Zimbabwe - DRC war - reflections as DRC commemorates its anniversary

From war to peace and turmoil again. Such an undulating political terrain raises and dashes hopes, creating national angst.

Many truce agreements have been signed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after the late 1990s war; in which Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia fought alongside former late President Laurent-Désiré Kabila’s government to ward off military takeover from Uganda-Rwanda sponsored rebels. It was an unpopular war that cost millions of lives and wreaked economic havoc across the region.

The Sadc-allied forces had rallied to Kabila’s call, who was within minutes of losing power. Tutsi-dominated rebels had encircled Kinshasa; ready to kick Kabila out in the same way rebels had booted tyrant Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997.

The roots of the war lay in Kabila’s decision to turn against his former military allies from Rwanda and Uganda, who had funded, trained and helped him oust Mobutu. The war had countless internal armed groups, attracting nine African countries into a military vortex that sucked out peace and hope, creating a morass of instability, draining the benefits of the Congo’s precious minerals. Such leakages account for current poverty levels, that perhaps the current regime is trying to redress.

As one writer aptly put it, that the DRC is a case of a contradiction, where “extraordinary mineral wealth and extraordinary human poverty existing side by side, is not a mystery”.

The late 90s Sadc military intervention undoubtedly helped restore order in Kinshasa. At the same time, it ignited a political feud between the government and its hostile neighbours; namely Uganda and Rwanda. The protracted war is ostensibly a fight over the resources that lie under the belly of one of Africa’s most minerally rich countries. But the country struggles under poor road infrastructure, precarious health care, weak educational systems and unstable security. Continued gross human rights violations, accompanying the continued rebel eastern front military onslaughts paint a worrying picture of a society unable to redeem and reestablish itself as an African mineral powerhouse.

Estimates suggest that close to 5.5 million people died, whose demise is closely associated with war crimes and disease and malnutrition. Further, there were close to 2 million displacements, creating a huge refugee strain across the Southern African region.

Yet, it has everything it needs in its belly to establish itself as such. Political will can certainly follow economic endeavours that can set this unsung territory into a haven of joy and prosperity, given its rich indomitable culture and music that unbundle inimitable creativity. Many 90s to early 2000s DRC war returnees in the region could unsurprisingly pull a dance, sing or speak Lingala; explaining how quickly a rich culture, music and dance rub off on the rest across the region.

War casualties were too many to mention. The economic strain is unimaginable. While the epitaph "Africa's World War" might have been too much of a stretch, it created a lasting impact on the region.