delivery. Access to education is free whereas tuition is not.

In the Congo, a Central African country with high unemployment and extreme poverty, struggle and stress find a home. The scale of urgency and vulnerability often forces the children to step up to the plate. So in too many cases, the decision is made to exclude education for the sake of reducing expenses. It’s not fair for children to strain themselves in their search to supply their family’s income. It’s not right for a child to choose between survival and education. That alone makes me incredibly frustrated. Theoretically, free education sounds beautiful. Right now, households in DRC are the major source of funding a school receives. That should not be the case, the Government should help foot the bill. “Promising to provide “free” education is not only in keeping with international standards and requirements, it is popular with people.” says Dr. Christina N’tchougan-Sonou, who has directed education projects in Africa for over 20 years. But reform needs to be practical before it is introduced to families that have been regularly under-served by former education policies. “If a school cannot collect some money from the parent, and the government doesn’t send the funding they promise (payment of teacher salaries, school building construction and maintenance, teaching materials), then the school directors don’t have anything to work with and sometimes have to close a school.” As mentioned, the chance of Government spending to actually reach the education sector and families is slim.

Congolese children often share their plea for access to quality education and a roadblock routinely mentioned is the adversity they face due to school fees. Of course, educational inequality should be eradicated and it is the Government’s responsibility to invest in its children. But, how in the world are schools to be funded? The new initiative for free education takes a commendable stab at raising school enrollment, but fails to address quality of education. Especially if there should be a sudden stream of enrolled students, the resources don’t stand a chance.

Mostly free education is a reasonable goal for the best interests of the schools and the children. I’m hoping for a more multi-sectoral response and better oversight by the higher-ups that can correct education management and accountability for DRC’s school network. Eliminating fees is a ways to go looking at the country’s trajectory. Before the kids get accustomed to a fleeting prospect and become even more disoriented by instability, questions should be raised. Will free education lead to the ineffective regulation of schools?