by Dr. M. Nicholson
A reader from overseas asked me to write something about the war in Africa. ‘Which war?’ I asked. Although there is trouble in the francophone countries of West Africa, I presume he meant one of the two wars in central Africa. One is the appalling civil war in Sudan and the other, in my opinion potentially much more serious, is the equally appalling war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (known as the DRC, and not to be confused with the Republic of Congo, formerly the French Congo). The latter is much the smaller of the two and lies on the north side of the Congo river to the north-west of the DRC (in blue in the map above).
A while back, someone complained to the BBC suggesting that racism was the reason that European and American networks so rarely mentioned the civil war in Sudan. I think that is unfair. Sudan is an Islamic desert state, sadly little visited by tourists even before the conflict; so it is hard for anyone far from Africa to relate to it. Besides, the two conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have global implications and are probably enough wars for anybody.
Sudan is a civil war caused by two equally ambitious warlords. The suffering seems endless but apart from the refugees and displaced persons crossing over to Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan, it is not an international conflict. I doubt I can handle two wars in 1500 words, so let me concentrate on the trouble in the DRC.
Where does one start? With General Gordon in 1884 and the annexation of Equatoria by Emin Pasha? The Berlin Conference of 1885? The grabbing of the Congo Free State by Leopold II for his private fiefdom? Prior to European colonization, Africa was without national borders. Societies were what mattered, based on clans, tribes and local monarchies, not the cast-iron borders created by cartographers and politicians in Europe that could stretch 2500 km in a straight line cutting rough-shod through age-old commercial and linguistic routes.
Or was it the horror of Rwanda in 1994? The answer is that all four are equally to blame but the chaos of the last 35 years was certainly aggravated by the genocide. In the opinion of Gerard Prunier[1] the genocide was the catalyst behind the first African multinational conflict (known as the First and Second Congo wars, 1996-2006) that killed at least four million people and sucked in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Angola etc. What is deplorable is that few Westerners are even aware of these wars while the ‘International Community’ did almost nothing to stop them.
The DRC has always been ungovernable and is likely to continue to be so for decades to come. It is just too vast[2]. With over 250 tribes and 200 languages, the central government in Kinshasa has no control over what happens in Goma, a sixty-hour drive on poor roads, 2700km to the east. At least 100 rebel groups cause mayhem in every part of the country. Most of DRC is a rainforest of three million square kilometers, which extends over at least five countries. Every time I have flown over it, I have been mesmerized by its vastness: hour after hour of nothing but the “greenish gloom” of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. But dig below the earth and there is a cornucopia of riches: gold, diamonds, copper, cobalt, columbite-tantalum (‘coltan’), tin, tungsten, to mention a few. There lies the problem: the modern world is desperate to lay its hands on these resources for the electronics industry. During Mobutu’s time as president of what he called Zaire (1971-1997), the USA turned a blind eye to his kleptocratic ways. They took the minerals while Mobutu amassed his fortune, which in today’s money would be worth more than $10 billion.
A South African pilot friend used to work in Zaire. He flew a small plane once a week to a remote mining camp carrying $5m in cash, which was exchanged for a small consignment of diamonds. A ‘bodyguard’ always accompanied him to ensure cash and diamonds arrived intact at both ends. On arrival back in Kinshasa, the diamonds were transferred straight onto a Sabena flight and were in Antwerp a day later.
With so much money at stake, everyone wants a share, from the armed rebel groups, the freebooters and entrepreneurs of dubious repute, the weak central government, to the giants of the mining world like Anglo-American and de Beers.
Eastern Congo in blue, still the worst trouble spot
So now little Rwanda also wants its share of the spoils, a country one hundred times smaller than the DRC. In 1994 the genocide shocked the world, at least those who had heard of Rwanda. The surviving Tutsis fled to the Congo, regrouped and returned, set on revenge, led by General (and now the current autocratic President) Kagame. They drove out the Hutu militia into the DRC, who then formed the Force Democratiques de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR) in eastern DRC. In Rwanda itself all talk of ethnic origins these days is taboo but everyone knows that the FDLR wishes to return and get rid of the Tutsi oligarchy and minority[3].
Meanwhile the Tutsis in Congo have ganged up with the Mars 23 (M23) rebel group. M23 has two apparent aims viz, to destroy the FDLR and secondly, to take control of much of Eastern Congo around Goma so they can supply the Rwandan government with minerals. M23 took control of Goma at the north end of Lake Kivu at the end of January after 2000 people were slaughtered. Their initial intention was to move south to Bukavu and take over the whole western part of the lake (North and South Kivu) but that plan is on hold for now. They even threaten to march west and take Kinshasa.
Lake Kivu (DRC to the west, Rwanda to the east)
One cannot help thinking of Rudyard Kipling’s Dane-Geld:
It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation,
To call upon a neighbour and to say:-
We invaded you last night-we are quite prepared to fight,
Unless you pay us cash to go away.
Rwanda is the armed and agile nation with a well-armed, disciplined and battle-hardened army of 30,000. I also liken Rwanda’s situation to that of David confronting Goliath, a little country taking on a nation one hundred times its size. I like Rwanda and admire the country. It is clean, well run and more or less free of corruption. Not everyone likes President Kagame. He is intelligent, cunning and ruthless and you cross him at your peril. Africa is full of autocrats but Kagame is one who puts his people and his country above lining his pockets.
On the other side, the DRC President Tshisekedi appears weak in contrast. His army of over 100,000 is disorganized and comprises a motley collection of tribes. Tshisekedi relies on his Foreign Minister, Terese Kayikwamba Wagner, is the fiery daughter of a defrocked German Roman Catholic priest and his Congolese wife. Mme. Wagner berates and vilifies Rwanda for supporting M23 and “invading” the DRC while her president is reluctant to tackle Kagame head on. So why do I fear for the future? Because I think Rwanda has designs on Eastern Congo in North and South Kivu, first as a buffer against the Hutu militia and secondly, in order to take control of its resources. Inevitably, that would draw in other nations and could lead to a Third Congo war.
It is sad in every way. Rwandans of both ethnicities and the Congolese are delightful people; as always, they are being used as pawns. I have a personal interest in Lake Kivu because a friend runs the fastest growing company in Rwanda on Lake Kivu, a fish farming project where I am involved in ecological restoration. I have a special and secret campsite on the western shore of the lovely lake where I wish to retreat with a tent and some beer for a week of swimming and contemplation. The idea is somewhat incompatible with the atrocities currently being carried out nearby by all combatants against the innocent.
[1] Africa’s World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the making of a continental catastrophe. Gerard Prunier. Oxford University Press.
[2] Exactly ten times the size of the United Kingdom
[3] Hutus make up 85% of the population. The taller, and ethnically and physiognomically different, Tutsis comprise 14% of the population
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