It’s simply ironic and grotesque that a former president, Joseph Kabila, who came to power in the aftermath of the AFDL rebellion as a puppet of an occupying foreign force, should today present himself as a moralist-defender of democracy, after having spent 18 years in power, including two additional years obtained by political manipulation.
Let’s not forget the dark episode of 2006, when he shamelessly deployed tanks in the heart of the capital to confront his political rival, Jean-Pierre Bemba, showing flagrant disregard for the lives of Congolese civilians.
Since his departure, this same character has remained curiously silent while his bosses, Rwanda and Uganda, continue to commit atrocities: murders, rapes of women and pillaging. To enumerate the deaths under his own regime would be a list so long it would be indecent to detail it.
As for the so-called sacred Republican Pact, it has in no way validated the massive, uncontrolled influx of uninvited foreign armies, the occupation of our lands by terrorists trained and equipped by Rwanda, or the unbridled exploitation of our mineral wealth.
It’s a sorry sight to see the decline of a man who, if not orchestrating, at least supporting by proxy, the mass slaughter of the Congolese people he led for almost two decades.
The South Africa he misleadingly refers to is not defending a tyrannical regime, but upholding international principles that govern relations between states and peoples. Invoking superficial considerations instead of tackling the root causes of the crisis is nothing more than a smokescreen to perpetuate his shameless ambitions.
A disastrous exit for Joseph Kabila! Not a word of compassion, not an ounce of condemnation for those who attack his people. Those who break the Republican Pact are those among us who are accomplices to the aggressors! Many of them come from our ranks and are lined up behind the puppet Nangaa.
Saying no to aggression, condemning the use of weapons and showing solidarity and compassion towards a battered population should be the first duties of an Honorary President, a Senator for life! What a missed opportunity!