– I think he can make it so that we can go back to our homes. When he talked about it, I got a smile on my face, says Witonze Nzarama Wimana. She lives in a refugee camp in Goma in East Congo, where she meets the Congolese journalist news collaborates with. Witonze Nzarama Wimana has become a refugee because of the wars raging in East Congo. Photo: Moses Sawasawa Ho is forced to flee by armed groups who carried out murders and rapes. Life in the camp is hard, with no access to food the family grows, or income opportunities. But Wimana put her trust in the man she is talking about, Denis Mukwege, the gynecologist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018. He is one of 25 candidates for today’s presidential election in Congo. The huge country in Central Africa still lives with the after-effects of its brutal colonial history. And brutal Belgian colonial masters were then succeeded by brutal Congolese leaders. When the country became independent in 196, only 16 Congolese had higher education. The prerequisites for a functioning state were particularly bad. Today, the Congo is far more organised, but still marked by bad leadership, war and corruption. The election’s three main themes 1. After war comes…peace? Congo is home to one of the world’s most forgotten and longest-running conflicts. Millions are on the run. Thousands are killed. Valden continues year after year, and there are several reasons for that. In the Congo, the state does not have a monopoly on military power. Having control over land usually means the opportunity to get one’s share of the income from the country’s enormous mineral resources. Therefore, East Congo in particular is a patchwork of areas where various armed groups have real power. The Kivu Security Tracker monitors the conflict picture in East Congo. The section of this graphic from 2020 shows a bit of the complex picture in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu. Each color represents an armed group. Graphics: Kivu Security Tracker During the election campaign, the candidates talk about strengthening the Congolese military, streamlining the fight against rebel groups and preventing conflicts in the future. Neighboring Rwanda is also talked about a lot. Several reports point out that Rwanda supports the M23 militia, which in recent years has started extensive activity and carried out attacks on several villages. Rwanda blames itself for giving such support. There are many indications that Rwanda has had poorer access to Congo’s minerals since 2018, when Felix Tshisekedi took over as president of Congo. In recent years, several persons with close ties to the regime in Rwanda have been removed from central positions in the Congo. The backdrop for all the unrest in the border area between the two countries is the genocide in Rwanda. A brutal conflict that actually ended in 1994, but which is still alive in East Congo. Armed groups belonging to the two ethnic groups attacked each other. At the same time, 200 other groups are also active, and many of the other groups have far more local influence than M23 has. In other words, different solutions to the many different problems that exist are needed, so that peace becomes a reality in East Congo one day far into the future. 2. Corruption Congo struggles greatly with corruption, something that will in turn undermine democratic development, economic development and peace efforts. When a rich elite exploits the country’s great mineral wealth, most others are left in deep poverty. Many look for opportunities elsewhere, and this does not always contribute to the good of society. On the international corruption index of Transparency International, the Congo is in 166th place out of 180 countries. A document leak in 2021 showed that corruption systematically became part of the political system, all the way to the top, under former president Joseph Kabila. The same leak also showed how certain foreign companies exploit the corruption in the Congo, including Chinese companies that have made large bank transfers directly to individuals or companies in the family around Kabila. Supporters of Felix Tshisekedi cheer when the president comes on stage during the election campaign meeting in Goma, in East Congo. Photo: AFP The current president, Felix Tshisekedi, has gradually turned his back on his predecessor and former partners, but Congo has not climbed up the corruption index anyway. And even if Tshisekedi has pinched back part of the straws that various people had into the treasury when he took over, he is also blamed for being a president who largely flours his own cake. 3. Job shortages and hope for the future Congo’s crises intertwine and create a spiral of problems that affect each other negatively. Because with war and corruption, economic development will be bad, which in turn leads to a greater risk of war. The Congo is full of minerals that the world needs to bring about the green shift. But the lack of a system that brings values back to the people still leads to great poverty, few jobs and little hope for the future. There is also poor educational provision, and particularly low trust in the state. Thus, armed groups have good opportunities to recruit members, when they can offer badly needed jobs. The job can be about fighting for the group, so that they secure access to land, and thus also income. Getting the Congolese people to be loyal to the state and society is also a big challenge when the state gives very few services in return, and the flow of information is poor. The Catholic Church often has more trust among the people than the state, since the church has a solid network, performs various services and has better internal information flow than the Congolese state. More jobs and economic development are therefore recurring themes in the election campaign. Three favorites and a super celebrity Felix Tshisekedi Felix Tshisekedi is president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and hopes for renewed trust. Photo: AFP He won the election in 2018. That time he received solid and decisive support from outgoing President Joseph Kabila. But during the five years that followed, Tshisekedi took on his predecessor, and cut ties with more and more of those who belonged to the Kabila regime. At the same time, Tshisekedi has been a clear president in the face of the world. He spoke opposite the President of France during a state visit earlier this year. And he is constantly at loggerheads with the neighboring country’s president, Paul Kagame, who he believes supports rebel groups in East Congo. He even compared Hitler and Kagame during one of his election speeches. Being the one in power gives you an advantage in a country like the Congo, especially in the election campaign where you have great resources to gain attention. At the same time, Tshisekedi faces a lot of criticism because in five years he has not been able to stop war, corruption and a wide range of other challenges. Some critics believe that the president, among other things, has been responsible for policies that have led to the military attacking civilians, such as when a state of emergency was introduced in two regions in the east of the country in 2021. Moise Katumbi Katumbi was prevented from holding elections, but is now among the favourites. Photo: AFP Congo’s next president may be a multi-millionaire with a Greek-Jewish background. He comes from the mineral-rich Katanga and is rich in mining. He also owns one of Congo’s best football teams, TP Mazembe. Five years ago he had plans to stand as a candidate, but he was effectively prevented. Now he tries again, and is mentioned as a hot candidate to win. As a former governor of Katanga, he has political credentials to show for it. He particularly boasted of how he strengthened infrastructure and the school sector in the province. But he also faces criticism, among other things, for not being transparent enough in his dealings. In addition, his ties to Rwanda have been questioned. One of his closest election campaign associates is blamed for collaborating with M23, with the aim of damaging the president’s election campaign. Since M23 has ties to Rwanda, these debts have made many people wonder if Katumbi is also collaborating with Rwanda. In that case, it is natural to believe that the tiny neighboring country wants to position itself, so that they return to a situation where they have more influence in Congolese politics. Martin Fayulu Fayulu is a harsh critic of the president, and hopes to take revenge after what he believes was electoral fraud five years ago. Photo: Reuters He came second in the previous election, when Katumbi was not allowed to stand as a candidate. He was only 3.7 percent behind Tshisekedi, and believes he himself won the election because Tshisekedi had cheated. He received support from several parties, but did not succeed with the debts. He nevertheless repeated them as often as he can, and on Twitter/X he dubs himself Congo’s “popularly elected president”. Like many other African politicians, Fayulu has a background in business life, and in particular the oil sector. His economic policy is about less government control of the country’s economy. Like most of the candidates, he believes that he is the right candidate to stop corruption. He also wants an investment in the country’s military, where soldiers will receive better training, and the army will increase to half a million soldiers to crack down on the armed groups in the east. Fayulu has President Tshisekedi as his main opponent, and has stated in an interview that there is only one Congolese who has gotten better in the last five years – and hints that it is the president himself. Denis Mukwege He is best known as a peace prize winner and gynecologist. Now Denis Mukwege will become president. Photo: AFP He is not a favourite, and is probably a more popular candidate outside the Congo than he is in the Congo. But the gynecologist from Bukavu wants to contribute to democracy, and is running as a candidate following a signature campaign from his supporters. Mukwege has shown little willingness to compromise with the armed groups in East Congo, and will put hard against hard. The gynecologist has operated on thousands of women who have survived sexual violence, and he believes that a separate criminal court must be set up for acts of war in East Congo so that the perpetrators are punished. He also wants to strengthen the military, believes soldiers must receive better training and working conditions. In addition, he wants to strengthen the agricultural sector to create jobs. The critics believe Mukwege is a “western” candidate, and Mukwege has far less political experience than his opponents. Wimana hopes for peace, so that she can leave the refugee camp and return home. Photo: Moses Sawasawa And it is precisely Mukwege who gets Witonze Nzarama Wimana’s voice. – We know that the doctor fights for the women’s cause. That’s why I’m going to get other women to vote for him, says Witonze before she and many other women go to the airport outside Goma, where Denis Mukwege will meet his supporters.
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