motive
Chris McGreal
The long-suffering people of the Democratic Republic of Congo have little inclination to dwell on how the bombs that kill their families and destroy their homes are delivered. The hundreds who died last year in Makanza, Goma or Kisangani might have fallen victim to aircraft from an array of countries. After all, Congo’s war has become a multinational free-for-all.
But somewhere in the mix is a handful of British Hawks flown by the Zimbabwe air force. They deliver bombs and rockets. When they miss, civilians pay. The aircraft take the killing far beyond the front line, tormenting the Congolese people who, for the most part, feel no great loyalty to either side in the 17-month civil war.
The 11E000 Zimbabwean troops in Congo represent the largest contingent of foreign soldiers fighting to prop up President Laurent Kabila’s regime against Rwandan and Ugandan-backed rebels.
Other countries also came to Kabila’s aid, most notably Angola. But Angola had its own civil war and so Zimbabwe has done much of the work to keep the rebels at bay.
Tens of thousands of Congolese civilians have died. Some were caught in the fighting, others were murdered by the rebels or pro- Kabila forces in massacres of those considered disloyal or just of the wrong ethnic group. Many more died of hunger and exhaustion as they hid in the jungle.
Cities and towns are wrecked. Villages are flattened. Large parts of a fertile country twice the size of France and Germany combined are having trouble finding food for the first time in living memory. Even the capital, Kinshasa, is grappling to feed itself or find enough fuel to cook.
Congo’s 50-million people thought they had escaped such horrors when a relatively bloodless rebellion overthrew despot Mobutu Sese Seko three years ago. Mobutu watched his country wither through neglect, but now parts of it are being ground into the dust by a profit-driven war.
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe says he sent his troops to Congo to prevent the overthrow of a legitimate government, albeit a regime that came to power by force with the backing of the very people now trying to overthrow it. But there is another motive behind Zimbabwe’s interest in propping up Kabila. Zimbabwe’s generals, political allies and relatives have made small fortunes in Congo’s diamond and cobalt mining industries, and trading in timber and transport.
Zimbabwe’s Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has accused the army of smuggling hundreds of African grey parrots worth as much as 1E000 (R10 000) each. The political and military elite are not the only ones to profit. Many on the rebel side are getting rich too but no one doubts that the men from Zimbabwe have organised it best. Meanwhile, the war is bleeding the coffers of Mugabe’s government of more than R10-million a day.
Mugabe staved off the worst consequences for over a year with some judicious financial juggling. But now hard currency reserves have run dry, the Zimbabwe dollar is collapsing and inflation is surging. The country is in recession for the first time since independence in 1980.
As a result, Zimbabwe has defaulted on loans, including those guaranteeing British exports. The cash crunch has created a fuel crisis because oil companies refuse to extend credit to Zimbabwe. Motorists queue for hours to buy petrol. Electricity is supplied only because South Africa’s Eskom continues to cater for almost half Zimbabwe’s needs – even though it has not been paid in months.
Last year the head of the International Monetary Fund, Michel Camdessus, described Zimbabwe’s economic crisis as “very dangerous” and blamed it on the war in Congo. Britain’s minister for Africa, Peter Hain, was “very concerned”.
The widespread unpopularity of the war and the economic crisis have helped to galvanise the strongest political challenge to Mugabe in his two decades in power. Trade unionists have led the way with strikes and the launch of a new political party. Some newspapers taunt him. Even old allies, such as soldiers and civil servants, have made their discontent known.
Mugabe’s government has tried to win them back by doubling their pay (even though that adds to the country’s financial woes). It has turned on long-time foes, with sometimes brutal treatment of journalists who expose the truth of the war in Congo and dissent in the army. Political and trade union opponents have been beaten up.
The government could be made to pay the price of its adventure in Congo in two critical ballots over the coming weeks. A referendum on a revised constitution which strengthens Mugabe’s powers is promised soon.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled for March. The opposition believes that the war, economic crisis and general desperation at Mugabe’s rule offers it the best chance ever of overturning his parliamentary majority.
Britain and the United States have pressed Mugabe to get his troops out of Congo. He would now like to do that. The government says it will bring half the soldiers home in time for the election in March.
Zimbabwe hoped a peace accord signed in August would offer a face-saving way to bring the soldiers home and protect its investments, but the fighting continues. There is, perhaps, too much bitterness and suspicion, and a belief among some of Kabila’s enemies that Zimbabwe cannot keep up the fight for much longer.