Democratic Republic of Congo: Forward Ever, Backward Never!

[XXPANTHAXX]

A few days ago, on the 15th and the 16th, we were in
Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. We
had returned to the DRC to witness a critically important
event in the evolution of this sister country towards
democracy and lasting peace, as well as convey a message of
congratulations and solidarity from our government and people
to the Congolese government and people.

On 16 May, the Congolese Houses of Parliament convened
formally to adopt a new Constitution, which will supersede
the current Transitional Constitution under which the DRC is
currently governed.

At this joint sitting of the Houses of Parliament, the
Speaker of the National Assembly, the Hon Olivier Kamitatu,
handed the Constitution to President Joseph Kabila, with the
request that he takes the necessary steps to seek the
approval of the Constitution by the Congolese people, by
referendum.

Our delegation could not but recall a similar solemn and
happy occasion that had taken place in our country almost
exactly nine years before. On 8 May 1996, our own National
Parliament had convened in a joint sitting, as the
Constitutional Assembly, to adopt our own final Constitution,
which superseded our Interim Constitution.

As we sat in the Congolese Houses of Parliament, privileged
to share an historic moment with the leaders of the Congolese
people and diplomats representing many nations, as well as
the UN, we could not but recall what our new constitutional
order has meant and means for our country and people.

It has meant that after a protracted and costly struggle, we
managed to enshrine in the basic law of the land the demand
contained in the Freedom Charter – the people shall govern.

It has meant that we created the conditions for our people to
live together in peace, as brothers and sisters, overcoming
centuries of division and conflict in a spirit of national
reconciliation, understanding that South Africa belongs to
all who live in it, united in their diversity.

It has meant that as a people, we have given ourselves the
possibility to build our country together, determined to
achieve the goal of the eradication of poverty and
underdevelopment, to guarantee the material and spiritual
fulfilment of all our people.

At the luncheon hosted by President Kabila in our honour
after the parliamentary session, we had the possibility to
convey the heartfelt wishes of our people that with the
approval of their own Constitution, the Congolese people have
also placed themselves on course towards democracy, national
unity and reconciliation, and a shared prosperity for all the
people of the DRC.

We also pledged our country’s continued support for the
Congolese people as they worked together to implement the
provisions contained in the two fundamental documents of the
Congolese transition, the Global and Inclusive Agreement and
the Transitional Constitution. This includes such
determinations they would make, on the recommendation of the
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), as to when the
elections would be held.

The Global and Inclusive Agreement and the Transitional
Constitution negotiated by the leaders of the Congolese
people at Sun City and Pretoria (Tshwane), provide that once
it was constituted in terms of the Transitional Constitution,
the Transitional Parliament of the DRC should draft the final
Constitution of the DRC. This has now been done.

That Agreement and the Transitional Constitution also require
that the final Constitution should also be approved by the
referendum to which the Hon Kamitatu referred. These
documents also require that democratic elections should be
held two years after the Transitional Government takes power.

That two-year period ends on 30 June this year, the 45th
anniversary of the independence of the DRC. However, bearing
in mind the difficulties that might arise during the two-year
transitional period, the Global and Inclusive Agreement and
the Transitional Constitution provide that the transitional
period could be extended by up to a year, to June 2006, to
give enough time to prepare for truly democratic elections.

The Transitional Constitution therefore gives powers to the
IEC to approach Parliament to recommend an extension of the
transitional period for a maximum of two six-month periods.

The IEC has now done this. It has presented proposals to the
Congolese Parliament suggesting the timeframes for the
conduct of the referendum and the national elections,
consistent with the directives contained in the Global and
Inclusive Agreement and the Transitional Constitution.

During the 16 May session, President Kabila urged the
assembled Members of the Congolese Parliament urgently to
consider the submission of the IEC. To the warm applause of
the Members of Parliament, he reaffirmed the commitment of
the leaders of the Congolese transition to honour the
obligation contained in the Global and Inclusive Agreement
and the Transitional Constitution to hold free, fair and
democratic elections by no later than June 2006, within time
frames that would be set by the IEC.

For almost all the 45 years of its existence as an
independent country, the DRC has not had governments given
legitimacy by having been freely chosen by the Congolese
people. The first and only such legitimate government was led
by the great Congolese and African patriot, Patrice Lumumba.

That government lasted less than a year. Having acceded to
his position as the first Prime Minister of an independent
Congo on 30 June 1960, Patrice Lumumba was brutally murdered
in January 1961.

That ended the Congolese democratic project and, for decades,
made it impossible for its people to take advantage of their
emancipation from colonial and imperialist domination to
build a new life for themselves, centred on the material and
spiritual fulfilment of every Congolese citizen.

In truth the six months between the accession of the DRC to
independence and the death of Patrice Lumumba was but a brief
flash of hope in a period of despair for the Congolese
people, which began when a Portuguese ship, captained by
Diogo Cão, sailed a short distance up the River Congo in 1482.

Not long after, the export of the Congolese to the western
hemisphere as slaves began. As that ended, King Leopold of
Belgium appropriated the Congo as his personal property, and
subjected its people to a process of rapine that decimated
its people as cruelly as had done the slave trade.

This situation did not change much when, as King Leopold
directed in his will, the Congo formally became a colonial
possession of the Kingdom of Belgium. The post World War II
African and Congolese rebellion against colonialism and
imperialism gave the Congolese people a period of six months
of hope that, at last, they were free of almost half-a-
millennium of the most brutal oppression, exploitation and
brutalisation.

But this was not to be. In the end, after the murder of
Patrice Lumumba, for many decades, the Congolese people were
subjected to the rapacious rule of Mobutu Sese Seko. Before
and after he died, the Congolese people were to be subjected
to further torment through war, including invasions by some
of their neighbours.

With the installation of the Transitional Government in 2003,
hope returned to the Congolese people that the fire lit when
Patrice Lumumba spoke of his people’s hopes on 30 June 1960
would be rekindled. The adoption of the final Constitution by
the Transitional Parliament on 16 May constituted an act of
affirmation that the people of the Congo were not wrong when,
in 2003, they celebrated the dawning of the new dawn.

The Congolese people hope that their centuries-old dream of
peace, democracy, human rights and prosperity will no longer
be deferred. They set great store by the day when they will
have the possibility freely to elect the first legitimate
government of the DRC after the government led by Patrice
Lumumba.

They are convinced that the government they will elect, which
will necessarily be accountable to them, will respect their
aspirations for peace, government by the people, national
unity and a better life. Because of the suffering they and
their forebears have endured, and the expectation generated
by the commencement of the transitional period, they are
impatient for the moment to arrive when, for the second time
in 500 years, they will have a government of their choice.

On previous occasions when we have visited Kinshasa, we have
seen people along the streets of this enormous African city
express this hope by holding up placards reading – “Elections
June 30 2005�. There is no doubt that this reflected the wish
of millions of Congolese.

However, everybody also knew that it would not be easy to
realise this goal within the two-year period prescribed in
the Global and Inclusive Agreement and the Transitional
Constitution. This is because of the many difficult tasks
that would have to be accomplished both to create the
conditions for the elections to take place and to ensure that
their outcome truly reflects the will of the Congolese people.

Among other things, a new Constitution had first to be
approved by referendum. New Congolese security forces had to
be created, leading to the dissolution of the various armed
formations that had engaged one another in war. This includes
the Rwandan armed group that had committed genocide in Rwanda
in 1994 and then fled to the then Zaire.

The state administration had to be extended to all parts of
the DRC, to reunite the country and create the conditions for
all political parties freely to campaign everywhere. The
voters had to be registered for both the referendum and the
elections, bearing in mind that there have been no elections
for 45 years, the state administration had collapsed during
the Mobutu years, as had the communication infrastructure,
making it difficult to reach all parts of the country.

There is now movement on all these matters. As we have said,
parliament has adopted the new Constitution and will soon
approve the legislation enabling the referendum to take
place. New integrated military brigades and police units are
being established. The Rwandan armed groups have agreed to
disband and have accepted that they should be repatriated to
Rwanda.

Governors and administrators have been deployed by the
Transitional Government in all the provinces and localities,
uniting the country under one administration. The process of
registering voters will begin next month. The church and
civil society organisations have already begun the work of
voter education.

In addition to the units of the South African National
Defence Force (SANDF) deployed as part of the UN troops,
others of our compatriots are working with the Transitional
Government of the DRC and other countries, contributing to
the advances being made in the various areas we have
indicated. We will continue this important engagement as part
of our internationalist duty to help achieve Africa’s renewal.

During our visit to the DRC, we had the opportunity to
interact with almost all the leaders representing the
political formations involved in the transitional
institutions, as well as the church, organisations of civil
society and the organised women of the Congo. We were very
inspired by the resolve communicated by these leaders to
ensure that their country continues to advance towards the
elections in conditions of peace and stability, respecting
the commitments they made as reflected in the Global and
Inclusive Agreement and the Transitional Constitution.

We were similarly inspired that the struggles of the
Congolese women had resulted in the great victory that the
final Constitution includes a provision requiring that gender
parity should be achieved in the composition of the organs of
state. To the best of our knowledge this pioneering giant
step forward is not reflected in any other Constitution
anywhere in the world, including our own. It constitutes an
important indication of the capacity of the Congolese people
to occupy the front ranks in the process of the progressive
transformation of human society.

Effectively to do so, the DRC will first have to complete its
transition in the conditions of peace and stability to which
the leaders and the masses of the Congolese people are
committed. We trust that the progress that has been made
under difficult conditions and the irreversible advance
towards the elections, will inspire the Congolese people to
unite in truly joyful and peaceful celebrations of the 45th
Anniversary of Independence, determined to live up to the
vision for the DRC that inspired Patrice Lumumba – forward
ever, backward never!