Congo: Only Just Staying in One Piece

The Congo has descended to chaos after the past elections. Defeated rebel leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, is still sending forces against President Kabila.

Even as the president tries to reform the government, Hutus and Tutsis in the east have spilled their bloody battles into Congolese land by carrying out genocidal massacres and looting sprees all over the countryside.

The president has his hands full already, and there’s plenty more to come.

If ever there were an urgent case for change in Congo after years of neglect and war, it is Kinshasa’s general hospital. The emergency room reeks of stale urine. The sick lie outside, while relatives collect money for treatment. Life-threatening cases are accepted but nothing happens until someone stumps up the cash—even if the patients die.

Nine months after Congo’s elections (the first for more than 40 years), which were meant to mark a fresh start after a war that left some 4m dead, Dr Mbwebwe Kabamba, a surgeon in the hospital, is expecting no miracle overnight. But, like millions who walked miles, risked attacks by gunmen or simply stood in the rain to vote, he is looking for signs that those in power might improve the situation.

Posted by mercenary
Reconnoitering, analyzing, and fueling the fallout from the supposed media revolution - this is what I do.

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