Kambale Musavuli, Congolese Native and Contributor to The Root/washingtonpost.com, October 22, 2008
In his article for The Root, "What the World Owes Congo," Kambale Musavuli writes: "Last summer, the national news media announced the deaths of four gorillas killed in a national park in eastern Congo. A United Nations delegation was quickly dispatched to investigate. As a Congolese living in the United States and hungry for news back home, I was thankful for the coverage. But since my grandparents still live in East Congo, I would have also liked to have heard about some other recent breaking news items: women being raped, children being enslaved, men being killed, and many more horrors. I would like to hear about the nearly 6 million lives lost, half of them children under age 5 -- that every month, 45,000 people continue to die in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); that the scale of devastation in Darfur happens in the Congo every 5 1/2 months."
Kambale Musavuli, who was born in Congo, was granted asylum in 1998 and is currently a civil engineering student at North Carolina A&T State University and an activist with Friends of the Congo, was online Wednesday, October 22 to discuss the ongoing violence and humanitarian crises in his home country, and share what he and other students around the world are doing to raise awareness of Congo's plight during this week's Breaking the Silence campaign.
A transcript follows.
Evanston Illinois: What is Rwanda's role in the Congo's conflicts?
Kambale Musavuli: This was the rationale but we quickly found out through UN reports that both Rwanda and Uganda were looting the Congo of its wealth. At one point Uganda and Rwanda started fighting each other in the Congo over control of mineral rich areas. Moreover, for all intents and purposes Rwanda occupied Eastern Congo for six years and with all their claimed military prowess, they did not dislodge the Hutus, yet they found time to fight their ally Uganda. Moreover, they found time to extract gold, tin, coltan, timber and other resources from the Congo.
If Rwanda was having problems with the Hutu in 1996, they were on solid ground to call on the African Union and the rest of the global community to deal with this issue. But instead they chose to invade with the Backing of the US as outlined in a 2001 Congressional hearing by Cynthia McKinney and Tom Tancredo.
An end must be brought to the conflict. And the solution must be a political one not a military one. There has already been too much killing and too much suffering.
Rwanda and Uganda must be implicated in the solution in a serious way, particularly Rwanda. Pressure must be brought on Rwanda to stop supporting negative forces inside the Congo.
Political space must be created in Rwanda to facilitate the return of the Rwandans who are in the Congo. Leading world figures like Bill Gates, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Rev. Rick Warren, Cindy McCain and many others can play a constructive role in this. They all have the ear of President Kagame in Rwanda and can impress upon him the need to resolve this issue politically. These figures cannot consciously be working with children and orphans in Rwanda while an estimated 3 million children under the age of five die right next door in the Congo.
As it relates to the responsibility of the Congolese, National reconciliation is needed. Justice systems must be put in place so that impunity can cease. Those who have been wronged must be restituted psychologically, socially and of course economically. Unfortunately, should the foreign corporations continue to fleece the country with the collaboration of the current government, problems will persist and poverty will deepen…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/10/20/DI2008102001849.html
In his article for The Root, "What the World Owes Congo," Kambale Musavuli writes: "Last summer, the national news media announced the deaths of four gorillas killed in a national park in eastern Congo. A United Nations delegation was quickly dispatched to investigate. As a Congolese living in the United States and hungry for news back home, I was thankful for the coverage. But since my grandparents still live in East Congo, I would have also liked to have heard about some other recent breaking news items: women being raped, children being enslaved, men being killed, and many more horrors. I would like to hear about the nearly 6 million lives lost, half of them children under age 5 -- that every month, 45,000 people continue to die in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); that the scale of devastation in Darfur happens in the Congo every 5 1/2 months."
Kambale Musavuli, who was born in Congo, was granted asylum in 1998 and is currently a civil engineering student at North Carolina A&T State University and an activist with Friends of the Congo, was online Wednesday, October 22 to discuss the ongoing violence and humanitarian crises in his home country, and share what he and other students around the world are doing to raise awareness of Congo's plight during this week's Breaking the Silence campaign.
A transcript follows.
Evanston Illinois: What is Rwanda's role in the Congo's conflicts?
Kambale Musavuli: This was the rationale but we quickly found out through UN reports that both Rwanda and Uganda were looting the Congo of its wealth. At one point Uganda and Rwanda started fighting each other in the Congo over control of mineral rich areas. Moreover, for all intents and purposes Rwanda occupied Eastern Congo for six years and with all their claimed military prowess, they did not dislodge the Hutus, yet they found time to fight their ally Uganda. Moreover, they found time to extract gold, tin, coltan, timber and other resources from the Congo.
If Rwanda was having problems with the Hutu in 1996, they were on solid ground to call on the African Union and the rest of the global community to deal with this issue. But instead they chose to invade with the Backing of the US as outlined in a 2001 Congressional hearing by Cynthia McKinney and Tom Tancredo.
An end must be brought to the conflict. And the solution must be a political one not a military one. There has already been too much killing and too much suffering.
Rwanda and Uganda must be implicated in the solution in a serious way, particularly Rwanda. Pressure must be brought on Rwanda to stop supporting negative forces inside the Congo.
Political space must be created in Rwanda to facilitate the return of the Rwandans who are in the Congo. Leading world figures like Bill Gates, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Rev. Rick Warren, Cindy McCain and many others can play a constructive role in this. They all have the ear of President Kagame in Rwanda and can impress upon him the need to resolve this issue politically. These figures cannot consciously be working with children and orphans in Rwanda while an estimated 3 million children under the age of five die right next door in the Congo.
As it relates to the responsibility of the Congolese, National reconciliation is needed. Justice systems must be put in place so that impunity can cease. Those who have been wronged must be restituted psychologically, socially and of course economically. Unfortunately, should the foreign corporations continue to fleece the country with the collaboration of the current government, problems will persist and poverty will deepen…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/10/20/DI2008102001849.html
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