EngRegional
Tshisekedi governs DRC on auto pilot mode
The Democratic Republic of Congo is endowed
with many natural resources, so much that it is often referred to as one of the
richest countries on earth.
However, due to a leadership vacuum that got worse during the reign
of President Felix Tshisekedi, the country further sunk into poverty and is now considered one of the poorest countries
in the world.
The President and his cabal of cronies now suffer from
acute amnesia and the country runs in auto-pilot mode. At the beginning
of his presidency, Tshisekedi seemed to have some substantial leadership
difficulties.
To analysts, it was an expected transition,
as the new president had not been in any leadership position. And he had just
inherited the country’s top position under murky circumstances that might have
surprised him just as it was an astonishment to many across the world.
At the time, his closest ally was Vital
Kamerhe, a man who doubled as his mentor. With his credentials, Kamerhe seemed to have understood what the
country needed to get on track toward sound development.
However, the promising move was short lived. The two fell out
immediately and have recently rekindled their relationship, albeit under
dubious circumstances.
Tshisekedi came to power in what was certainly the biggest shock
of his life, and he quickly found himself with a heavy task at hand. He could not
constitute government as easily as all his predecessors. He demanded for help
including from his neighboring counterparts and was eventually facilitated to
have a government in place.
But, he quickly messed it all up as soon as
he woke up to the realisation that he was actually the President of the
country.
His current minister of economy, Kamerhe, was charged
with corruption in April 2020 and was incarcerated in the Makala Prison. Two months later, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years of forced labour for
embezzling over $48 million from public cofers.
However, in a twist of events, he was
absolved of the criminal charges for which he was convicted. In 2023, he
bounced back as Vice Premier and Minister of Economy.
No one knows the whereabouts of the $48 million he
admitted to swindling. The notorious truth
is that his acquittal totally ignord his crimes and the money was never
returned in the public coffers.
The decision of the President to get him back
and to reward him with his current position could only suggest a thoughtful
amnesia and probably a new dawn for his administration's fiascos.
After months of trying to adapt to the new
normal of his boss, Kamerhe proved to have been a superb learner of the
theatric behavior that now characterizes Tshisekedi’s government.
His past months’ curriculum must have
comprised some heavy chapters on how to blame Rwanda for every failures of DRC
and how to contradict oneself against all historical and current facts in total
ignorance of available records. He also had to learn how to keep a sober face
against awkwardness each time they publicly display their self-induced amnesia
against truth.
While in India, his first rehearsal of
Tshisekedi’s blame game script was a misadventure to Kamerhe who completely
shamed himself, thanks to his easily accessible records that substantiate his
lies.
Kamerhe is on record articulating the
historical mistakes committed by his country, then under Mobutu Sese Seko
leadership, which he accused of collaborating with Rwandan genocidal forces -
at the time called ALIR. He also stated that the group of genocidaires were using his
country to regroup with an aim of returning to Rwanda to complete the work they
had left unfinished - exterminating the Tutsi.
Kamerhe’s statements in India point to some
appalling ideological bankruptcy and thus erase any hope in the
current leadership of DRC. It supported the argument that DRC is a country on auto-pilot, left
to survive at the mercy of God until its gets better
leadership.
All in all, facts remain stubborn and are on
record to be verified. Rwanda should and will never be responsible for the
administration of DRC.
The leadership failure of DRC should be owned
by Congolese leaders. They should be the ones to look for a way out of their country’s mayhem.
