Conflict With Rebels Continues to Cripple Congo

When Congolese President Laurent Kabila urged his people last August to take up arms and defend their country against an alliance of rebels and foreign troops, many residents of this capital city willingly complied.

After the disastrous rule of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, whom Kabila had ousted the previous year, they were keen to give their leader a chance to rebuild the economy of the nation formerly known as Zaire and transform the newly named Democratic Republic of Congo into a real democracy.

They also were eager to halt a new military threat by rebellious former Kabila allies and soldiers from neighboring Rwanda and Uganda. Kabila claimed that fighting the insurrection was complicating his reform efforts.

Almost a year later, the rebels have been beaten back from the approaches to Kinshasa. But they still control large chunks of the country, and fighting continues. Life in Kinshasa has become even more difficult. Dissent is stifled, and people are angry.

Leader’s Future May Depend Upon Change

Although Kabila appears to be in no immediate danger, support for him seems to be fading. His future may depend on his ability to end the conflict and improve the lives of average people.

“People were expecting democracy,” said editor Moise Musangana of Le Potentiel, an independent daily newspaper. “They were waiting for improvement of their lives through economic stability. But the situation is deteriorating. The economy is collapsing. Poverty is intensifying.

“The longer the war lasts, the less popular Kabila becomes,” he said.

African foreign ministers are working on a cease-fire deal for the civil war and have scheduled a summit meeting this weekend to finalize it. However, both Kabila and the rebels have cast doubt on whether the meeting will go ahead.

The rebels, who have recently split into squabbling factions, claim to have captured at least 50% of this vast Central African country, are advancing on the diamond-mining center of Mbuji-Mayi and seem unlikely to negotiate away their gains.

Because of the rebels’ alliance with foreign countries, Kinshasa residents do not see them as an alternative to Kabila, who himself has built alliances with neighboring countries--Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Kabila’s government is demanding that foreign troops supporting the rebellion leave Congo.

“As long as troops from Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi will be on this land, there won’t be an end to this war,” said Leonard She Okitundu, Congo’s human rights minister.

Congo “is determined to fight until the last drop of blood to have this victory,” he said. “To defend our territory, we are determined to use any means necessary.”

Government opponents say support for Kabila is shallow and predict that disenchanted supporters could ultimately oust him if the insurrection continues.

Kinshasa residents endured extreme hardships as Mobutu pillaged the country, but many say conditions now are the worst ever.

Long Lines for Fuel, Climbing Food Prices

There are long lines for fuel on the city’s tree-lined avenues and wide boulevards. Production has come to a virtual standstill. Monthly foreign exchange earnings have fallen from about $45 million before the outbreak of the war to below $10 million, according to one Western diplomat.

Food prices have skyrocketed. With the average monthly wage hovering around $20, even sugar, at about 50 cents a pound, has become a luxury for many.

Most phone lines do not work, and electricity is a rarity. A recent cholera outbreak has infected at least 450 people and claimed about 50 lives.

Educators say almost 50% of the country’s children cannot afford to go to school. University students lament that they survive on one meal a day and sometimes live 10 to a dormitory room designed for two.

“We expected something different from Kabila,” said Kabamba Mbwebwe, a physician who is a well-known opposition figure. “But the majority of people today are disappointed to see Kabila is on the same track as Mobutu.”

Government officials still blame the war.

“It’s difficult to realize economic prosperity and social progress in time of war,” said Didier Mumengi, Congo’s information minister.

“There were plans for the adoption of a constitution, and to have a National Assembly that would serve as a parliament under the constitution,” said She Okitundu, the human rights minister. “But that can’t take place now because a great part of the country is occupied.”

Mumengi said that Kabila has made some improvements and still commands huge popularity.

Among them, he listed the creation of a police force that protects rather than terrorizes civilians; the revival of cement and cotton production facilities; the introduction of the new Congolese franc to replace the worthless Zairian currency; road repairs; the appointment of local administrators to monitor infrastructure development; and the introduction of national service to put Congolese youth to work in rural areas.

Residents of Kinshasa, a traditional hotbed of opposition politics, agree that police are more civil than during the Mobutu era, but they argue that freedom of expression is still being stifled.

No one has been able to meet the 47 conditions necessary to form a party or become a party leader. Opposition leaders argue that requirements that parties have members from across the country, even areas occupied by rebels, were designed to ensure the continuation of one-party rule.

“We didn’t want political parties to be chosen on the basis of tribe or region,” She Okitundu responded. “We wanted political parties to be representative of all the country.”

But residents complain that Kabila is intentionally obstructing democracy.

“I feel the president doesn’t listen to his people,” said Emery Makumeno-Agalu, 22, a student at the University of Kinshasa. “He’s governing the people, but he doesn’t respect their will.”

Such talk could get Makumeno-Agalu arrested. Dissent is not tolerated. Journalists are often jailed for criticizing the government or publishing the opinions of political activists. Some prisoners have languished in jail for more than a year without access to a lawyer, human rights monitors say.

“Because of the war, everything you do--even if you’re protecting human rights--you’re taken as an enemy,” said Floribert Chebeya Bahizire, president of Voice of the Voiceless, a local human rights group.

Despite the constraints, many Kinshasa residents acknowledge that they have little choice for now but to hope that Kabila can save them from further turmoil.

Said Musangana, the editor: “There is no other person who can bring peace to Congo than Kabila.”