In Congo, there is nothing like a presidential visit to give evidence as to why things here just are not working right now. This last week, people in Uvira began preparing for the visit of Joseph Kabila, the president of Congo.

Kabila’s father Laurent was president, but assassinated in 2001, and Joseph took office directly after, first as a “transitional” president. After 5 years, an election was organized and he took power officially. The election was supposed to be a significant landmark, denoting the division between war-torn Congo and Congo’s peaceful and rebuilt future. Kabila was elected on the basis of his plan called “Cinq Chantiers,” which essentially promised the following: 1) generation of jobs, 2) a massive effort to rebuild hospitals and public buildings, 3) the construction of navigable roads, particularly a large road from the northern border of Congo to the southern border, 4) providing electricity and clean water for all citizens, 5) construction of schools, and compulsory, free, primary education for children. In addition, his campaign promised the “pacification of the East.”

Considering what has been going on in Congo and they way people live day-to-day, it is self-evident that none of these promises have been realized. This is probably why the “Cinq Chantiers,” which means “5 Building Blocks/Sites” are now derisively called Kabila’s “Cinq Chansons,” or “5 Songs.” Sure, bits and pieces have fallen into place (Did you know that you can now spend days on end in Katanga Province without hearing gunshots? Also, don’t forget that there are also at least 60km of paved road between Uvira and Bukavu…) but for the most part things have stagnated and continued to devolve. Militias still run rampant through North and South Kivu, not to mention the ongoing war with the LRA Ugandan Rebels near the northern border. Add to the mix local officials with no regard for human rights or application of the law and government soldiers committing many of the same atrocities as the militias and you can get an idea of the general atmosphere. Administering the Congo is a big job, with a recent history that would challenge anyone to move forward from. Yet, this last presidential visit (the first since the 2006 election) really highlighted reasons why things aren’t getting done here, why standards of living are atrocious, and why peace hasn’t returned in any sustainable way.

Three days before Kabila’s visit, soldiers began lining the streets, taxing an “amende d’état” for any citizen audacious enough to cultivate their fields, open their shops, or even sell bananas from a basket on their head during the anticipation of Kabila’s visit. I was unlucky enough to be in a bus trying to return from Bukavu, and at the numerous roadblocks I saw countless citizens being harassed by the governmental soldiers, who collected $5 from anyone working during those days to feed their families. In Congo, $5 is no small amount of money. Men were instructed to wait on the side of the road. Women were asked to wear fabrics with Kabila’s face on it and form small groups to dance during the convoy’s passing. And mind you, this was three days in advance. Kabila’s people began spreading the rumour of his arrival on Monday or Tuesday, and he finally got here on Friday.

A speech from Kabila was expected. In fact, the football fields, which were used in recent years for executions of thieves and rebels, were prepared for his discourse and the thousands of people who would come to hear him speak. People on the radio commented that they were eager to hear what his plan of action realizing the promises he had made was. How was he going to cope with the surge of FDLR rebels in South Kivu? How come he claimed to have captured 5 FDLR bases this last month, when 3, and possibly 4, are still completely controlled by the FDLR? Why has there been no development of roads, and no clear effort to do so, in South Kivu since the election, except those hastily built by Chinese MONUC soldiers? Why have all government officials continued to violate the rights given to citizens in the Congolese Constitution, enacted upon Kabila’s election? Why has he continued to allow his own soldiers to rape, steal, and kill (the Goma retreat this Fall is a prime example-see the blog post below) without any significant visible effort to change this? Why does Uvira still go on without reliable electricity and drinking water? Why are there no hospitals capable of curing even basic illnesses…?

However, none of these questions had the chance to be asked. I expected a sort of “Q & A” opportunity, a chance for the president to interact and exchange, and possibly even explain some of the difficulties which have prevented him from doing his job. I realize that this is not possible in every town in Congo, but the East is HIS territory. It’s the East which overwhelmingly voted for him in 2006. Had Congolese in the East voted for his rival, Jean-Pierre Bemba, Kabila would have no authority, and no opportunity to make impossible promises. En plus, he was born here, having grown up less than 100km south of Uvira. Ironically, his home (Manono) is considered a major “red zone” and center of ongoing FDLR massacres and pillages. These things considered, one could expect him to feel at home, and to feel an obligation to speak with his constituency. I was shamefully naïve to even think this was a possibility; my friends commented that they have learned to expect little or nothing from their president, and it was just a matter of time before I’d get this through my head as well.

I got a good lesson in Congolese governmental accountability. There is none. Kabila’s “visit,” and the days preparing for his arrival, were justified by a convoy of hundreds of black SUVs brought from Kinshasa, one of which contained the president, preceded and followed by hundreds of “béret rouge” soldiers, the special presidential bodyguards. This convoy stopped to allow Kabila to walk and wave to all of us lining the streets for about 2km, surrounded of course by his heavily armed soldiers and bodyguards. He does, recently, have a lot of enemies here, so I can understand this precaution. After that, he got in his car and sped over the cleared roads out of town before nightfall. I don’t think he even had time to notice that we were without electricity and water (remember the “Cinq Chansons), and had been for the last week.

As he got closer and closer to his home territory due South, things got no better. In Makobolo, people tried to block the street just to get his cars to stop. They didn’t. In, Baraka, where a speech had also been announced but not realized, the convoy stopped, resumed again, and was summarily pelted with as many rocks as people could throw.

So, all our questions stay unanswered. And everyone, besides the rock throwers, goes back to life as normal in Congo. The rock throwers were imprisoned, but I heard most of them paid a “special tax” to the soldiers guarding the prison and were released just after the Roi du Zaïre left South Kivu.

Ned Meerdink