Opinion
Rwanda to blame: Will The Lie™ shape 2023 DR Congo Presidential elections?
Why must Rwanda be offered as a sacrificial lamb at
the altar of Congolese electorship?
“The genocidal massacre perpetrated in Kisheshe on
29 and 30 November is one too many crimes against humanity committed in the DRC
by the Rwandan suppletifs of M23” - said Martin Fayulu (disgraced opposition
leader and self-proclaimed victor of the 2018 Congolese Presidential elections)
during his “Presidential end of year address” to a nation that maintains his
civilian status.
“The insecurity problem today in the Great lakes
Region is called Rwanda” – said “President elect” Felix Tshisekedi, on January
17th 2023 at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
It appears that Martin Fayulu, and indeed his
political nemesis, President Felix Tshisekedi, both bank on one simple
narrative to win the 2023 Presidency: “Rwanda is to blame, for everything”.
This lie is dangled in front of the xenophobic end
of the Congolese electorate, like a shiny twinkling object before a neglected
toddler in need of distraction from a soiled nappy unlikely to be changed any
time soon.
If you were to believe the Congolese news, and
indeed the reports of some of the countries historically guilty of fanning the
fires of the Great Lakes’ region’s conflicts, Rwanda backs terrorism claiming
the lives of innocent Congolese citizens. There is of course zero proof of this
narrative, because it is a lie – The Lie™.
Congo’s turmoil has seen more days than many of us.
Between humanitarian crises, conflicting reports from international
institutions, coups and contested elections, foreign military presence and the
residue of regional wars, it is hard to diagnose the root cause of the disease.
Is it the conflicts resulting into the poverty, or is it the poverty resulting
in the conflicts?
Whether conflict or poverty is the core issue,
either, and both, only fester through incompetent leadership.
This is where Fayulu and Tshisekedi would interrupt,
chests puffed with feigned outrage, as if The Lie™ might gain credibility, as
claimed by the Nazi Big Lie theory, with repetition: “it is Rwanda ruining
everything!”
It isn’t so silly a tactic.
The scapegoating of Rwanda is routinely picked up by
international publications, which, as far as our continent is concerned, seem
to bear and breed a taste for simplicity, for reductiveness, for Good Victim
African vs Bad Killer African outlooks.
The truth about Congo’s current problems, is,
however, more nuanced.
0.4% of deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo
can be directly attributed to violence. Insalubrity, preventable diseases and
poor access to healthcare, as well as malnutrition, account for the vast
majority of avertable deaths in the DRC. Seasonal tragedies as the result of
infrastructure collapse, such as the recent deaths of at least 169 people in
Kinshasa alone following heavy rainfall, inflate these numbers yearly.
There are currently over 130 armed groups fighting
for their share of the Congo Eldorado, stirred and shielded by ethnic divide,
the questionable agendas of international shareholders of its gas and mineral
wealth, and global apathy to the “characteristic” violence marring the Great
Lakes Region.
Congolese citizens have lived in abject poverty,
conflict, unsafe infrastructure and poor sanitation for 6 decades beyond DRC’s
independence. Congo is ranked 8th in the world in terms of poverty, 3rd in the
world in terms of likelihood to incur internal mass murder, 11th in the world
in terms of corruption, and 17th in the world in terms of wealth inequity.
Nevertheless, a global taste for a conflict-centric
narrative to contextualize African misery routinely refutes the responsibility
of Congolese leaders to provide good internal governance, or a tangible
improvement in poverty rates since the end of the Second Congo war, almost
twenty years ago.
Instead, officials have for long deviated attention
and criticism, and garnered international military and financial support, using
conflict-mongering.
Conflict-mongering becomes ever more useful during
the election period, when rather than present a sound, transparent economic
plan (and pledge accountability for its results), politicians can theatrically
extrapolate, inflame and frighten, appealing to emotions rather than analytical
approbation.
In the past, this has worked splendidly well for
devious leaders across the world. Diversionary Foreign Policy, typically characterized
by Diversionary War, surmises: “unpopular leaders generate foreign policy
crises to both divert the public’s attention away from the discontent with
their rule and bolster their political fortunes”. Academics justifiably argue
that “political leaders’ popularity increases as the imminence of foreign
threat and international conflict rises”.
The “dictatorship” of Rwandan President Paul Kagame
“spilling onto Congolese soil” springs to mind, as one of those colourful
diversionary fictions. Storytelling, or narrative creation, is linked to
facilitated bonding, increased empathy and a resulting willingness to champion
a perceived hero, or victim.
The story many are told about Congo’s current
plight, in sometimes upsetting, graphic terms, tickles both the “African
trigger-happy military tyrant” western kink, and every human’s emotional,
hormonal vulnerability to a compelling narrative; our desire to empathise with
a proclaimed “wronged party”.
The lie™ is perfectly compatible with the rapid
update cycle format of social media, where reductive, shocking and emotionally
engaging narratives perform eerily well.
While analysis on the impact of poor public policy -
and the resulting breakdown of institutions and resource misallocation - on
citizen welfare may be apt critique of Congo’s predicaments, it’s just not as
appealing, is it? This analysis would not aggressively villainize one entity,
while elevating the other to the endearing status of hero or victim. It is not
twitter-sexy, snappy, or momentous. It is complex, and boring; unlike inspired
fiction.
As aforementioned, the exhaustive truth surrounding
Congo’s situation is more nuanced.
Nevertheless, while the presence of armed groups in
Congo, including the infamous M23, can appear at times sensationalized and
inflated for political gains, to ignore the devastating impact of terrorism and
violent rebellion in Congo on the daily lives of its civilians would be highly
negligent.
So why do Congolese leaders not want to address
their internal terrorism issues; the murders committed by the Mai-Mai, or the
protection of Interahamwe, or the presence of the Islamic State on Congolese
soil, or the persistent local use of child soldiers (to state a few)?
Here is what I believe needs to be fixed by the 2023
Presidential Elections. If Congo hopes to dissolve some, and ideally all, of
its terrorist groups, if resource-rich Congo hopes to eventually stop making
the “poorest countries in the world” list, an ambitious, accountable and
self-demanding leader must be elected. And this person, the past 4 years of
soaring conflict and sinking living conditions in Congo have shown, does not
seem to be Felix Antoine Tshisekedi, let alone is discount version, Martin
Fayulu. I wish our Congolese brothers and sisters the best of luck, and change,
at last.
Source: www.newtimes.co.rw