(PHOTO 1: Members of the Presidential Guard in Kinshasa)
(PHOTO: 2006 Campaign poster of Presidential Candidate Paul Joseph Mukungubila aka Lord's Prophet Gédéon)
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To understand the suicidal insanity that was unleashed on Kinshasa today, one has to read an obscure essay penned by James Yuma titled "The Devil's Comma" published in the launch issue of the African Cities Reader--a joint publication of the African Centre for Cities and Chimurenga Magazine, both South African-based.
(http://www.africancitiesreader.org.za/reader.php)
In a nutshell, that essay demonstrates that Jesus has broken into the hallowed land of the Congo where Congolese are basking in the exceptionalism prophesied in Isaiah 18.
This is not a joke, mind you! This kind of mumbo-jumbo led people to throw their dear lives out of the window in the morning of December 30, 2013 in senseless and doomed attacks on N'Djili International Airport, the RTNC TV station, and the FARDC headquarters.
In an open letter dated December 5 that reads like the ravings of a madman, prophet and erstwhile presidential candidate Paul Joseph Mukungubila defines the Congolese exceptionalism contained in Isaiah 18, which is the linchpin of his "ministry of restoration" (of the black folks of Africa, particularly the Congolese, to their bygone biblical glory):
"You are well aware that our status [as Congolese] stems from prophecy, the prophecy of Isaiah 18:1-13, which says that we are a formidable people ever since we have been in existence and which plunges the white man in total disarray."
(https://m.facebook.com/notes/le-ministère-de-la-restauration-à-partir-de-lafrique-noire/jusques-a-quand-le-peuple-congolais-va-t-il-devoir-payer-en-versant-son-sang-pou/461190427319446)
We are here right in the midst of the realm of magical realism, what Yuma called "actionable theology," that is, "a reading of Scriptures yielding immediate practical results and action in the here-and-now."
This theology stokes at the same time as it taps into rabid irredentism and nationalism. The Nemesis or Satan and his agents in this theology are the international community, Rwanda, Paul Kagame, and his "acolytes"--including Joseph Kabila who, in this warped space-time, is construed, as I've said it somewhere on this blog, as some kind of "Rwandan Golem" kneaded by Kagame himself!
This thread runs throughout the various strands of the political discourse of the Congolese so-called "radical opposition."
In his open letter, Mukungubila, who claims to be related to the late father of the incumbent president, revisits the much-rehearsed theme of the Rwandan Golem:
"All the Congolese from the capital city of Kinshasa could give this testimonial: I went with my wife Clarisse Kot to welcome home the remains of my brother Laurent [Kabila] from Zimbabwe.
"[We were at the airport], my wife and me, the current head of state, with his brother Zoé, [their mother] Sifa, [their sister] Jaynet, and the whole group.
"[...] Look carefully at the footage of the lowering of the remains from the plane coming from Zimbabwe, you'll see me crying.
"I was crying, my wife was crying, but standing right next to me, this guy [Joseph Kabila] and his brother [Zoé] weren't displaying any emotions, except Sifa and the other women who were crying.
"You've got the footage, check it out. Journalists are witnesses, not a drop of tear from his eyes."
As "this guy" failed to shed tears in front o the casket at the airport means that he and the deceased are unrelated! It therefore follows that "this guy" is a Rwandan!
I used to think that this line of unreasoning was castrative and bad for national morale. I was wrong: it's suicidal.
He was right, the tweeter who answered my tweet earlier today:
"@chiefkalos: @alexengwete let's call this a jihads against Kabila's government lol but where this crazy pastor come for"
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PHOTO CREDITS: Photo 1: Reuters; Photo 2 via various Internet sources