Fighting continues in eastern Congo; imperialist states weigh intervention

A regional summit on the raging conflict in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo was held Nov. 7 in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Seven African states sent representatives to the meeting, which was designed to develop a plan to bring peace and stability to the North Kivu area. Fierce clashes there between the Congolese military (FARDC) and the rebel National Congress for the Defense of the People have resulted in the displacement of thousands of people.

Among the leading political personalities attending the Nairobi summit were President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, the current chair of the African Union; President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda; Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetang’ula; President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi; President Paul Kagame of Rwanda; President Joseph Kabila of the DRC; and former President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, who has been appointed United Nations Special Envoy to the DRC.

The leader of the rebel CNDP, former general Laurent Nkunda, was not invited to the meeting. He later issued a statement condemning the talks as irrelevant since they excluded his organization, which has attacked numerous cities in the North Kivu region.

Renegade Gen. Nkunda claims he is defending the Tutsi people in the eastern DRC from attacks leveled against them by former Hutu militias who carried out the genocidal attacks in Rwanda during 1994. Many of these militia members fled to the DRC after the seizure of power by the Rwandan Patriotic Front in August 1994.

In addition to the African leaders, the United Nations was represented by Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Envoys from the European Union and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer were also present.

During the course of the summit, African leaders criticized the UN peacekeeping forces inside the DRC for their failure to secure the safety of the civilian population in the eastern region. Even Ban Ki-Moon admitted that the 17,000-member force known as MONUC were “stretched to the limit.”

At the conclusion of the summit in Nairobi, a communique was issued stating that regional states should send military forces if necessary and “not stand by to witness incessant and destructive acts of violence by armed groups against innocent people.”

The 14-state Southern African Development Community, which includes the DRC, pledged troops to help stabilize the situation in the eastern region of the country. Tomaz Salamao, executive secretary of the SADC, “said in a statement the group would also send military advisers to the Democratic Republic of Congo and would not stand by and watch the situation deteriorate.” (Reuters, Nov. 9)

Rebel attacks create humanitarian crisis

Since the resumption of fighting in the eastern DRC in August, approximately 250,000 people have been forced to leave their homes, according to humanitarian groups. The France-based group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) has warned of the potential for a cholera epidemic resulting from conditions in makeshift camps for internally displaced persons.

“There are many displaced people in the zone who live under very bad sanitary conditions. All the risk factors are there for an explosion of a major epidemic,” said MSF’s local emergency program coordinator, Megan Hunter. (AFP, Nov. 9)

New front opened amid reports of Angolan troop movements

New fighting between the Congolese army and rebel CNDP forces on the border between North Kivu and South Kivu provinces at Ngungu was reported Nov. 9. The pro-government Mai Mai militias also joined in fighting the rebels.

The UN said that the clashes started before dawn and prompted the flight of thousands of people.

At the same time there are increasing reports that neighboring Angola has sent troops into the DRC to defend the government of President Joseph Kabila. Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, the DRC’s minister of planning, said that, while no Angolan troops were in the DRC at the moment, “the Angolan position without any doubt is to support Congo.” (AFP, Nov. 9)

In response to these reports of Angolan military involvement in support of the Kabila government, the rebel CNDP, which is supported by neighboring Rwanda, said that “Angolan troops in eastern DR Congo could spread violence throughout the region.”

“It would risk setting the Great Lakes region on fire,” said Bertrand Bisimwa, a CNDP spokesperson. “It demonstrates the government’s willingness to involve former international warmongers in the current crisis.”

Angola was one of the countries, along with Zimbabwe and Namibia, that deployed troops between 1998 and 2003 to repel a U.S.-backed invasion by Rwanda and Uganda aimed at toppling the Congo central government in Kinshasa.

Will U.S. elections change policy towards Africa?

The election of Sen. Barack Obama as president of the United States has been met with great jubilation on the African continent. Obama, whose father was born in Kenya, enjoys widespread support throughout the region. In Kenya, the government declared Nov. 6 a national holiday to celebrate Obama’s overwhelming victory.

Nonetheless, over the last century or more, the driving force of U.S. foreign policy in Africa has been the quest for strategic mineral resources and oil. The United States played an important role in the economic underdevelopment of Congo during the period of colonialism.

When the former Belgian Congo became independent in 1960, the Eisenhower administration set out to assassinate the Congo’s first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, a revolutionary leader who enjoyed massive support throughout the country. After Lumumba’s overthrow and murder in January 1961, the U.S. played an integral role in preventing the progressive and revolutionary forces in the country from retaking power.

Today, there has been no indication of a fundamental change in U.S. imperialist foreign policy imperatives towards Africa. Even under an Obama administration, if the U.S. government attempts to deepen its direct military intervention in the DRC or other countries in Africa, it will meet with fierce resistance from the masses of people.

Abayomi Azikiwe has written extensively on the current situation inside the Democratic Republic of Congo.