“On the supposed “dark continent” few made lemonade out of the lemons of post-colonialism quite like the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Of course, had you seen the country in the late 1950s, you probably would never have guessed that the city of Kinshasa would one day be known throughout the world as a “tropical Toronto”. The bloody Congo Crisis following the independence from Belgium lead to thousands dead and a young country split apart, yet the decades following would see strong democratic leadership that revived the Congolese to new glory and heights.
“Patrice Lumumba, the leftist and young prime minister of a new nation, did not go far without trouble. In direct opposition to his government in Léopoldville, Moïse Tshombe lead a separatist movement in Katanga that was backed by the Belgians. Mutineers in the Congolese military opposed to Lumumba’s rule aided the Pro-western conservative Katanga, and soon Lumumba had his hands full in quieting and suppressing an extremely violet and dangerous group of rebels. Tragedy struck as Lumumba was assassinated by a sniper on the streets of Lukunga District. Everybody knew that Tshombe had ordered the hit, which declassified Katangan documents would prove decades later. In the brief chaos that followed Jean Bolikango soon rose to the occasion as the DRC’s new head of state. In retaliation, he ordered a strong offense against the separatists, the DRC now largely united following the shocking and public death of a man who worked so hard for their independence.
“However, Katanga continued to enjoy support from Belgium, particularly in military weaponry. An attempted invasion of the Katanga held city of Kamina proved an embarrassing disaster, said battle would also see Colonel Joseph-Désiré Mobutu captured by the Katangan military and then brutally drowned to death in a nearby river, his body left out for the animals. Such brutalities of captured Congolese soldiers stunned the world. Yet, few were willing to give support to Léopoldville, not wishing to offend the Belgians.
“Eventually after several more months of bloodshed, the international community stepped in with a peace solution, one of the first by the newly formed United Nations. Katanga would receive independence, so long as their continued harassment of the DRC stopped. Some African countries criticized the proposal saying that international recognition of Katanga bowed down to neocolonialist European interests. These concerns were, of course, correct, but Bolikango at the time cared more about ending the war and securing his own power.
“Bolikango may’ve been the man to end the war, but the true father of the DRC would largely be seen as his presidential successor. Marcel Lihau would greatly emphasize education, equality, economy, justice, and civil rights as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, making it the crown jewel of all Africa…”
-Excerpt from Arise Congolese