58 years after, the struggle continues. We are going to fight for the heart of Africa until death. Picture courtesy BK Kumbi
Starting from December 19th, 2016 the Democratic Republic of the Congo is at a crossroad. Either the country continues with the endless era of transitional institutions, which started with the period of independence in the 60s, or breaks from the past and pursues a radical path where Congolese fundamental laws and their related legal frameworks prevail.
Once in the country’s history, a great opportunity has risen with the end of the terms in office of the incumbent president Joseph Kabila, for Congolese to reclaim back what is theirs, meaning their country which by international decree is under foreign occupation; they can regain their dignity, decide about their destiny and through that the overall future of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It is surprising that through consultative mechanisms, individuals from some “legal” institutions give themselves the right to take over the country’s political highest powers without any popular mandate for a period said of transition. Their argument is that without such structure, the country would be without any legal leadership.
The problem is that none of the cake eaters has looked at their responsibilities in creating the current chaotic and catastrophic situation where incommensurable innocent lives will be lost because of the selfishness of Congolese politicians. Nothing doesn’t seem to have changed since that day of December 11th, 1958 at the Pan African Conference in Accra – Ghana, when Patrice Emery Lumumba said:
“In our actions aimed at winning the independence of the Congo, we have repeatedly proclaimed that we are against no one, but rather are simply against domination, injustices and abuses, and merely want to free ourselves of the shackles of colonialism and all its consequences.
… The winds of freedom currently blowing across all of Africa have not left the Congolese people indifferent. Political awareness, which until very recently was latent, is now becoming manifest and assuming outward expression, and it will assert itself even more forcefully in the months to come. We are thus assured of the support of the masses and of the success of the efforts we are undertaking.”
Congolese people, 58 years after Lumumba’s speech in Ghana, you should not miss this ultimate opportunity to rise up and change for good the trajectory of your country. Africans everywhere, on the continent and in the diaspora, keen on the emancipation of the oppressed and impoverished, are behind your strong feelings of betrayal by manoeuvres of your exploiters, national and foreign.
