High stakes in Brazzaville
WHILE the media spotlight has been focusing on the recent troubles in neighbouring Zaire, formerly 'Marxist-Leninist' Congo has been continuing its trip down the rocky road of a 'democratic transition' coupled with an IMF-inspired Structural Adjustment Plan. In the following article, Jean P.E. Mpélé, a leading member of the leftwing La
International Viewpoint #246 June 1993 social-economic crisis of the dependent countries — that propelled people to challenge the government.
It is often forgotten that it was high school students, in November 1985, that courageously demonstrated in Brazzaville
Cause group, looks into the background of current developments, examines the problems faced by the left and discusses the enduring presence of neo-colonialism in the region.
JEAN PE. MPÉLE — Brazzaville, May 10, 1993
T
HE democratization of Congo has produced some rather surprising results. In the end, the reak with the past so desired by the Congolese people never took place. The current head of state, Pascal Lissouba, is a rather striking symbol of this fact.
In the elections of August 1992, the majority of voters chose Lissouba, who is hardly a newcomer to the political scene in
Congo. He was elected with the National
Alliance for Democracy (AND) coalition, in which his Pan African Union for Social
Democracy (UPADS) party plays the dominant role.
In so doing, Lissouba completed his long ascent up the state hierarchy. After the mass insurrection of August 1963 which overthrew the openly neo-colonial government of
President Fulbert Youlou, he became a minister and then the prime minister of the government headed by Alphonse Massamba
Dbat.
After being dismissed from President
Massamba Dbat's government in 1966 - the president found him too ambitious - he
C. A. R was once again named minister in the Marien Ngouabi government which took power in the military coup d'etat which overthrew Massamba Dbat and declared itself 'Marxist-Leninist'.
Along with many other countries, it established the bases for what would later be called the 'non-capitalist' path of development - through the construction of a strong state sector (creation of state enterprises, followed by the nationalization of certain private colonial enterprises).
In fact, the measures opened up a phase of primitive accumulation for the national capitalist class. Not having experienced any dynamic of capitalist development in the colonial period, the state had to play this role — a factor which, among others, helps explain the conflicts for control of the neocolonial state power from independence until
Lissouba has been one of the main protagonists in these conflicts. It was during his prime ministership that three of his political "competitors' were assassinated. This crime was perpetrated by him and carried out by elements of the Youth of the against the implementation of competition for university grants, which had been freely given to those enrolled in the university. The measure was part of the SAP package that the government had to implement, and was considered highly unjust since it wasn't very difficult to identify the local forces responsible for the socio-economic crisis.
Colossal indebtedness, the bankruptcy of state enterprises and the failure of the 19821986 five-year plan was profitable for party-state dignitaries, their national entourage and their western partners - at the expense of the Congolese people.
The aggressive social measures concocted by the government, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were continually rejected by the people. Structural adjustment was never fully applied. For the people, democratization meant and still means putting a halt to the deterioration of living conditions and improving them. The firing of office workers, early retirement packages, the lowering of salaries and the privatization of state enterprises were not accepted.
This is what explains the split of the Congolese Union Confederation from the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) in 1990. In the middle of the crisis, the Confederation was able to negotiate an improvement in the salary grid for public sector workers. It also exerted pressure for the convocation of the National Sovereignty Conference (CNS), held between February and June 1991.
Rayway
CAMEROON
Dongou,
Impiondo
Ouessr
CONGO
Owarde
GABON
National Revolutionary Movement (JMNR) and forces from a neighbouring country.!
We should recall that the popular opposition to the neocolonial and increasingly repressive government of
Multipartyism was seen as a means and not the end of the democratization process. But the capitalist West waged an aggressive ideological campaign around the formula *democracy = economic liberalism + multipartyism'. Congo, like Benin before it, was fertile ground for such an ideological fraud.
As such, while the CNS led to the acqui-
Garbona
Abinda Diambala
Sibri!
Madingou
•*BRAZZAVILLE
Rinkala
Kayes.
Pointe-
•Noire
AFRICA
CONGO
ANGOLA
General Denis Sassou Ngues-
ZAIRE so did not begin with the fall of the Berlin Wall or the Franco-African summit in La
Baule.2
As in other African coun tries, it was the Structural
Adjustment Plan (SAP) - promoted as a solution to the sition of certain elementary rights and freedoms it also saw the establishment of an elite consensus in favour of pursuing the logic of exclusion and and neo-colonial dependance.
1. The JMR was the youth organisation of the single party, Massamba-Débat's MNR.
2. During the 16th annual Franco-African Conference in La Baule, France in June 1990, French President Francois Mitterrand said that aid would be conditioned on democratisation.
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CONGO
International Viewpoint #246 June 1993
At the CNS, the analysis of the Congolese social formation was simplistic; the real causes of the current national malaise were not revealed. The majority of academics and state functionaries present held the same rather dull view: since 'Marxism-Leninism' was the official ideology and the state sector of the economy was large, Congolese society was socialist and not neo-colonial. Thus, they concluded, it was necessary to take the capitalist road. The economic programme for the transition period bore a strange resemblance to the SAP.
This path is, of course, highly beneficial to the state bureaucracy and the economic criminals of the single-party system - who can now enjoy the fruits of their ill-gotten wealth. Administrative layers rely on the cult of 'merit' to advance themselves even fur-
It was assumed, of course, that the people had nothing to say about these matters. And there was no question of consulting them, especially given the flagrant contradiction between the hopes for social justice expressed by the people and the economic decisions of their 'representatives'. The CNS established a 'consensus' within the Congolese elite around the pursuit of neo-colonial dependence and the logic of social exclusion.
The stifling of dissent has been most efficient. With respect to the Constitution, in the March 1991 referendum the people were compelled to support the adoption of a ridiculous imitation of the Constitution of the Fifth French Republic, while the proposal for a democratic constituent assembly was sim-
It is the sharing out of privileges and control of this internal sharing out that have mainly preoccupied the "political class'. Newcomers want to quickly compensate for time lost; and longtime bosses don't want to be threatened with legal investigation into the methods of their past enrichment.
In this member country of the Structural Adjustment club, deputies supposedly representing the people have unanimously adopted a monthly salary of more than $3000, while the minimum wage is not even $200 and peasants don't even have an annual revenue of $200 due to insufficient outlets for their products.
Ministers are equally spoiled, and administrative staff are joining the "big parties' in huge numbers in order to become deputies, ministers, councillors and central directors.
The burning questions for the peasantry - such as outlets for their products and the building of health and education facilities — are not on the order of the day. The withdrawal of the state and blind praise for private initiative will lead to a lowering in the standard of living for the country's peasant population. They will have to work even harder to 34 meet their basic needs.
Ethnocentrism (tribalist and regionalist) is not a new phenomenon in Congolese political. life. Already on the eve of transition from colonialism to neo-colonialism or 'independence', the existing political parties were tainted with an ethno-centric colouring, which transcended their ideological affiliation to socialism, democracy or liberalism.
Jacques Opangault, leader of a socialistinspired party was seen more as the leader of the northern part of Congo than as a socialist politician. The priest Fulbert Youlou, according to his own claims, was a leader of the Pool region in the south of Congo. He had taken great care to win over the following of André Matsona, a venerated nationalist leader assassinated by the French colonial regime after the Second World War.
In spite of the Youlou-Opangault reconciliation after Youlou's accession to the presidency in the Republic of Congo, the history of the neo-colonial state has been characterised by ethnic patterns of rule.
There is always a clan, a tribe or a region which has a dominant position in the state. After three decades of independence there is more ethno-centrism than there is nationalist consciousness. The proclamation of Marxism-Leninism changed nothing and was even considered as an ideology of the "northerners' in power.
The opposition politicians from the south fought for capitalism or for social-democratic reformism. As for the so-called socialist regime, it conveniently declared that the local lackeys of imperialism were to be found in the other part of the national territo-
The February 22 Movement cannot be co-opted by the 'political class, not only because it was a Guevara-Marxist-inspired organisaton but also because its leadership remained linked to the guerilla up until their assassination in 1973 by military heads still active on the political scene. Their attachment to socialism was stronger than to their ethnic origins. They represented the most advanced stage of naitonalist consciousness.
Almost 20 years later, the CNS and the 'democratic opening' have freed ethnocentric forces suppressed by the single party sys-
Parties had constituted themselves primarily along ethnic lines, all the while proclaiming the need for democracy, nationalism, social democracy and so forth. The domestic 'death of communism' and the thirst for control of the state - however decrepit it may be — have made multi-partyism a breeding ground for tribalist and regionalist parties.
The easiest way for the various partisans of neo-colonialism to differentiate themselves and acquire an electorate is to proceed along ethnic and regional lines. Those who not long ago criticised the ethnocentrism of the PCT have proven to be just as bad if not worse. 'Intellectuals' have been busy justifying the proliferation of tribalist and regionalist parties and stigmatised the extremely small minority opposed to these chauvinistic trends.
For administrative layers, membership in a regional or tribal party would prove highly profitable in the event of an electoral win -even in the case of a defeat, since great importance is given to the national unity of the neo-colonial petty bourgeoisie. Easy access to a lucrative social position is set out as the ideal.
It is clear that tribal feeling is used not for the interest of the tribe or the region — those facing specific problems and those which are victims of a specific social injustice - but rather to allow certain minorities to be well placed for the carving up of the natio nal pie
The people only receive presents at election time. For the fundemental social questions, they are told to look to the IMF and the World Bank — whose demands mean postponing promised happiness to the next man-
In a country where neo-colonialism and ethnocentrism were administered for two decades by an officially 'Marxist-Leninist' party-state, the notion of 'left' can not help but be discredited. During the CNS, there were parties which called themselves socialist, social democrat, labour and even communist. But almost all of them have disappeared, overtaken by the tribalist and regionalist parties. Some of them have survived, but only to participate in pro-capitalist alliances and coalitions.
In Congo, currently there are only two leftwing organisations, the Movement for Democracy and Freedom (Molide) and our organization, La Cause (People's Association for Self-Emancipation and Control).
Molidé evolved from a populist line, which involved participation in the post-CNS transition government, towards a radicalising anti-colonialism. La Cause is radically anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist. Ever since the eve of the CNS, we have been arguing for self-management, ecology and feminism -something which seems to be very much against the current these days.
But the objective situation (economic and social) is such that the pro-capitalist electoralist parties can't propose alternative solutions for the problems of their still illusion-
3. M-22 is an anti-imperialist current which entered the PCT and the government. After it broke away. it created the February 22 Movement and took up armed struggle against the government. It was largely dismantled and its leader, Ange Diawara, was executed. One of the current's main documents was the 'self-criticism' on their participation in the PCT government.
International Viewpoint #246 June 1993 filled electorates. There is a consensus currently being forged in the 'political class' around the idea of a strong state and the stepped up violation of basic freedoms - which, if fully enjoyed, would pose a threat to the peaceful implementation and reproduction of the neo-colonial order.
In August and September 1992, we already saw certain violations of press freedom, through the censorship of particular political television programmes. Only La Cause and Molidé denounced this censorship. The defense of basic rights won in the CNS is not of great concern to the main parties, more worried about administering the neo-colonial state.
For La Cause, any radical break from the neo-colonial order - whether single party or multiparty — can only take place with the conscious participation of the people.
We believe, for example, that the question of ethnocentrism can't be fought among the people simply with elaborate arguments about national unity. Rather, it is through immediate and concrete questions in the neighbourhoods, at work and faced with attacks from the state and the complicit pro-capitalist parties.
Resistance against layoffs and the state's PAS-driven neglect of its neighbourhood and village dispensaries — these factors among many others can create solidarity against ethnocentric division, so long as the left is present on the ground.
The Congolese left has to deal with a number of problems:
• The numerical weakness of the industral proletariat, and tribalist consciousness, even in the unions, which is an obstacle to the development of class consciousness. In the private sector, the employers know how to divide and rule. Nevertheless, in sectors such as the oil refineries there is a tendency towards the development of class conscious-
• Weakness in rural areas, where problems are many but democratic consciousness is more difficult to develop — given the link between pre-capitalist, kindred social relations, tribalism and regionalism. The autonomous organisation of women will be very difficult, unless the unemployment of young educated women begins to have an impact on the peasant workforce.
• The highly bureaucratic control of the unions and the tendency towards collaboration will not soon disappear.
But it seems that the state has understood the scale of the problems it has to face — thus the search for a consensus around the idea of a strong state. A highly repressive government is needed to push through, as demanded by the IMF and the World Bank, the quick dismantlement of the economically strategic state sector.
Without being statist, we have to struggle for the preservation of these state enterprises, with proposals of workers' control. The privatisation of these enterprises - the sell off to Western capital through their local hatchetmen — will lead to massive layoffs, particularly among the unqualified workforce.
The privatisation of the healthcare and education systems will certainly profit a privileged minority, but it will also in all likelihood lead to their quick degeneration. We have to explain to the population, the users, why we need to preserve these gains. The rate of mortality and natal mortality, the progressive removal of children from the school system — these are imortant questions, particularly in the increasingly abandoned rural areas. In Brazzaville, the population has already seen through the conversion of their general hospital into a university hospital centre — nothing less than a privatisation of quality health services.
In spite of the promises of politicians, students are in a majority condemned to future unemployment. The plan to build a free trade zone is not going to solve the employment problem.
We are concerned by recent developments in Zaire, because we are neighbours with many ethnic groups in common, separated by the infamous borders inherited from colonialism - borders which the people often ignore, above all for material reasons. The bad rural policies of the two governments have led to the development of informal trade — for example, the commercialisation of Zairean staple foods in Congo, in both urban and rural areas. Women cross the absurd borders in order to give birth, since the closest maternity centre is often on the other side of the border. This is also true for
The two neo-colonial States have often helped eachother out, in spite of occasional friction. The first Republic of Congo-Brazzaville played an indirect role in the assassination of Lumumba, for example. Mulelé was handed over to Zairean President Mobutu; and Mobutu reciprocated with leaders of M22, Ange Diawara and Ikoka who were subsequently executed. Under Sassou Nguesso, the Congolese and Zairean States increased their collaboration, leading to the arrest and expulsion from Congo of certain opponents of the Mobutu regime.
Democratisation in Zaire is crucial for the future of Black Africa. Unfortunately, imperialism is more aware of this than the African democratic movement - thus the flip-flopping of the imperialist West with respect to Tshishekedi.4 He is caught between his liberal nationalism and the popular dynamic of resistance to Mobutu, which is accompanied by demands for social justice that go well beyond the possibilities of eco nomic liberalism.
We often wonder what Africa would be like with a dynamic of radical democratization unleashed in South Africa and Zaire (including Congo). To be sure, this would worry world capitalism, fearful of the extension of the dynamic.
In spite of the departure of French troops after the 1963 popular insurrection, France has remained a central player in Congo's internal political life. In spite of everything, Congo remained a member of neo-colonial continental institutions controlled by France in the Francophone zone.
The worst expression of French colonial control is the currency of the African Financial Community, the CFA franc — representing the dependence of the financial system of former French African colonies on the Bank of France. Economically, the 'MarxistLeninist' party-state in Congo was more linked to France than to the USSR or China, in spite of the help that these countries brought.
In spite of the nationalisation of French holdings in the 1960s, the French state has always held the lion's share of the resource sector in Congo. The best deal for France is the legal pillage of oil by Elf-Aquitaine under the name Elf-Congo.
The dependence of the Congolese state on oil payments has made Elf a big player in Congo's political life, often leading to strange coincidences. Marien Ngourabi was assassinated in Brazzaville at the very moment when Prime Minister Henri Lopes, in France, was supposed to begin negotiations on changes to the oil agreements. The news of the assassination prevented the negotiations from continuing.
After the transition following the CNS, Prime Minister André Milongo survived an attempted coup d'Etat which followed his insistence that the CNS decision to audit ElfCongo be executed - an audit that never took place. What's more, France supported and financed certain particpants in the CNS, not hesitating to give them support over Radio France Internationale.
For its part, South African capital, always on the lookout for ways to fan out in the region, has been prowling around Congo. And oil interests have been sold to American-Libyan capital in order to pay long overdue salaries to state employees.
While reduced, however, the domination of the French state is not a thing of the past. The Lissouba regime seems to be resorting to the type of blackmail seen in the MarxistLeninist' days: instead of challenging France's dominion with the Soviet threat, Lissouba is doing so with non-French capital. *
4. Military strongman Mobutu Sese Seko does not recognise Etienne Tshishekedi, currently prime minister of Zaire.
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