THE COLONIAL LEGACY OF THE DRCWhat is the conflict in the DRC all about?
With no less than 28 wars in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1980, numerous regions of the African continent in general, and the DRC in particular, have experienced extreme violence, degradation of the environment and virtual collapse of formal economies due to violent conflict. Since the majority of African conflicts are not reported in their entirety by Western media outlets, their root causes and global connections to them are often overlooked or misunderstood.
In order to fully understand the current situation in the DRC, it is necessary to examine the roots of the conflict and its historical contexts. Contrary to popular perception, the conflict over the DRC’s natural resources is not a new phenomenon that sporadically erupted in the late 1990’s. Rather, the current situation is a continuation of historical patterns of exploitation established under Leopold II and Belgian colonial rule, which began in the late 1800’s and continued through foreign control of resources and politics since independence. The colonial era in the DRC began the trend of natural resource exploitation by an elite few to the grave detriment of the vast majority of the Congolese people, a trend that has persisted throughout the past century.
Kind Leopold and Belgian Colonial Rule
In 1879 King Leopold II began colonizing what he named The Free State of Congo in order to control strategic trading routes to West and Central Africa along the Congo River. While the King himself never actually set foot in the Congo, he entrusted former journalist Henry Horton Stanley to get the job done, which he accomplished by means of enslaving Congolese into forced labour, inducing transfers of land ownership to the Kings Association Internationale du Congo, and by restricting indigenous peoples’ access to land by law. Such land laws were intended to ensure that only the ruling elites and their associates had access to the Congo’s natural reserves of ivory, rubber, and palm oil, and that the profits gained by the exportation of these resources stayed in their hands.
From the 1880’s on, the Congo was run more like a business than a state. Political and community relations in the Congo function on the basis of colonial capitalism as provinces were controlled centrally, and deals were made with foreign mining companies giving them full rights to exploit all forest products in the Congo, as well as the right to police and “bodily” detain people living within these concessions. In exchange, the foreign companies had to share their profits with the state, which was comprised of Belgian elites who treated these profits as their private fortune rather than using the money for Congolese development. The vast majority of commodities in the Congo were exported to Belgium and America.
Impacts of Corporate Control on the DRC’s Resources and Society
Although King Leopold II sold the Congo to Belgium in 1907, foreign companies still monopolized control over the country’s resources. Since the Congolese did not have any formal access to this wealth, an extensive informal economy developed as a consequence. Many people fled to surrounding countries after 1907 to escape forced labour, and began an underground system of trade in consumer goods using pre-colonial trading routes. This marked the beginning of what was to become an intricate and extensive informal economy. It should be noted that prior to colonization, the Congo had prosperous economies and networks built around agriculture and long distance trade.
The plunder of resources in the Congo also transformed African Societies. During colonial rule, Belgium manipulated the pre-existing political economy and social relationships in order to maximize their productivity and profits. Belgium managed to influence and control traditional tribal leaders to gain access to a huge workforce needed for resource extraction and the building of trade routes. In exchange, these leaders became the administrative officers of the colonial administration which impacted the traditional societal structures in the Congo as they were now be shaped by political elites.
Independence: The Struggle for Control Continues
In the 1950’s, a Congo-wide independence movement gained momentum, and after 75 years of colonial rule, the Belgians granted Congo independence on June 30, 1960. Although the Belgians left the country, the infrastructure they left behind was not sustainable as there were virtually no trained Congolese to fill their positions in government departments. In its 75-year rule, the Belgians had produced fewer than 30 Congolese graduates; there were no Congolese army officers, engineers, agronomists or doctors. This made governing very difficult for the new Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba who as a nationalist leader, wanted to return the Congo’s natural resources and wealth back to the Congolese people. In addition to the challenges presented by a weak political infrastructure, Lumumba also faced the challenge of Cold War politics.
Rather than assisting the newly independent Congo to stabilize, Belgium and the United States secretly interfered in the newly forming political structures to ensure that their companies would maintain their monopoly over Congo’s resources. These foreign countries helped to fund secessionist movements in the resource-rich areas of Katango and South Kasar. This interference greatly contributed to Lumumba’s inability to transform the Congo into a stable independent state, and led to his dismissal by Congolese President Kasavabu in 1960 and later by Moise Tshobe, leader of the Katangan secession movement as Prime Minister. CIA agents and Belgian mercenaries murdered Lumumba in 1961.
Dictatorial and Cold War Politics Present the DRC with Far Reaching Challenges
In 1965, Mobuto Sese Seko came into power in a United States and Belgium backed military coup. Mobuto renamed the country Zaire and exerted absolute political control in the Congo by repressing political opposition, and controlling access to the country’s natural resources. His rule has been described as brutal, corrupt and economically mismanaged, with an appallingly lack of investment into public services.
In 1966, Mobuto changed Zaire’s laws so that the state owned land mineral rights, and enforced them through the military control of resource rich land and trading routes. Furthermore, Mobuto encouraged competition between entrepreneurs and military leaders by allowing them to guard their own territory and develop their own commercial opportunities surrounding the extraction and trade of diamonds, gold, coffee, coltan, timber and arms. As a result of this military control and Mobutu’s gross lack of investment into public services and transportation infrastructure, national and regional smuggling networks exploded.
The U.S. rationalized its policy toward Mobuto on the grounds of fighting “communism” and Soviet influence in Africa. Since the Congo is located in the centre of the African continent, it provided the U.S. with access to important resources and transportation routes. Throughout his rule, the U.S. provided Mobutu with more than $300 million in weapons and $100 million in military training. Due to the end of the Cold War and mounting pressure on the U.S. to uphold human rights globally, the U.S. withdrew its overt support for Mobuto. After three decades of dictatorial control, Laurent Kabila’s forces overthrew Mobutu’s regime in 1997, which were aided by Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Burundi, and Eritrea, and offered military support by the U.S. Clinton administration.
Making the Connections: Impact of the past on the present
This brief examination of the Congo’s colonial history and continuing legacy demonstrates that the current situation in the DRC did not happen in a vacuum; rather it is rooted in over a century of elite control and domination of the country’s natural resources and wealth. From the time of Belgian colonial rule, the inhabitants of the DRC have derived little if any benefit from their country’s wealth. Instead, they have endured a long history of abusive political administrations, corporate monopolization, military authorities and armed political groups that have exploited the region and committed human rights violations without punishment.
Want to learn more?
1. Human Rights Watch Country Report on the DRC http://www.humanrightswatch.org/doc?t=africa&c=congo
2. Arms Trade Resource Centre: U.S. Arms to Africa and the Congo War
3. Amnesty International: Republic of Congo-A Past that Haunts the Future
4. CBC News: Democratic Republic of the Congo Timeline