MADAGASCAR, IVORY COST, HAITI, DRC:
CCA CALL IN FACING THE SAME POLITICAL SYNDROME
by Dr. Mbaya Kankwenda

Events that have been happening in Congo (the one claiming to be democratic) for the last three years, and most particularly since the preparation and the organization of the constitutional referendum recall to our mind one of the famous thoughts of the national hero P.E. Lumumba. He said indeed that Congo independence however valiantly conquered, seemed to have put the country in a kind of cage where those who put it there sometimes look at Congo with arrogance and contempt, sometimes with commiseration, and condescension. The political re-colonization of such a large country in the center of the continent, through an international trusteeship led by the CIAT, but actually directed by some Western countries under cover of the MONUC and the EU, and especially with an accomplice and resigning silence of the African Union, is the central fact and the political stake of these events.

It is known that the immense wealth of this large country, its geopolitical position in the center of the continent, as well as the external powers, multinational companies and commercial criminal networks’ game, are at the center of the fights and cabals orchestrated by the latter, against the independence and the dignity of the Congolese people, and thus against the establishment of a true democracy in Congo. But they are not the only ones responsible for what is happening in the country. Mabika Kalanda said that one colonizes only those who are “colonizable”, and he was right. Congo of today is “colonizable” because although knowing that with its enormous economic potentials, the country is likely to enticing many international predators, within the framework of the international predatory system (ISP), its leadership lacked nationalist force for a patriotic union to defend the interests of the country and the people. The said leadership accepted to be colonized, and embarked on or was put in the external forces vans, believing to benefit from their protection and their legitimacy.

Since then constitutional manipulations, violations of the transition constitutional provisions and the "legal" provisions of the Sun City Agreement in South Africa, frauds, cheatings and other obvious irregularities, be they at the level of the constitutional referendum or especially at the level of the elections themselves, exclusions of the true democratic forces, assassinations, imprisonments, intimidations of the people and the organized popular forces, handling and misinformation of the opinion, the utilization of the international media to prepare the opinion to accept the accomplished fact as desired by the forces that decided to put Congo and Congolese people in a cage and re-colonize the country, as well as the instrumentalization of democratic transition civil society institutions (CEI, HAM, etc), all that is not any more of the masked play. If some times back these masks were opaque, they became increasingly transparent, and today they openly fell. The game is known. Its orchestration is known. Its results as wanted by the game masters are known. Nobody is duped any more.

Today Congolese people are facing or confronting an international coalition for Congo re-colonization, which found, or better which fabricated and bought those who from within the country, will play the role in the indirect rule of the new institutional arrangement: setting out a cage and re-colonization of Congo.

After the failure of the diabolic initial attempts at "yougoslavization" and later on of "somalization" of Congo, for better colonizing and sharing the seizure and the exploitation of the resources of the country, the IPS which seems to play the acceptance of this result, did not completely give up its project. I must affirm that the aforementioned attempts failed thanks to the vigilance of our valiant people more than of their leaders in power or competing to be there.

1. Devices for political intimidation and pressure on the popular conscience

The international coalition which carries out the political game in DRC is facing a remarkable vigilance from the people and certain political parties, in particular since the machination and its actors’ masks fell. It then decided to use other arguments to intimidate the people and their democratic forces. These arguments are inter alia the following:

(i) A reinforced military presence - almost twenty thousands troops (MONUC and EU combined) working together with Government political repression militias and so-called security forces -, not to ensure the security of the elections as preached, - the Congolese people have demonstrated that they didn’t need any -, not to ensure the security of the people themselves, as it is the case for the populations who need such a security in Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and East of Katanga in particular, but rather to terrorize these people and their political organizations, if it happens to them to refuse to accept the strategy (of some powers of the international community) for re-colonization of Congo and putting it in a cage. Congolese people know and say indeed that the time of the colonial "kapitas" appointed through one does not know which faked operation, or appointed by any authoritarian ruler is finished. That explains the deployment of these international forces, and particularly the EOFOR in some neuralgic places that are most likely to violently oppose the orchestration of the new era of “kapitas” and indirect rule. In fact which elections does one try to make safe in Kasaï in the aftermath of elections, if not the imposition of the verdict not of the ballot boxes, but that of the setters out of the cage for Congo?

(ii) Consistent attempts to demonize certain political forces and their leaders, to exclude them from the democratic process, to splash if not blacken their image and their nationalism, etc. The UDPS and Tshisekedi are presented like eternal turned sour ambitious, the rigid ones, not strategists and without spirit of collaboration and political realism, etc, because of their firmness on the principles of true democracy and rule of law. Bemba which seems to be profiled like an important emerging leader on the national political theater, and this is happening with a surprising effect for the Masters of the electoral machination, is always presented as "the former rebel" who committed unnamable crimes, whereas all of them from the “presidential space” currently competing for elective political positions are "former rebels". But the term is reserved for certain and not for others. Moreover, the threats of the international court weigh on him as a way of intimidation, whereas in fact, when it comes to war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide, all presidential space is supposed guilty and must answer of the same crimes.

(iii) Persistent attempts for corruption and laying off of the political leaders who would agree to play the game. That started with Olivier Kamitatu whom one made believe that he had a political future if he could detach himself from his group, and join the other camp for which the international community was preparing the “prestigious position” of new recognized "kapitas" and or "medal-holder chief" of the neo-colony. And that continued with many other leaders. The idea that the after-election will be like the before-election, to make people and leaders accept that the wining majority should not be the only one in control of state power, but rather that it must arrange for power sharing with envisaged loosing belligerents such as RCD and MLC in particular. This idea is part of the orchestrated game, and is part of the setting out of Congolese cage and political corruption. It consists in sparing certain forces which one knows or suspects the capacity of harmful effect, but also in intimidating them so that they agree to enter the pre and post-electoral game, but without too much claim. It also consists in finding places for the "good children" called to play the new part of "kapita" or "medal-holder chief" in the process of staging the international trusteeship of the country.

(iv) The refusal to Congolese medias, political parties Heads Quarters and staffs, and finally to Congolese people as a whole, the right to make the legitimate addition of the results of the elections already posted by some electoral offices. This other operation for intimidation and setting out of cage comes not only from the government, but especially from the CIAT, the official authority of the neo-colony, and chief guarantor of the results of the electoral machination. Whereas certain embassies announce like Louis Michel in Belgium the “real” or desired result of the process as orchestrated by the IPS, and do it also through loudspeakers of the Western press to prepare the international opinion, whereas silence is made on the serious irregularities denounced by the democratic forces, certain political parties, and even by certain credible international observers, one wants to close the mouth of Congolese people and their medias, denying them a legitimate right, that the West takes over on itself.

(v) The spectrum of the partition of the country between East and West. One widely diffuses that the East of the country may have massively voted for president Kabila, while the West of the country may have massively voted for the vice-president Bemba, and that this devotes the political risk of the partition or even the political implosion of Congo between East and West. I must say at onset that in spite of its internal divergences on the subject, the West does not really and totally reject the bursting of the country. It is one of its strategies, as indicated above. Then, if Lower-Congo, Kinshasa, Bandundu and Ecuador provinces can be considered as constituting the West of Congo, and that the Eastern Province, the two Kivus and Maniema constitute the East of DRC, the situation is not the same when it comes to Katanga province, divided between Tanganyika and a part of the North which are in the East, and Lualaba for example which is in the West. But more important is the situation of the Great Kasaï which, in this case, is neither in the East, nor in the West, but indeed in the Center of the country. And it is said that it would have voted for Bemba. The result is that the latter would be "massively" elected in the West and the Center of the country. What would obstruct even more the West staged game. Where are the division and the risk of East-West bursting then? Is it just a Western handling? A scarecrow to intimidate and make pressure for the type of artificial alliances that the international community does prepare and cook in case the imposition of pre-selected medal-holder chief does not succeed? Actually and although it has been instrumentalized throughout the Congolese political history, Kasayi is in Congo what the latter is in Central Africa and even in Africa as a whole. Its current political weakness, which is also at the center stage of the political weakness of Congo itself, does not constitute a factor which makes it that one can as one wants, align it in the East or in the West of the country, at the contrary of what it is both politically and/or geographically. One often hear people in Africa saying that "When Congo politically wakes up, then Africa….". But on the same vein one can say at national level that "When Kasayi politically wakes up in Congo, then Congo…".

(vi) The accusation against Congolese peoples and some of their political forces to nourish a political feeling of xenophobia. At the onset one must say that this accusation from the international community and its medias is a recognition that there are indeed non Congolese citizens in the race for power in Congo. And as it is often them – the non Congolese citizen - that the West backs like one does it in a horse-race, the Congolese people refusal to accept being led by non Congolese or foreigner leaders disturbs Western and the famous international community handlings. And one knows that never Belgians would accept that the Walloon Region be politically run by a Flemish President and vice versa. In the same way no German would accept that a French citizen becomes a German chancellor, etc. Not by xenophobia, but by legitimate feeling of national pride, because that is a constitutional law internationally recognized in all the countries. Why does one want to deny it to Congolese? The refusal is indeed a confession from the international community that its choice and backing go on foreign horses, and that the ongoing staging is truly a project of re-colonization of the country. Then it is for them, necessary to give a guilty conscience to the Congolese peoples and to accuse some of their political chiefs of xenophobia.

2. Political consequences for the game in progress and the future of Congo

As I said it, the masks fell and the face to face is obvious and inevitable, even if the West thinks of wining it by ways of Kalashnikov, money and other similar handlings. But what is true is that these operations have had certain political consequences which have an impact on the current situation, its immediate prospects, and the future of the country. Those are in particular:

(i) The rise of the political conscience of the Congolese people, masses democratic organizations and their political forces for change, thus allowing on the one hand, to resist the political handlings by the West through its so-called international community, and on the other hand, to constrain the latter to make fall its masks;

(ii) The toughening of the Congolese nationalism and sense of patriotism in an increasing movement, which worries the West, and constrains it to openly play its true game, thus refusing to lose the face and engaging itself in defending its image in a stubborn way, against the main direction of the political events;

(iii) The bi-polarization of the political choice when it comes to presidential candidates. So if today Kabila and Bemba are the two leaders who forcefully come out of the presidential poll, it is because of the Western game in what actually was an electoral travesty, and not a sovereign choice. The people were put in front of a choice that was not foreseen by the West: choosing between the corruption vote supported by the West and the sanction vote or reaction to the West.

(iv) In front of such an alternative, they are not the political ideologies and programs that guided the choice of the people, but rather a choice of individuals on the ground of certain immediate stakes: sense of nationalism, national dignity, peace and security, refusal of the re-colonization by foreigners and outsiders in general, determination to get rid of the West and its pre-selected new “kapitas” and medal-holders chiefs, etc.

(v) As in their strategies, the West and its local instruments such as the Government and the IEC, did not want at all to consider the organization of a second turn of the presidential elections, hoping to achieve their goal even before the end of the first part of the staged electoral political game, the people and the staffs of the informed political parties remained vigilant and directly made the additions of the known results of the ballots boxes, like one does it everywhere in the world. The vigilance which consisted in making these results known, and at the disposal of the public opinion, makes it possible to prevent the handling and frauds by the international community, through its electoral instrument, which is the IEC. The said vigilance seriously disturbed the international community orchestration of the political game, because the latter feels now driven back to recognize the need for a second turn which it still does not want at all. The international community is indeed able to foresee the result of the second turn from the popular reaction and sensitivity, the political alliance strategies that are going to take shape, and for the future of its project in Congo. That perspective explains CIAT attempts to end the electoral travesty by a verdict arranged in the offices of the MONUC or another CIAT member, if not in a foreign capital. I must say here that the West has not given up its idea yet, because one still seeks by all means, to avoid the second turn, through the handling of compilations of the ballot boxes results. And for the sake of the same purpose, the West has decided to neglect major irregularities as denounced by international observers and political parties.

(vi) The use of the Belgian spy plane by the EUFOR forces to facilitate the liquidation of certain forces able to organize a violent resistance to the faked results of the elections also caused the installation of counter information or counter intelligence networks which allowed that this plane be destroyed before the end of its mission. It is curious and astonishing, that a mission for so-called elections security brings with it a spy plane offered by the ex-colonial power of Congo.

(vii) The increased politicization of the populations in provinces’ chief town cities and in particular in Kinshasa, the national capital. This politicization is so much so that the people organize themselves out of political party staffs’ instructions or directives, and develop another emergent popular and uncontrollable leadership, capable of organizing in an autonomous way, positive actions for popular resistance, although politically working as members of the same camp with political forces of the change.

(viii) The rebirth of the popular spirit and vigilance of the National Sovereign Conference (NSC) period, which made it that, in front of the terror organized by the "owls" and other "macoutes uncles", the peoples were organizing themselves to settle up with those who at the NSC made statements supporting the dictatorship, and against the forces of the change. Generally they found their houses "well arranged" by the popular forces. But today, to the new "owls" and new "macoutes uncles" have been added the external forces, be they called MONUC or EUFOR. International public terrorism came to reinforce national public terrorism. The vigilance of the people increased by this fact and made popular NSC spirit even more explosive.

(ix) The increasing popular mistrust with respect to UNO whose play - in the process of organized trusteeship on Congo, and in the handling of the electoral fake game -, became obvious, since the masks fell. In 1960, P.E. Lumumba regretted it for the remaining of his life when he noticed what the UNO actually was, in particular through the treason he was victim of. And he was talking about the UNO as "this international organization in which we placed all our confidence". Although Congolese people "were already bitten by this UNO snake", they continued to trust it, giving it a second chance or occasion, forty years later. But at least one Congolese, Laurent Kabila, did not want UNO in Congo at all, following in that the example of the bitter experiment of 1960, and that of his Rwandan friends who "do not have any confidence in UNO". But the veils of UNO fallen, the negative conscience, or is it rather the hatred of UNO and of its operations, goes up more and more in DRC. One should remember what happened to the MONUC at the time of the Bukavu events in 2004, and what continues to happen to it in certain centers or areas of the country. The error to have again kept confident on the UNO is recognized, and that reinforces in Congolese people and political leadership for the change, the feeling of being victim of treason, and therefore sourness against the MONUC and the CIAT.

Conclusion
The recent history gives indications on the immediate or short-term prospects for the political match that is currently being played in Congo. The CCA has already had to warn and to alert the national opinion and especially the international opinion as well. The same causes often producing the same effects, political handling of the elections by certain powers under cover of the famous international community, or by certain coalitions of external powers, has entrenched among Congolese people resistance reactions that are sometimes violent, and sometimes not violent. But they end with the same result: the fall or the illegitimacy of the reigning power. One day not in the far future, MONUC and EUFOR will leave the country. And one should always bear in mind that Congolese people are like a silent or delayed-action bomb, and one never knows when it can overflow with violence.

In front of a similar electoral handling and political play in Madagascar, in Ivory Cost and in Haiti, peoples took on themselves to resist the external powers game, and to reject it. One also saw similar political examples in some Eastern Europe countries, in particular in those of the former Soviet block. It became a post-electoral political syndrome. This syndrome, more and more haunts the Congolese people and their organized political forces. The West has however and in full awareness of the situation I believe, taken the position to minimize the said post-electoral political syndrome. But today it seeks to circumvent it by reinforcing its ongoing game with other strategic actions, by accommodating certain domestic forces, and by thwarting if not crushing others which they do not want to be associated with the setting up of the new game.

In front of such a political picture, and in view of the needed effort to save the fatherland in danger of re-colonization through international community forces game and handling, the CCA calls upon the Congolese people and their organized and non organized active forces to:
i. remain always vigilant to thwart the internal and international cabal, count on themselves and resist any electoral manipulation and any post-electoral political machination;

ii. put themselves upright and raise the face curved a long time, to take a beautiful dash in peace,

iii. follow the heroic example of the Malagasy, Ivorian and Haitian people, not to create a chaos from which the enemy strategists and evils would profit to back the bursting of the country, but rather to mobilize a nationalist front against the invaders and their Machiavellian project.

The CCA also calls upon the Congolese Diasporas in America, Europe and everywhere in the world, to keep the same vigilance, and to organize themselves in a coordinated way, in order to resist the machinations in progress in Congo.

The CCA warns the external powers representatives in DRC, which are the CIAT, the MONUC, the EU and their occupying armed forces in Congo, and the international community as well, against the incalculable consequences of which they are and will be responsible, because of their re-colonization politics and their handling of the electoral process in Congo. The CCA knows that the Congolese people can forgive, but that they will not be able to forget the makers of the dark years they have spent for a long time, they still experience today, and they are at the risk of experiencing again for the forthcoming years, if the international political handling game is declared winner at the end of the electoral travesty.

Mbaya KANKWENDA
Coordinator and Spokesman.
E-mail: congresdescongolais@yahoo.com