Beginnings to 1965

Populated as early as 10,000 years ago and settled in the 7th and 8th centuries BCE by Bantus from present-day Nigeria, the area that is currently considered the DRC has undergone momentous changes since the fifteenth century. In 1482, Diago Cio, a Portuguese seaman "discovered" and landed at the mouth of the Congo River where he encountered a highly developed Kongo Kingdom. Interactions between the Portuguese and the Kongo were one of mutual understanding and respect but subsequent historical events quickly led to a situation of exploitation that has been relentless even into the 21st century. The area was officially colonized when King Leopold II was able to convince the rest of the leaders at the Berlin Conference of 1885 to give him the area as his personal fiefdom which he called the Congo Free State. The brutality of King Leopold's state is legendary and is best documented in the book King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild. In 1907, the Belgian Government finally intervened by taking the administration of the colony away from Leopold and re-naming it the Belgian Congo. It was not until June 30, 1960 that the DRC received independence from Belgium and the Congolese people voted for the first time in Parliamentary elections. Patrice Lumumba became the first "democratically" elected Prime Minister of the DRC with Joseph Kasavubu elected as President. The Belgian Congo became the Democratic Republic of Congo but Belgian policies towards education and development in the DRC deliberately undermined the capacity for self-rule.

DRC under Mobutu

Unrest and rebellion plagued the government until 1965, when Lieutenant General Mobutu, by then commander in chief of the national army, seized control of the country and declared himself president for 5 years. Those 5 years extended to over 30 as Mobutu increasingly centralized power into his own hands and proceeded to strip this country of its untold wealth for his own benefit. Once again, the country was renamed as Zaire. This is a tragic story of Cold War intrigue while the ordinary Congolese' quality of life declined steadily with the deterioration of local infrastructure such as roads, education, and health care. A fascinating account of the Mobutu years is chronicled in Michela Wrong's recent book In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz.

By 1996, the war and genocide in neighboring Rwanda shifted towards Congo creating a situation of chaos as Rwandan Hutu militia forces (Interahamwe), fleeing Rwanda following the ascension of a Tutsi-led government, used Hutu refugee camps in eastern Congo as bases for incursions against Rwanda.

Current Challenges and Possibilities

Mobutu fled the DRC in 1997 and since that time the country has suffered two consecutive civil wars that have only exacerbated the already deteriorating conditions created by Mobutu. Surrounded by 9 African countries, the DRC faces an impossible task as each of these countries seeks to benefit from the DRC's vast mineral wealth and natural resources. Congo's great wealth is also the source of its people's greatest suffering. As the wealthiest country in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, Congo has systematically been plundered since the 15th century. The situation is further complicated by world-wide demand for the gold, diamonds, and coltan which represent only some of Congo's resources. The wealth bleeds out of the country and does not return to ordinary Congolese citizens.

It was not until April 2003, that a power-sharing agreement was signed brokered by Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. A transitional government was established with Joseph Kabila as President and four vice-presidents representing the various rebel groups fighting between 1998 - 2003. This transitional government is slated to remain in place until June 2006. Multi-party elections have not been held since 1960. Today marks an important opportunity for the DRC to move towards a stable political situation that could finally bring peace to a country that has faced relentless exploitation for generations. The effects of this exploitation are difficult to quantify but statistics from a recently published study in the prestigious British journal The Lancet provides evidence that nearly 4 million people have died in the DRC since 1998. According to Rick Brennan, the International Rescue Committee's health director, "It is a sad indictment of us all that seven years into this crisis ignorance about its scale and impact is almost universal, and that international engagement remains completely out of proportion to humanitarian need." (for more, see this article from The International Rescue Committee).

Although this is a story about relentless exploitation, it is clear that the DRC, centrally located as it is, could be the powerhouse of the whole African continent. What is also abundantly clear are the realities of the current situation in Central Africa, marked by strained relationships between Rwanda, Uganda, and the DRC. Solutions are neither simple nor are they readily apparent because Congo is caught in a complicated web of economic and political relationships that extend far beyond the DRC to the rest of the world. Until a regional solution is found to the plundering of Congo's wealth, there will always be a fragile peace in the DRC.

Despite this historical litany of relentless exploitation, what is most extraordinary of all is that the DRC remains a vibrant country pulsing with life evident to any one who has been there and learned how people have survived all these years. That they have had to live in a survival situation for generations has not stripped them of the human capacity for creativity and determination. The DRC stands at a cross-roads today. Congolese citizens are ready and anxious to begin their own home rule.