Faustin Chongombe is a journalist from eastern Congo. He is currently studying for his doctorate at Swansea University in Wales where I made his acquaintance. I have asked him, with his permission, to publish an email he wrote about the crisis in Congo.
Dear friends,
-I have been receiving hundreds of mails and phone calls asking me about the Congolese Crisis and what I think about the whole situation…
-Some of you asked me if my relations back in Congo were safe?
-I thank you all for your concerns…
1) You may notice that am rather silent about the ongoing Congo “war
and crisis”
-My silence simply means that am sad, furious and tired of talking about this endless and useless Congolese crisis which keep killing us every day…
-Yes, I have lost quite a good number of friends and relations I knew and cherished to this endless and useless crisis…
2)If you could only read the reports from the International Human Rights Activits and Amnesty International on DR Congo …you will understand why I say the Congolese crisis is useless…it is rather an outside story and a created crisis to make business…
-Local Congolese people in the villages do not understand why this “endless war” has been going on and why they have to flee all the times…
-According to the Amnesty International reports, there has never been real war in Congo…all this crisis going on for years has just been an excuse to confuse the world and plunder the country's mineral ressources…
-While pretending there is “war”…booming business, big deals and smuggling of minerals have been going on for years…The International Community seems to know about all this…
-Congolese innnocent people will continue to be victims and suffer the consequences of this “fake war” for a long period of time…
-When will this “useless war” end?…maybe only when there will be no minerals and important ressources left in the country…?
-It is rather complex to understand, analyse this situation and to identify different players…
-Rebels only can't afford this war…there may be many other secret players behind this crisis who do not want to be identified…I dont want to give any comment beyond these points…
3)Just guess how humiliated I feel when I see all these Humanitarian aids and big lorries distributing energy biscuits to fellow Congolese men , women, children in the outskirts of Goma, Kiwandja, Rutsuru, Saki, Buhimba…and yet if you watch the background of the same areas on TV, it is all green and fertile land for farming…which means if
given a chance and a good opportunity of peace, Congolese people can be able to grow all sorts of crops and nobody will need all these temporary foreign biscuits and water…
4)If you can, keep praying for peace in Congo …We started praying for peace in Congo as a family when I was 5 years old…and up to now nothing has ever improved or changed…the situation has been worsening instead…
Faustin,
