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Kinshasa in Fire and in Blood

KINSHASA, DRC — What exactly took place in Kinshasa from 22 to 23 March of this year?

The people of Democratic Republic of Congo had just, through last year’s elections, provided the country with a new political structure and institutions. People were eager to participate in and protect the newborn democracy in order to support national reconstruction.

Unfortunately, from the time that the results of the final round of the October 2006 presidential vote were announced, Jean Pierre Bemba, a former DR Congo Vice-President who lost the election to Joseph Kabila, was unwilling to accept his defeat. Bemba was later elected National Senator and decided to lead what he called a republican opposition.

While the government and the UN called for all the military groups related to different rebel leaders to integrate the national army, Bemba, with a significant number of soldiers in Kinshasa and elsewhere, asked the government to allow him to keep 500 to assure his personal security. The national government gave a deadline for all rebel military groups to be integrated into the regular army. The former Vice-President refused to respect this deadline.

Three days prior to the confrontation, Bemba delivered on his privately owned television channel a provocative and at times discourteous speech attacking the President, the Prime Minister, and the Chief of Staff of the national army. This speech, which purported to be “in the cause of truth,” increased the ire of the authorities, who Bemba characterized as inept and unable to defeat him.

It was against this background that on the morning of Thursday 22 March, the head of the Congolese Armed Forces deployed troops, who were already in position for a face off with Bemba’s military. At about 10:45 the first shots were fired in the middle of the commune of Gombe. Gombe is located in the middle of Kinshasa and is the location of many of the key institutions of the capital. Offices, markets, elite schools, and embassies are located there. No advance warning was given to the general population to leave the conflict zone.

I personally was about 20 meters from Mandela Square on the way to the central market where the conflict began. The street fight lasted two days and produced tragic results. Though the number of casualties is contested, it is agreed that there were well over 100 killed and 200 wounded.

Our Mennonite Central Committee colleague Suzanne Lind was trapped in her office for two days. When I reached her by telephone, she reported that she still had some water and that a neighbor woman had brought her an egg to eat. She was not able to return to her apartment from Gombe.

The primary and secondary school students of Boboto and Bosanga schools were unable to leave their schools for three days. The administrators of the central bank and many other office workers suffered the same fate.

In Kinshasa, where so many people live from hand to mouth, it is essential that the average citizen is able to move around the city in order to find what is needed to survive. Thus, being unable to circulate is a major hardship particularly for the poor.

The young democracy is once again threatened. Many among the population who saw Bemba’s military as a public danger are satisfied to see them neutralized. While I do not believe that weapons are the best way to find solutions to problems, the lack of acceptance of defeat and lack of openness of the former Vice-President was a real problem.

Peace in DRC has been constructed at considerable cost by church and civil society workers. The looting of stores and shops, rape, and killing by men in uniform must be stopped. After these acts carried out in anger, the misery suffered by the people is only more profound.

Our challenge is to continue the peace-building process in Congo, and to continue rebuilding our country. The institutional structures of the country have been put in place, but it will take time for them to fully take control. We will remain vigilant to protect what has been achieved at considerable cost. I myself have given much energy and effort to building peace in Congo. We must not allow the destruction of these efforts through violence, in a country where the population lives in abject misery.

Mukambu Ya'Namwisi Eric
Coordinator, Council for Peace and Reconciliation in the Congo
(Rev. Mukambu is a pastor in the Mennonite Church of Congo – CMCO.)
Translation by Tim Lind, MWC Church-to-Church Relations Consultant