Stand-off at Kinshasa
ON January 28, the capital city of Zaire, Kinshasa, was the scene of a revolt by disgruntled soldiers subsequently put down in a bloody counter-attack by President Mobutu Sese Seko's elite guards. Estimates of the resulting death toll range from 300 to more than 1000, with sections
International Viewpoint #243 March 1993 mation is scarce — people are scared and will not talk on the telephone. The idea was also to terrorize popular neighbourhoods that have supported the opposition National Conference. Finally, the crushing of the regular army also has a precise poliof the city left devastated by the looting and armed conflicts.
The events shed light on the pitched battle that has raged between the forces of military dictator Mobutu, who has ruled the country for 27 years, and those of Prime Minister Etienne Tshisekedi, head of the transitional government formed in late August 1992.
The recent crisis has also revealed the changing relationship between
Western capitals and Mobutu, their long-time favourite in the region, who they now see as a liability. In a February 3 statement, the governments of the United States, France and Belgium (the former colonial power) called on Mobutu to step down in favour of Tshisekedi.
In the meantime, several hundred French troops were dispatched to
Zaire, with similar numbers of Belgian and Portuguese troops sent to neighbouring Congo.
The situation remains tense in Kinshasa; reports indicate that on
February 23 Mobutu's forces killed at least a dozen people in their ongoing effort to re-stabilize the situation. The following day, his forces blockaded the legislature, the People's Palace, preventing transitional government members from leaving.
The following article has been adapted from an interview with
Belgian journalist Colette Braeckman that originally appeared in the
February 10 issue of La Gauche, publication of the Parti Ouvrier Socialiste,
Belgian section of the Fourth International.
COLETTE BRAECKMAN
HESE events are the result of a plot by Mobutu, who is hoping to solve two problems at once.
First of all he has refused to accept the Act of Transition adopted by the National Conference; secondly, he wants his own people in the key posts in the government - in the finance ministry, the national bank and in charge of defence.
With the West's support, Tshisekedi resisted Mobutu's demands on this.
Mobutu's counter-attack was made possible by the discontent of the soldiers.
The regular army is permanently discontented owing to low wages which are paid irregularly. When you pay soldiers with five million zaire coupons which shopkeepers refuse to accept, an angry reaction is almost inevitable.
The disorders began at the CETA camp near to Kin airport where the soldiers have a reputation for trouble-making.
Normally these soldiers are either unarmed or at most are allowed two bullets per rifle. Munitions are never kept in the camp. Strangely, this time they were there. And, stranger still, at the moment when the uproar began the door of the munitions' depot was open.
Once armed, the soldiers descended on the city and set about sacking it. This provided the opportunity for the Special Presidential Division (SPD) — Mobutu's praetorian guard - to go into action. This force is far better paid than the regular troops and enjoys privileges in such matters as housing. After "restoring order" the SPD then set about pillaging the city themselves, but in a better organized way, using
The repression of the riots was the pretext for a political purge. The SPD went after Mobutu's opponents and some have been killed. Unfortunately, precise infortical aim, since these soldiers are certainly closer to Tshisekedi than to the president.
However, Mobutu is not in the clear yet. The population is against him and he has lost the whole-hearted support of his former Western backers
Mobutu has tried to fan inter-ethnic hatred to shore up his position. He says "if I go then there will be inter-ethnic chaos" In fact, in order to hang on, he is quite ready to incite such chaos himself. There is a very serious situation in Shaba, where there have been clashes between the Lundas and the Kasayans. The former are the original inhabitants of the region, while the latter work in its mines.
Shaba's governor, Kyungu, is paying people to organize a revolt by the Lundas against the Kasayans, using the local radio, which he controls. People from there say that there have never been problems with the Kasayans, but that it is difficult to resist the hate propaganda coming over the radio, which claims that if the Kasayans are chased out there will be work and housing for the Lundas.
Inter-ethnic troubles may occur in other areas. However, the fire is not catching as quickly as Mobutu hoped. There is tension in Kivu between the local population and refugees from Rwanda, described as "individuals of uncertain nationality". There have also been clashes with Uganda on the border at Kivu. Once again, information from these remote regions is scanty.
### Politically mature
I do not think that Zaire will become another Somalia, at least at first. The population of Zaire is politically very mature and will not be easily manipulated. We are unlikely to see the emergence of clanbased warlords such as in Somalia.
In Zaire there is already a gang, Mobutu's. What we may see, on the other hand, as the regime and society disintegrate, are military chiefs acting independently, carving out their own fiefdoms. Sylvie Brunel from the International Association against
Hunger recently remarked that the West,
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ZAIRE
International Viewpoint #243 March 1993 in its efforts to defend the status quo, has ended up producing chaos. It was the West that installed Mobut and supported him for 25 years against all-comers. French and Belgian troops were involved in military operations on his behalf in Shaba and Kolwezi.
Belgium always spoke in favour of Zaire at the International Monetary Fund when everybody knew about the regime's corruption and the terrible human rights situation. In this Belgium followed the line of the United States, and the latter decided to shut its eyes. Rampart against communism
Mobutu was a rampart against communism and an ally who protected "our" interests when the Cubans were in Angola. Zaire was used by the CIA as a base for its operations in Angola and throughout southern Africa. Only when the international situation changed did the West start to find Mobutu undesirable.
Now, I think the West finds him an embarrassment and really wants to get rid of him. He is a constant reminder of what the West has been supporting when the talk is all of human rights and humanitarian missions. Furthermore, he may destabilize the whole of central Afri-
Even recently Mobutu was in Paris for the bicentenary celebrations of the French revolution and continues to have access to his luxury properties in Nice and elsewhere.
However, recently a planeload of bank-notes was seized in the airport of the Belgian town of Ostend - which is well 12 known to regularly receive consignments of arms and money for Mobutu.
For the West, Mobutu no longer means stability, but chaos. A government with some popular legitimacy would be better able to restabilize the country, and the whole region. Even so, it is true that the chaos may get so bad in this region that nobody will be able to think of any other means of stabilization than armed force.
The opposition has some responsibilities in this situation. It has accepted the Western line that "Mobutu must not be humiliated [...] we must leave him a way out". The opposition is politically diverse and has no long term vision. The answers it gives to questions about Zaire's foreign debt, for example, are hardly convincing
They say "we will pay it with Mobutu's money". But what there is isn't enough and it isn't possible to get it back. The opposition's programme is limited to the democratic issues of a new constitution and a federal state.
There is a problem of generations here. All the opposition politicians are of Mobutu's generation. They have grown up under his system and often held official positions in it. They are imbued with the spirit of corruption. Mobutu has ruined a whole generation. A new generation exists in the opposition but it is not in the leader-
The opposition's call for a "general strike by stages" failed because it was not realistic. People live from day to day. Eighty percent of the population of Kinshasa do not know in the morning how they are going to find the money to eat that evening. You can't tell people in this situation to lay in stores for a week and stay at home.
The country's lines of supply have been disrupted. However, this too may be a plot by Mobutu; if supplies rapidly resume, he will claim that Tshisekedi means hunger, while with him in charge, the markets are full. Mobutu may be helped in this by a Belgian, William Damseaux. Damseaux is known as the man who feeds Kinshasa, an "economic operator" in the local phrase. He brings in from the EC or South Africa the leftovers from supermarkets. It is all frozen and brought by boat to Zaire where it is sold by small shopkeepers. The inhabitants of Kinshasa throw it in their soup, and it provides a bit of animal protein. Obviously, Mr, Damseaux's "operation" depends on Mobutu's
In desperate cases, outside armies may be needed to bring food. However, soon these sorts of operations make the basic problems worse as the Western forces get drawn into the clan conflicts, take political decisions and make basic solutions more difficult.
All the social and political relations in Somalia have been destroyed and cannot be rebuilt by military force. There was a UN envoy, Sahnun, who had got people talking and progress was being made. However, his methods were time-consuming and the West, wanting quick results, got rid of him.
Zaire is far bigger than Somalia. Chaos there would be beyond all control. At the UN they are talking about preventive measures.
Abandoned Africa
People are writing that Africa has been abandoned, even that it should be "re-colonized". But I think there is a positive side to "abandonment". Africans at last have the chance to write their own history for themselves. The West has always been going on about "integrating" Africa into the world market or the East-West structure, but this has completely failed.
But Africa will not go away, even if it only represents 3% of world trade. Look at the United States and Latin America. The people in the latter grow drugs to sell in the former. The Africans may do the same for Europe. The revenge of history! Then there are the epidemics arising from poverty. Fortress Europe cannot stand up against them.
The inventiveness of the people of Zaire is extraordinary. And with the National Conference they have already begun to write their own history. Mobutu has said that his fall means chaos. Zaire's people have shown this is not true. *