State, Conflict and Reconstruction in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Andre Mbata B Mangu
University of Venda for Science and Technology, South Africa
Private Bag X 5050 THOHOYANDOU 0950
Tel.: (+27) 721169351 / Fax: (+27) 962 4742
E-mail: magnum@unin.unorth.ac.za / mmangu@hotmail.comAbstract
Indisputably, "State in Africa" features among the subjects that have been the most debated in
social sciences by both African and Africanist scholars. They have been put high on the agenda of every CODESRIA's General Assembly. "Crisis", "weakness", "underdevelopment",
"disintegration", "decline", "failure", "fall", "collapse", "quasi ‑statehood", and even state less ness" are the hallmarks of the conventional discourse on state in Africa, which is anti- statist and Afro‑pessimistic. When it was said to exist, efforts were made to dismantle or demonise the African state, which in theory and practice, continues to be seen as the main "problem" or the principal obstacle to growth, development and liberty on the continent, particularly within the context of globalisation. Responding to "State failure in Africa", some Western‑minded pundits urged radical and questionable solutions such as "self‑colonisation" or “recolonisation”.
On the other hand, addressing "State and conflict in post‑colonial Africa" usually refers to specific regions and states of the continent. Central Africa and the Great Lakes Region generally come into picture while the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is presented as an illuminating, paradigmatic and study case of "failed", "disintegrated", "collapsed" state and even “statelessness” in Africa. Since the late 1990s, the former Zaire is faced with an unprecedented conflict that broke out and developed due to a number of factors, both internal and external. The war In the DRC, which was billed by some as "the first African world war", "first African war" or “African war”, involved many armed groups from DRC and from neighbouring states as well as troops of national armies of at least eight other African countries. As a result of the conflict, millions were killed, basic infrastructures destroyed, and the country divided between several administrations despite the DRC remaining a single state under international law.
The paper will briefly review the discourse on the state and its status in Africa. "State collapse" and "disengagement" theories will be revisited through the state and state‑citizens relations in the Congo. As far as the conflict in the DRC is concerned, the study will analyse its history and nature, whether it is a mere rebellion, a foreign aggression or both. It will question the responsibility of domestic, regional and international factors in the rise of the conflict, its development, persistence and what should also be their part in the achievement of sustainable peace in the DRC and the region. The approach envisaged for the settlement of the Congolese crisis, particularly through the Lusaka Agreement, will also come under consideration. The paper will finally examine the prospects for conflict resolution and peace making under the African Union. The reconstruction of the society cannot go without the reconstruction of the state whose foundations must lie on democracy, constitutionalism, and respect for human rights that are prerequisites for sustainable peace and African renaissance. It is contended that Africa must get away of its numerous conflicts and wars and divorce authoritarian rule in the ideal of making the 21st an African century was to stand a chance to become reality. African heads of state and government in Durban acknowledged that the settlement of the conflict in the DRC and the Great Lakes region was instrumental to African Renaissance and NEPAD and constituted one of the major challenges facing the African Union.