Diplomatic World_nummer 56.

November 30h, for example, I wanted to go to the protest
and was prevented from leaving my house by police officers.
The police officers stayed in front of my house to prevent
me and the demonstrators who were outside waiting for me
from demonstrating. They were scattered rapidly and some
were wounded. Most of the media support Kabila and are
paid by him. Free journalists who try to oppose this and
report freely and truly, are often punished. They are falsely
accused with fabricated stories.
A journalist I know was arrested and tortured on November
29th. He was abducted and tortured for two days, whilst
I had met him only hours before. Afterwards he was
presented to the media and was forced to say that he had
not been threatened or tortured. Some journalists and
human rights defenders have it even worse and are killed;
the best known is Floribert Chebeya who was killed in June
2010. This is everyday life in Congo.
In this context there is no point in talking about elections
because they seem impossible. How are we supposed to go
to elections with a government that forbids us from making
peaceful demonstrations? They forbid us to go to our bases
and militants to speak to them and discuss with them. We
do not even have the right to do that since they banned all
political gatherings. Any gatherings. There is no way to fully
function like this.
To have legal and honest elections, we must expel the
current leaders from power and hope that things will evolve.
We have two ways to achieve this. The first is with the
population, through endless demonstrations asking for his
departure. The second way is a call to the International
Community. We hope that the world will finally understand
that it is not possible to have elections with Kabila. He does
not want elections in Congo because he does not want to
leave power.
HOPE
Angola is a very good example of how things can change.
Angola had 25 years of war which produced a generation
of young people who did not have the chance to go to
school. The country set up a group of executives that
function in a company’s framework during the day and
that teaches young people at night, organizing courses to
help them upgrade. I think there is a way to find solutions
similar to this. Congo could also benefit from foreign
experience and we are no longer excluding this, since we
saw this approach was successful in Rwanda. The Rwandese
population was decimated so a lot of foreign experts came
to help put an administration back together. What works for
Congo can be judged when the time comes.
Congo’s greatest treasure are the youth, that I know for
sure. We have roughly 60% to 70% of the population that
is made up of young people, which is a real plus for the
future. Young people are eager to learn and they learn very
quickly. There will be a way to set up remittance programs
to try to make up for the delay we are living through now.
But as I said before, the trick is to have the right framework
to make all of this happen. If the framework is serious,
everyone will move in the same direction, but if we continue
in the same way as today, it will not work.
A government’s focus should not be on how everyone can
fill their pockets. The challenge for the next President is
to bring change for the better. For us it is an honour to
be there and witness the first steps of a new Congo. I am
certain that many teachers, schoolteachers, technicians,
engineers, farmers, etc. will want to work in Congo, even
if only for weeks or months to teach. For this country has
everything it needs to succeed!
78
The Constitution is clear: a president can stay for a
maximum of 2 terms and then it is over. A first mandate
can be renewed one time, no more. Therefore, we ask the
International Community to help us make Kabila leave by
sanctions. In our view, we must sanction him and his family
because they are the ones stealing from our country. It will
take targeted sanctions against him, his brothers and his
sisters. We think that the pressure we put on him internally
and pressure from the International Community will make
him leave power. Nobody doubts that we need change but it
takes more than thinking or believing.
FÉLIX ANTOINE TSHILOMBO TSHISEKEDI
• Son of celebrated opposition leader Etienne
Tshisekedi, who defied Presidents Mobutu and
Kabila.
• Has described as “Stalinesque” the government
attempts to muzzle the opposition.
• Relative political newcomer, criticised by some for
inexperience.
• Lived in Belgium for many years before entering
politics at home.