THE DR CONGO AND ITS SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES FROM 1990-2016
3.1 A GENERAL CONSIDERATION OF THE COUNTRY
3.1.3 Background and natural resources
In 1879, Leopold II, King of the Belgians, asked Henry Morton Stanley to establish the King's authority over the Congo Basin. Stanley persuaded more than 400 local chiefs to sign ’treaties’, ceding land ownership to the International Association of Congo (AIC) under the authority of the King. Leopold's claim to the Congo was formally recognized at the Berlin Conference (1884-1985) when, on April 30, 1885, he signed an ordinance creating the ’Free State of the Congo’ (Etat libre du Congo), establishing legal and official control of a huge and very lucrative enterprise. Under the 1885 ordinance, the local people got restricted access to the land concerned, while since then local communities have had only limited property rights (Witness, 2004:6).
In 1907, Leopold II ceded the Free State of the Congo to Belgium. It did not bring much change in the lives of people. Locals still were subjected to forced labour in plantations and mines, and in the construction of economically vital roads and railways. Many fled to neighbouring countries and began to explore alternative possibilities (trafficking) for trade in consumer goods (Witness, 2004:7). The state of Belgium built railway lines to complement the historic commercial network of communications along the Congo River and its tributaries in the 1920s, with the aim of getting maximum access to resources and enabling the export of commodities such as gold, coffee and sugar. Roads and railways
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were the means of generating tax while customs revenue was obtained from raw materials. It is interesting to note the ingenuity of the colonial state in respect of its infrastructure policy. Today, however, the DR Congo is, from one end to the other, practically impossible to reach. The little infrastructure left by the Belgians has been left almost entirely unmaintained.
The 1950s were characterized by rebellions, insurrections, political demonstrations and intermittent workers' strikes against systems of forced labour, brutal oppression, and social and economic exploitation. After rebellion broke out on 4 January 1959 in Kinshasa, Belgium decided to grant the Congo independence on June 30, 1960 and Patrice Lumumba became prime minister. However, the rapid departure of the Belgians did not leave Lumumba with effective means for administering the country. Lumumba was dismissed, still in 1960, by President Joseph Kasa Vubu and replaced by Moses Tshombe.
When acceding independence in 1960 the Democratic Republic of the Congo was viewed as one of the most promising countries in Africa. Unfortunately, in spite of the abundant presence of natural resources, the 1960s were the beginning of decline ending in economic and political collapse (Matti, 2010:401).
Many scholars confirm that, like his predecessors - Leopold and the state of Belgium, Mobutu managed the Congo (which in 1971 became ‘Zaire’) as his private property. His political control throughout the country was absolute and ensured by repressive methods.
He suppressed political opposition and distributed the mineral wealth of the country to whomever he wanted (Witness, 2004:8).
In 1997 Laurent Désiré Kabila came to power which made no difference to the failing management of the public good and the general dilapidation of the country. Global Witness says that, although the DR Congo had managed to stabilize its currency and had embarked on several public works programmes, Kabila’s style of governance based on personal control resembled that of Mobutu. Kabila kept the control of state resources in his own hands and generally resumed the methods of his predecessor, basing governance on nepotism and corruption, thereby consolidating his power (Witness, 2004:8). In 2001, Joseph Kabila succeeded to the throne of Laurent Desire Kabila. Today,
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the devastation of mineral resources seems to continue unabated and the warfare is interminable. According to World Bank, the DR Congo has over 1100 types of minerals of which the value is estimated at US $ 24 trillion, equivalent to the GDPs of the US and EU combined (Witness, 2004:5). In 1910 cobalt was discovered in the Kivu region of the DR Congo. With the technological advances of the 1990s, the worldwide demand for cobalt increased. The DR Congo remains among the top five producers of cobalt globally.
Of another mineral, coltan, it is estimated that 80% of the globally known sources in Africa are located in the DR Congo (Witness, 2004:19). Cassiterite (pewter) has been exploited in the Eastern DR Congo since colonial times. Of copper 10% of the world's reserves are in DR Congo. Among other minerals sourced from the DR Congo are led, germanium, zinc which is produced in 40 countries, cadmium used in NiCd batteries, pigments, coatings and plastic stabilizers, and silver that has been used for utensils as well as ornaments since thousands of years.
Uranium, a very sensitive material, was in 1939 supplied by the Congo to the United States and, possibly, used in the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many issues of control over, and trade in, minerals are probably a root cause of the continued warfare and international conflicts in the country. The uranium mine was officially closed in the early 1960s. In 1998, it was reported that the government of Laurent Kabila had granted the rights to exploit uranium to Korea in exchange for the training of Congolese troops. This information has been denied by the government (Witness, 2004:27).
The DR Congo has long been acknowledged as the largest source of alluvial industrial diamonds while gold has been identified as one of its most promising natural resources that could provide the country with important revenue.
Oil exploration in the DR Congo did begin soon after independence. There are untapped natural gas reserves in the Kivu region. Also, coal is on the list of main natural resources of the DR Congo while iron and manganese are already exploited.
Only 10% of the land in DR Congo is exploited. The country has almost half of Africa’s water (UNDP). The Congo River with the Inga Dam could supply electricity to the whole African continent and Europe. Unfortunately, only 9 % of Congolese have electricity.
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In addition, the DR Congo has 154 million ha, of forest amounting to half of the African forest. Wood covers 135.110.000 ha of the forested areas in the DR Congo. In Africa it represents the largest forest reserve and globally it takes second place after the Amazon.
Thus, the country has the highest level of biodiversity in Africa, including both flora and fauna.
In terms of natural resources, the DR of Congo is the richest country in the world. It also has the best climate and it is one of the best watered regions with numerous lakes, among these Tanganyika Lake, Kivu Lake and Lake Albert which is the richest lake in fish in the world. The Kivu Lake contains methane gas that has thus far never been exploited (Gerstl et al., 2013:2).
The mineral wealth of the DR Congo is indisputable. With the presence of 64% of the world's known coltan reserves, 10% of the copper, 30% of the diamonds and gold deposits that are among the most promising on the planet. The DR Congo is, besides, the world's top producer of cassiterite, together with Australia (Mercier, 2009:13). Is, however, this implied massive wealth in a country ravaged by conflict, greed, and exploitative leadership going to be of any use to the wellbeing of its inhabitants?
3.2 DIFFICULT BIRTH 0F A NATION AND THE PROBLEMATIC INTRODUCTION OF