The Rumble in the Jungle

8 min readJan 24, 2019

Two fateful words uttered in the White House in August 1960, “eliminate him”, opened the floodgates to Congo’s never-ending nightmare. These came from the 34th US president, Dwight D Eisenhower, in reference to one of Africa’s greatest leaders, Patrice Lumumba. Barely five months later, Lumumba was murdered and his body dissolved in sulphuric acid, denying him a dignified burial. The gruesome act brought the country under the control of the Western conspirators’ preferred candidate, Mobutu Sese Seko. The nation have never united through infrastructure development, peace and security since independence.

Today, 24th January 2019, we just witnessed DR Congo’s first peaceful handover of power in its history. Former president Joseph Kabila is stepping aside after 18 years at the helm of the country and Felix Tshisekedi is taking office today. Despite the delays, elections happened and Kabila is leaving office.

Although results were unexpected, they were nonetheless approved by the Congolese Constitutional Court and the country is already getting ready to start a new journey. A challenging new journey as you will see shortly. Many observers, including the National Episcopal Conference of Congo — the largest election observation mission — and Martin Fayulu’s coalition LAMUKA (meaning wake up in lingala) are protesting the results and backing their claims with data.

As you can see, numbers simply don’t match. According to these datasets, even with millions of voters remaining to cast their votes, Martin Fayulu is the clear winner.

Fayulu branded the result a fix but lost a challenge to the Constitutional Court, and foreign support for his position ebbed as countries took comfort in a peaceful transition.

These are some of the latest tweets from the candidate whose campaign’s slogan was wake up. It’s about time we wake up. Wake up to the fact that one doesn’t need to be in power in order to bring change to the nation and help develop the country. The pro-Kabila Joint Front for Congo (FCC) controls 337 seats in the 500-member National Assembly against 102 for Fayulu’s coalition, Lamuka, and only 46 for the new president’s Heading for Change (Cach). The defence, foreign affairs and interior portfolios will go to the FCC which greatly limit Tshisekedi’s ability to pacify the east and make key changes in the mining sector for a better wealth distribution.

But Congo isn’t just a mineral-rich central African nation, it is home of 80 millions people thriving, hoping and praying for a better life. Once again, we are facing a minority of political leaders that claim to be working for the nation and wanting to bring real changes during elections; then are unwilling to roll their sleeves and work for the nation, post-election loss. Don’t get me wrong, results may or may not have been tampered; but this doesn’t change the fact that life continues for millions of Congolese and that real change happen on the ground.

The presidency fallacy

The presidency fallacy is the belief that one must become the president in order to bring real changes and develop the nation. We are witnessing a classic example of the fallacy with the Lamuka coalition and all its powerful supporters including the likes of Olivier Kamitatu, Jean-Pierre Mbemba, Moïse Katumbi and more. All these Congolese leaders are willing to spend years abroad (sometimes unwillingly, we must admit), excite the nation during elections and step back when they lose. It has to stop!

The sad part about this attitude is they are not the real losers in this story, Congolese men and women who believed in them, risked their life in public for them and most importantly, hoped for a change are the real losers. Because instead of taking responsibilities for their lives, they will wait for these “patriots” to come back in 5 years and take power, then start expecting radical changes. The truth is radical doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time, trial and errors and most importantly, persistence to make it work. Trial and errors happen on the ground, everyday, not every 5 years during elections. So instead of inciting people to risk their lives on the street, while they stay at home or abroad; they should come up with a plan to still have an impact on Congolese people’ lives without the presidency.

Don’t Listen to What People Say, Look at What They Do

The Congolese nation said they wanted fair elections. Results surprised many, they are well aware that numbers may have been tampered, yet they did not protest. Why?

They wanted Kabila out, he’s out.
They wanted elections, they got it.
They wanted a change, they got some sort of it.
They want a peaceful transition of power, they got it.

The peaceful transition of power, or the illusion of it as some people claim, gives them enough hope to keep the fight alive. They know things are not perfect, they are aware of the FCC’s hold on the National Assembly. But they also know that their fight wasn’t in vain. That’s something to be proud of. The fight is not over, but the nation is moving forward.

“Don’t listen to what people say, look at what they do” also applies to every member of the coalition who claimed to be a loving patriot during elections and are now inciting people to reject the results and cause trouble. Your actions now speak louder than everything you said during elections. Rigged elections or not, it’s time to get to work and show what you can do with the little you have. Congo is a land of thousands of issues, the mining sector is one of the many problems the nation need to solve in order to grow; we still haven’t dealt with all the basics. While peace and security remains on top of the list; we still have to invest in education, health, infrastructure and entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship

The Congolese nation is a very entrepreneurial nation who managed to survive for years despite though economic challenges. It’s about time we help them launch businesses and create jobs. By entrepreneurship, I’m not talking about the fancy business plans that requires foreign investment and enrishes the few, the country need a local economy powered by small and medium enterprise; and one does not need to be in power in order to advocate for such change and most importantly, inspire the nation to become more entrepreneurial.

Infrastructure

Yes, the mining sector is extremely lucrative but we also have an incredibly fertile soil, why can’t we revive the agriculture sector? We need roads? Alright, how about helping cities develop themselves? Do one need to be president for that? Provinces need development, individual cities throughout the country needs development; a proper plan to build good infrastructure can support thousands of jobs and start boosting the local economy without even touching the mining sector. Proper infrastructure (with added security, of course) can kickstart a very lucrative tourism sector, that will generate billions for the country and employ hundred of thousands, if not, millions of Congolese.

Education

20 days with no internet was shocking, how could they? The internet is back, how about using it to educate the nation? There are enough knowledge online to train a new generation of Congolese workers at scale and put them to work right away, does one need to be president for that?

Health

The country is still dealing with HIV, ebola and all kind of diseases caused by either lifestyle choices, lack of knowledge and bad hygiene. How about helping the nation face these challenges? Don’t they need healthy voters 5 years from now?

We need to get real. Martin Fayulu was relatively unknown before these elections, the nation approved him, loved him, supported him because he claimed to be here for the change. Can’t he be part of the change, regardless of who’s president? Wake up people.

You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain

Legacy matters. Martin Fayulu has the opportunity to be different. Almost every presidential runner-up in Africa dismiss results, incite protests and claim to be victorious. It seems to be a key features of African elections. Martin Fayulu has the opportunity to be different and show how much he respects Congolese people. It’s time for him to put his money where his mouth is, roll up the sleeves and get to work. Asking for foreign support sends the wrong message to Congolese people. Nobody will ever respect Congolese laws, including Congolese elections, if they can be overturn by foreign nations at any moment.

There are 80 millions of people who needs help and support. They are not asking for mining contracts worth billions, they are asking for support so they can live a good life and provide for their families. Infrastructure, education, health and entrepreneurship can help; and don’t require presidency for it. Look at what Denis Mukwege is able to do with very little political influence.

Now, here’s the caveat, in order for these changes to take place, people must start by respecting authorities. Most importantly, respect the Congolese Constitutional Court because if what they say don’t matter, nothing else matter. We can’t expect the population to obey the law if leaders themselves don’t. In order words, we must all respect Congolese Constitutional Court’s decision to approve election results.

It’s time for us to wake up and get real. The president himself won’t fix everything, he needs support from every single one of us, including opposition leaders who are trusted by the nation. The results aren’t perfect but life isn’t fair either, Etienne Tshisekedi who played a leading role in nearly every chapter of Congo’s messy politics, remaining a potent symbol of resistance, died before witnessing a peaceful handover of power. It’s time to accept reality as is and get to work. If this article resonate with you, please share the message, Congolese people need to get to work; the fight is not over but the nation is moving forward.