Congo’s problems are rooted in the Scramble for Africa

Editor,I am really concerned with the way we African people love to be manipulated and voluntarily go into the mood dancing to the tune of our loss. Just look at what has been going on in DR Congo recently and you can’t help to feel sorry for Africa. When are we going to stop being strangers to our own cause or being dictated our own future?The trouble in the Congo started with colonisation when the greediest western nations drew countries’ boundaries according to their wishes – cutting parts of some countries and annexing them to others. Later, it was translated into a self-inflicted suffering by the lack of leadership, then it turned into an even more vicious state of manipulation of the state organs by the West which is now reaching a state of brainwashing situation.How can one explain that all Congolese left to die by the UN and the world are continuously massacred, raped, and molested by the Interahamwe-FDLR who committed the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda? Monusco, FARDC as well as different innumerable militia factions are also involved in those atrocities that led Congo to be called the “rape capital of the world”.I think that the troubles of Congo directly affect Rwanda and vice-versa. We are bound by nature whether we want it or not and it is not by any one’s choice and no one can change it.It is rather disgraceful to hear Congolese brothers gladly calling the Belgian colonialists – who had forcedly occupied their country, cut hands and women breasts, and killed our ancestors – as “banoko”, meaning “uncles”, while treating their fellow Congolese and brothers of Rwanda descent as strangers and/or enemies.This kind of thinking is the one that still governs the circle of politics/leadership and power as well as that of the opinion leaders in the Congo.Manipulation and animosity will not end the vicious circle of violence in the Congo. Heartfelt and truthful dialogue and equal rights are the only solutions. Whatever else is just a waste of time and no lasting solution could come from war, injustice or alliance with genocidal forces or the UN.The loss and death of the people of Congo, the region and Africa does not matter nor disturb any of them. Just the wealth and exploitation of the nations, its people and resources is at stake.I wonder why only the Congolese and a few other Africans are the only ones who seem not to understand or be able to see it. I was born and raised in Congo, and this is my frank opinion.Beau K, Kigali, RwandaReaction to the story, “Great Lakes leaders to talk security”, (The New Times, July 31)

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Congo’s problems are rooted in the Scramble for Africa