The African Union is in deep slumber as the Democratic Republic of Congo bleeds. Over 900 people were reported killed in Goma, the largest city in the country’s eastern part, in five days of fighting between the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and the Congolese army. This a massive tragedy.
About 3,000 were admitted to hospitals. Morgues overflowed with bodies after days without power, leaving Red Cross personnel in “a race against time” to identify the dead. Aid groups picked up bodies on the streets for burial.
Over 4,000 people fled their homes, according to the UN. Rape was rampant. Once a bustling city of over two million people, Goma is in ruins after the rebels overran it, vowing to march to the capital, Kinshasa. The AU must wake up and stop this carnage.
Most wars are senseless. The continent, especially from the Sahel down, is a mess. Needless conflicts tear it apart, leaving its abundant natural resources open to unbridled plunder by internal and external forces.
This seems a repeat of history. In 1994, Hutus massacred hundreds of thousands of Tutsis in Rwanda.
The DRC, the continent’s second-largest country, is defined by senseless wars. President Mobutu Sese Seko battled rebels until he was overthrown in 1997. To dislodge him, Laurent Kabila, helped by Rwanda and Uganda, plunged the DRC into a war fought using child soldiers, some as young as seven.
Between three million and five million Congolese died in that war. Kabila was assassinated by one of his child soldiers after his Rwandan and Ugandan backers turned against him for neglecting them.
His son, Joseph Kabila, who replaced him, was forced to give up his unconstitutional third-term ambition.
Under President Felix Tshisekedi, the DRC remains in disarray with a weak economy and a decimated and demoralised populace.
On the continent, energies are channelled into anti-progress activities rather than sustainable development. Africa’s 55 member countries have a GDP of $3 trillion, while the United Kingdom alone boasts a $3.3 trillion GDP.
The AU was formed to prevent such sordid outcomes on the continent. At its launch in Durban, South Africa, in 2002, the body which had criticised its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, for being irrelevant to the continent’s needs after Apartheid ended, laid out its priorities.
It promised to make Africa peaceful, secure, and stable; and promote good governance, sustainable development, and integration of African economies. Unfortunately, the body has failed to achieve any of these lofty goals. Not in Sudan, the DRC or anywhere else.
As the M23 rebels tore down Goma, the AU chair, Moussa Mahamat, issued a tame press release, saying he was “following with great attention” the situation in the DRC. A summit of African Heads of State has been slated for February 12 to 16 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.
The bleeding DRC needs more from the AU. The body must take a firm stand on the conflict and prevent Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame and the M23 Tutsi rebels from annexing Congo. Kagame has between 3,000 and 4,000 troops fighting alongside the rebels.
They aim to seize control of the DRC’s prized minerals on the border with Rwanda. In 2024, the rebels smuggled 150 metric tonnes of coltan – used in manufacturing electronics – into Rwanda.
Sixteen South African troops sent to back the Congolese army have been killed and South Africa is rightly disturbed by this loss. The AU and the UN must stabilise that region.
However, the overwhelming obligation falls to the continental body whose leaders have failed to govern their countries properly.
Nigeria, with vast deposits of precious minerals, should beware. Those deposits are fuelling illegal mining and terrorism.
