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The Failure of Western
Diplomacy in Congo
Diplomacy in Congo
“The elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were a fiasco: new armed conflicts have arisen particularly in the East side. These are not ethnic conflicts, though. The opposition is not real, it doesn’t express an opinion and the president does what he wants. Diplomacy in the Congo isn’t transparent, isn’t concrete, because neither Europe nor USA have legitimized the electoral process that they financed.”
***
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Alphonse Muambi, writer, columnist of the Dutch newspaper Trouw and a math teacher in Fontys Hogeschool in Rotterdam, was an electoral delegate in the 2006 presidential elections held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Photo Maribel Rodriguez Perez/ Seinforma Cultural Editor)
SPECIAL SERIES
MIGRATIONS
Migrations: Routes, Dreams and Reality
INTERVIEW TO ALPHONSE MUAMBI, AUTHOR OF YOU CAN’T EAT DEMOCRACY
NO to US Military Bases in Colombia
Historical Frame of the Haitian Migrations
03/07/10
By Maribel Rodriguez Perez/Editor of Culture-Seinforma
The Hague.- I heard about Alphonse Muambi when he came to Amsterdam to talk about democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I decided to interview him so I had to go to Den Haag - The Hague - city in which Alphonse lives with his wife and his two daughters.
The Hague is visited by many delegations and international organizations. Here international disputes and crimes are solved by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or International Criminal Court (ICC) and many other organisations interested in the social order have theirs headquarters in this city, the third most populated city in Holland.
We met at the central train station. Alphonse is a jolly person full of good humour. He invited me to get to know the city, so we decided to walk by and appreciate it. Basically Alphonse writes about democracy, globalization, cooperation for development and he always reflects his vision in his writings. He writes for the Dutch daily newspaper Trouw.
Alphonse let me know the differences between The Netherlands and Africa: “The most evident difference is democracy. In The Netherlands democracy is based on a government elected by people and it’s controlled by the second legislative chamber. This is one of the most important differences. In the Congo there is just one person who does and controls everything”.
Writing about culture is not the most important thing for Alphonse. For him writing about the daily issues and finding solutions is essential. For this reason he published the book You can’t eat Democracy.
Alphonse thinks that democracy is not a way of governance but begins with the development of a country.
“I think solutions of people’s problems should be found and that is when democracy begins, in the development of a country, I am talking about a social, cultural and economic development. That is democracy for me; I’m not saying that that should be the objective, but the key for its accomplishment.”
Seinforma: Alphonse, How did you come up with the idea to write You can’t eat Democracy?
Alphonse Muambi (A.M.): Democracy kun je niet eten (You can’t eat Democracy), is the title of my book. The title came up of the stories that I have been told in the Congo. The book describes Congo people’s lives. Democracy cannot be classified in levels from 1 to 10. Democracy is placed in a very high position in the scale of needs. It’s like the necessity of eating; the necessity of having a free environment, the necessity of going to a hospital when one feels sick; and when a nation has problems, the government is supposed to look for solutions. Democracy is not when we change of president or a revolution. The elected president cannot say: “I do what I want, because I was elected and you must do nothing”, that is not democracy. Democracy is when there are improvements and economic growth. People need education and understanding and these begin with education. You can’t talk about democracy with illiterate people. More schools, more instruction is needed, then you can talk about democracy. On the other hand there is a democracy that corrupt people, propagandist democracy, the one that only wants to get votes and later you would be told what you have to do, but that is not democracy, is corruption. At this moment I have needs, I vote for somebody but later that one will work with my vote. This is what has happened in the Congo and for these reasons I entitled my book like that”.
Seinforma: Alphonse, in 2006 the first elections in the Congo were held after 40 years of independence. Four years later, which are the results and what do you think about this government?
A.M.: “From the technical point of view I can say they were very well, I was there, I was witness, but they were only worthy of a show, especially in Kinshasa. The 2006 elections in the Congo have been the most wonderful elections I have seen; even more that Barack Obama’s elections in the United States. They were very well organized and people were very happy. But people in the Congo have many and very serious problems.
I was there as an electoral delegate, but when I went back to The Netherlands, I reasoned that these elections had been only a fiasco. I think that elections should be held in a country where there is freedom, where there is a minimum of economy development or where there is a minimal of conditions for a socio-political acknowledgment. But the elections in the Congo were held in a scene where the economy is bad, where there are armed people with great ideological gap on justice and democracy, people who want to become opponent to democracy. This was the scenario in where the elections were held in the Congo. Europe so United States has financed these elections but none have wanted to be there to legitimize the process and acknowledge the new government led by Joseph Kabila; So what has happened after the elections? Violence; Kabila is the new president but so far he hasn’t done anything. New armed conflicts have arisen especially in the East, and as regards these conflicts I want to explain that these are not ethnic conflicts but a war in which a part of Africa wants to incite destabilization so they would take the raw material away and commercialized it to other regions or countries like Europe or China. This is my vision or my analysis on the democracy in the Congo”.
Seinforma: Alphonse, Which are the challenges for this new government?
A.M.: “There are many challenges for this new government, perhaps the most important is to strength democracy, makes that both Europe and USA to look at the Congo. The second challenge is to create development projects for people and take advantage of the energy sources that the Congo has. The Congo has everything in order to build demanding objects for society like video cameras, computers and more. So what is to be done is to motivate people to organize especially to people in the cities because at the moment there are many towns and cities in which there is no a mayor’s office. When there is a good government or a mayor in a town that organizes, people is active and cooperative. There are many cases of African immigration to Europe, but the truth is that people want to live in Africa, or in this case, in the Congo. Life is sometimes hard and sad here, so the best alternative is to have good governments, because when there is a good government people feel motivated to stay and live there”.
Seinforma: In your book you say that the causes of the war in the Congo do not involve ethnicity, but if these are not the causes of the war, which are then?
A.M.: “The Democratic Republic of the Congo” is a very rich country. This is not a new fact and since Africa has had contact with Europe, everything that there is in the Congo has made known. When the European arrived in the Congo began a fight. This fight began with the colonial period, the Congo was colonized by Belgium, but the Belgians also had problems with Germans, with the United States due to the exploitation of the raw material”.
“The first atomic bomb that the USA conducted against Hiroshima, Japan during the World War II was done with Congolese uranium. This can illustrate how rich the Congo is. At this moment the Congo is the third world-wide producer of Coltan. This material is required in the electronic industry, to produce mobile phones, computers and other devices. Besides the Congo has diamonds and gold that have provoked war in the Congo. It’s not an ethnic war because the Congo has more than 400 ethnic groups that is for the own Congo a wealth not a problem or a factor of conflict. Each group has its own culture, its own dance and this becomes national, then for us the culture in the Congo is based on groups that are the branches of a whole, for us, this is not a conflict but a wealth”.
Seinforma: Why you have said that the Western diplomacy in the Congo has failed?
A.M.: “The Western diplomacy has failed in the Congo because is not well known or it’s incomprehensible. There is people that only go to mediate or help, but is unknown what are its real objectives. That is to say that there is no transparency so its real ambition cannot be explained. The journalists who are there cannot explain the matters of the agenda. Signed agreements with a clear explanations are needed and thus to understand what happens and begin to collaborate. But when diplomacy is neither concrete nor clear people don’t collaborate and follow their own ideas, and sometimes these are wrong”.
Seinforma: What is the difference between the government and the opposition in the Congo?
A.M.: “At this moment the government does everything without listening to the objections of the opposition and this generates many discrepancies between them. At this moment the leader of the opposition who lost the 2006 elections against Kabila, Mr. Memba is in a Dutch prison in Scheveningen, district of The Hague.
The leader of the opposition has committed international crimes, in another country in centre of Africa. This fact has double entendre since it shows some of the objectives that have both, the government and opposition in the Congo. The opposition in the Congo at this moment is not real, the opposition doesn’t think, and the president does everything what he wants. He wants a change not for people nor for the opposition or for the parliament, but for the Bank industry, International Monetary Fund or international leaders. This is democracy in the Congo: Thinking of the international organizations requests and not of Congolese people. It is here where I see a problem”.
Seinforma: Why do you think that the Western model in Africa does not work?
A.M.: “Since Africa made contact with Europe, The western model doesn’t work. I am going to set an example: I am African and I have grown there, it’s my culture. When I came to The Netherlands, everything was different and I think nothing is ok, now I want to change everything. I think that the mayor of Amsterdam must change everything. If I bring the African way of life I would only create problems, because the norms and traditions cannot be changed or eliminated. If people receive a model that doesn’t agree with their traditions and their way of life it would create a chaos. Another example is my mother; she doesn’t know what democracy is. Democracy is Montesquieu, but my mother doesn’t know who he is. We need development first so my mother could understand. People in Africa don’t understand of the Western model. I am not saying that the western model is negative; I just think we need to create a combination between this model and the society with their culture. And in my opinion when that doesn’t happen, It’s a failure.
Seinforma: What is your forward-looking approach for the Congo?
A.M.: “The future in the Congo in a short-term is not precise. A leader is needed; somebody that respects the dignity, the freedom and motivates people. A leader who tells young people that is making progress that their future is better. In the Congo there is everything for the world economy, cooper, gold, diamonds, and materials for the construction in the automotive and aviation industry. A Good leader is needed in order to stimulate the development and diplomacy. People think that the Congo development is there. The Congo is a wealth of 16 million people, 6 million 400 thousand votes, this is wealth; this is the future of the Congo. I don’t see the future of the Congo in Amsterdam, Washington or Paris, but in thw Congo, and this is what it is needed”.
Seinforma: Alphonse, What do you family in Africa think about your writings?
A.M.: “When I left Africa, there were many politics problems, problems that my family could have been witnessed. They think that I have be very careful because they are in the Congo and when I say, write or get involved in political matters; these problems get where they are. But I think that these problems exist, with or without my writings. The economy is a problem, politics doesn’t go well, therefore I cannot take care of myself very much nor of them either”.
After drinking a soft drink, seeing Den Haag and talking about democracy, we approached to the station to take the train, and in the middle of our conversation I asked: Alphonse, What do African think about Obama? And he replied:
“Obama is a great leader and is an inspiration for all of us, even for African people, but we are also realistic. Obama is the president of the USA. He is not president in Africa; he works for USA and will make things for that country, not for Africa”.
By Maribel Rodriguez Perez/Editor of Culture-Seinforma
The Hague.- I heard about Alphonse Muambi when he came to Amsterdam to talk about democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I decided to interview him so I had to go to Den Haag - The Hague - city in which Alphonse lives with his wife and his two daughters.
The Hague is visited by many delegations and international organizations. Here international disputes and crimes are solved by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or International Criminal Court (ICC) and many other organisations interested in the social order have theirs headquarters in this city, the third most populated city in Holland.
We met at the central train station. Alphonse is a jolly person full of good humour. He invited me to get to know the city, so we decided to walk by and appreciate it. Basically Alphonse writes about democracy, globalization, cooperation for development and he always reflects his vision in his writings. He writes for the Dutch daily newspaper Trouw.
Alphonse let me know the differences between The Netherlands and Africa: “The most evident difference is democracy. In The Netherlands democracy is based on a government elected by people and it’s controlled by the second legislative chamber. This is one of the most important differences. In the Congo there is just one person who does and controls everything”.
Writing about culture is not the most important thing for Alphonse. For him writing about the daily issues and finding solutions is essential. For this reason he published the book You can’t eat Democracy.
Alphonse thinks that democracy is not a way of governance but begins with the development of a country.
“I think solutions of people’s problems should be found and that is when democracy begins, in the development of a country, I am talking about a social, cultural and economic development. That is democracy for me; I’m not saying that that should be the objective, but the key for its accomplishment.”
Seinforma: Alphonse, How did you come up with the idea to write You can’t eat Democracy?
Alphonse Muambi (A.M.): Democracy kun je niet eten (You can’t eat Democracy), is the title of my book. The title came up of the stories that I have been told in the Congo. The book describes Congo people’s lives. Democracy cannot be classified in levels from 1 to 10. Democracy is placed in a very high position in the scale of needs. It’s like the necessity of eating; the necessity of having a free environment, the necessity of going to a hospital when one feels sick; and when a nation has problems, the government is supposed to look for solutions. Democracy is not when we change of president or a revolution. The elected president cannot say: “I do what I want, because I was elected and you must do nothing”, that is not democracy. Democracy is when there are improvements and economic growth. People need education and understanding and these begin with education. You can’t talk about democracy with illiterate people. More schools, more instruction is needed, then you can talk about democracy. On the other hand there is a democracy that corrupt people, propagandist democracy, the one that only wants to get votes and later you would be told what you have to do, but that is not democracy, is corruption. At this moment I have needs, I vote for somebody but later that one will work with my vote. This is what has happened in the Congo and for these reasons I entitled my book like that”.
Seinforma: Alphonse, in 2006 the first elections in the Congo were held after 40 years of independence. Four years later, which are the results and what do you think about this government?
A.M.: “From the technical point of view I can say they were very well, I was there, I was witness, but they were only worthy of a show, especially in Kinshasa. The 2006 elections in the Congo have been the most wonderful elections I have seen; even more that Barack Obama’s elections in the United States. They were very well organized and people were very happy. But people in the Congo have many and very serious problems.
I was there as an electoral delegate, but when I went back to The Netherlands, I reasoned that these elections had been only a fiasco. I think that elections should be held in a country where there is freedom, where there is a minimum of economy development or where there is a minimal of conditions for a socio-political acknowledgment. But the elections in the Congo were held in a scene where the economy is bad, where there are armed people with great ideological gap on justice and democracy, people who want to become opponent to democracy. This was the scenario in where the elections were held in the Congo. Europe so United States has financed these elections but none have wanted to be there to legitimize the process and acknowledge the new government led by Joseph Kabila; So what has happened after the elections? Violence; Kabila is the new president but so far he hasn’t done anything. New armed conflicts have arisen especially in the East, and as regards these conflicts I want to explain that these are not ethnic conflicts but a war in which a part of Africa wants to incite destabilization so they would take the raw material away and commercialized it to other regions or countries like Europe or China. This is my vision or my analysis on the democracy in the Congo”.
Seinforma: Alphonse, Which are the challenges for this new government?
A.M.: “There are many challenges for this new government, perhaps the most important is to strength democracy, makes that both Europe and USA to look at the Congo. The second challenge is to create development projects for people and take advantage of the energy sources that the Congo has. The Congo has everything in order to build demanding objects for society like video cameras, computers and more. So what is to be done is to motivate people to organize especially to people in the cities because at the moment there are many towns and cities in which there is no a mayor’s office. When there is a good government or a mayor in a town that organizes, people is active and cooperative. There are many cases of African immigration to Europe, but the truth is that people want to live in Africa, or in this case, in the Congo. Life is sometimes hard and sad here, so the best alternative is to have good governments, because when there is a good government people feel motivated to stay and live there”.
Seinforma: In your book you say that the causes of the war in the Congo do not involve ethnicity, but if these are not the causes of the war, which are then?
A.M.: “The Democratic Republic of the Congo” is a very rich country. This is not a new fact and since Africa has had contact with Europe, everything that there is in the Congo has made known. When the European arrived in the Congo began a fight. This fight began with the colonial period, the Congo was colonized by Belgium, but the Belgians also had problems with Germans, with the United States due to the exploitation of the raw material”.
“The first atomic bomb that the USA conducted against Hiroshima, Japan during the World War II was done with Congolese uranium. This can illustrate how rich the Congo is. At this moment the Congo is the third world-wide producer of Coltan. This material is required in the electronic industry, to produce mobile phones, computers and other devices. Besides the Congo has diamonds and gold that have provoked war in the Congo. It’s not an ethnic war because the Congo has more than 400 ethnic groups that is for the own Congo a wealth not a problem or a factor of conflict. Each group has its own culture, its own dance and this becomes national, then for us the culture in the Congo is based on groups that are the branches of a whole, for us, this is not a conflict but a wealth”.
Seinforma: Why you have said that the Western diplomacy in the Congo has failed?
A.M.: “The Western diplomacy has failed in the Congo because is not well known or it’s incomprehensible. There is people that only go to mediate or help, but is unknown what are its real objectives. That is to say that there is no transparency so its real ambition cannot be explained. The journalists who are there cannot explain the matters of the agenda. Signed agreements with a clear explanations are needed and thus to understand what happens and begin to collaborate. But when diplomacy is neither concrete nor clear people don’t collaborate and follow their own ideas, and sometimes these are wrong”.
Seinforma: What is the difference between the government and the opposition in the Congo?
A.M.: “At this moment the government does everything without listening to the objections of the opposition and this generates many discrepancies between them. At this moment the leader of the opposition who lost the 2006 elections against Kabila, Mr. Memba is in a Dutch prison in Scheveningen, district of The Hague.
The leader of the opposition has committed international crimes, in another country in centre of Africa. This fact has double entendre since it shows some of the objectives that have both, the government and opposition in the Congo. The opposition in the Congo at this moment is not real, the opposition doesn’t think, and the president does everything what he wants. He wants a change not for people nor for the opposition or for the parliament, but for the Bank industry, International Monetary Fund or international leaders. This is democracy in the Congo: Thinking of the international organizations requests and not of Congolese people. It is here where I see a problem”.
Seinforma: Why do you think that the Western model in Africa does not work?
A.M.: “Since Africa made contact with Europe, The western model doesn’t work. I am going to set an example: I am African and I have grown there, it’s my culture. When I came to The Netherlands, everything was different and I think nothing is ok, now I want to change everything. I think that the mayor of Amsterdam must change everything. If I bring the African way of life I would only create problems, because the norms and traditions cannot be changed or eliminated. If people receive a model that doesn’t agree with their traditions and their way of life it would create a chaos. Another example is my mother; she doesn’t know what democracy is. Democracy is Montesquieu, but my mother doesn’t know who he is. We need development first so my mother could understand. People in Africa don’t understand of the Western model. I am not saying that the western model is negative; I just think we need to create a combination between this model and the society with their culture. And in my opinion when that doesn’t happen, It’s a failure.
Seinforma: What is your forward-looking approach for the Congo?
A.M.: “The future in the Congo in a short-term is not precise. A leader is needed; somebody that respects the dignity, the freedom and motivates people. A leader who tells young people that is making progress that their future is better. In the Congo there is everything for the world economy, cooper, gold, diamonds, and materials for the construction in the automotive and aviation industry. A Good leader is needed in order to stimulate the development and diplomacy. People think that the Congo development is there. The Congo is a wealth of 16 million people, 6 million 400 thousand votes, this is wealth; this is the future of the Congo. I don’t see the future of the Congo in Amsterdam, Washington or Paris, but in thw Congo, and this is what it is needed”.
Seinforma: Alphonse, What do you family in Africa think about your writings?
A.M.: “When I left Africa, there were many politics problems, problems that my family could have been witnessed. They think that I have be very careful because they are in the Congo and when I say, write or get involved in political matters; these problems get where they are. But I think that these problems exist, with or without my writings. The economy is a problem, politics doesn’t go well, therefore I cannot take care of myself very much nor of them either”.
After drinking a soft drink, seeing Den Haag and talking about democracy, we approached to the station to take the train, and in the middle of our conversation I asked: Alphonse, What do African think about Obama? And he replied:
“Obama is a great leader and is an inspiration for all of us, even for African people, but we are also realistic. Obama is the president of the USA. He is not president in Africa; he works for USA and will make things for that country, not for Africa”.
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