By Libanga Tika-Kongo
December 26, 2011
A riot policeman faces opposition protesters through a cloud of tear gas in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa.
On December 23, 2011, Etienne Tshisekedi, the opposition leader from the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social, UDPS) boldly swore himself in as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in defiance of the elections that opposition parties argue were rigged in favor of the current neocolonial president, Joseph Kabila.
The election results, announced by Congo’s election commission (CENI), were quickly disputed by all opposition parties as well as some observers, including the head of the Catholic church in Congo.
Africans from Congo had been mobilized for the previous two weeks, in hopes that the elections would end Kabila’s neocolonial government and establish UDPS’s leader, Etienne Tshisekedi, as the new neocolonial president.
On December 20, two days prior to Tshisekedi swearing himself in as president, Kabila was sworn in as the official president, whilst the capital was surrounded with soldiers and tanks.
No head of state attended the ceremony except for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
The U.S. government recognized there was fraud in the election but warned against any resistance.
Africans had mobilized despite the government having unleashed violence and terror, even in front of the world’s media, which has been relatively silent on all of this.
Soldiers were filmed gunning down unarmed protestors just days prior to the election.
More than 1,000 people have been killed so far, and it is reported that the government is kidnapping bodies to hide the evidence of mass killings.
The neocolonial government of José Eduardo dos Santos in Angola has sent troops to prop up the government (and thus protect his business interests in Congo).
Jacob Zuma, current neocolonial president of South Africa, has delivered ballot boxes filled with thousands of fake votes for the president and 7,000 mercenaries to join Kabila’s army and anti-riot police forces in crushing the resistance against Kabila’s neocolonial government.
Local and international resistance
The anger and desperation against Kabila’s neocolonial government led one UDPS supporter to self-immolate in Congo, whilst African women protested outside the U.S. embassy.
Africans from Congo protested internationally on December 24, calling on Kabila to step down.
Protesters were joined by elected politicians from Congo on a tour to negotiate their position, while the Western imperialist governments seem poised to turn their backs on Kabila’s government if they can get the same cheap deal on our resources and end the mass protests seen across Western European capitals.
It is reported that African youth have begun attacks against Chinese businesses located in Congo.
Africans from the Congo have been organizing protests and meeting in various Western capitals, including Paris, Brussels, Canada and Germany.
While they have begun to develop a concept of internationalism the leadership within these various movements limits the aspirations of the people by supplying them with an unscientific analysis of the situation by excluding imperialism as the main problem.
Instead, these movements have focused on Rwanda as the main reason for the situation in Congo and on Kabila as the main leadership problem.
Mass protest continues outside of Congo, but has seen less participation due to lack of leadership, planning, mass meetings, discussion on tactics or political education.
UPDS a dead political force
UDPS has been a dead political force since 2005.
The party failed to remove Mobutu’s government during the 1990s. Whilst Africans never forgot nor forgave and boycotted the 2006 elections, they did revive support again in 2010.
UPDS has remained silent on most issues facing Africans, including imperialist wars, rape, genocide and UN occupation, and they have offered no leadership to the masses who have sought escape from imperialist-imposed, miserable conditions.
Most of the petty bourgeoisie leaders recognize the UPDS chairman as the winner in the presidential race.
What should be clear though, is that the election itself does not represent the means to freedom and attaining control of our own futures. In Congo, there has not been a legitimate election since Patrice Lumumba was elected representing the people’s future and shortly after assassinated by the imperialists.
The future of DRC is in completing Lumumba’s vision of a future for Congo and a united Africa in the hands of the African masses free from control by the imperialist powers or their puppets.
The prison gates are open... 