A Constitution’s Failure
Works Cited
In the United States, there are always conspiracy theories about politics, whether regarding presidential legitimacy or foreign interference in voting. Now imagine the public outrage that would result if the President intentionally delayed the voting process, putting him in power for two more years without legal justification. Fortunately, no matter how corrupt politicians are, American citizens can be assured that all processes go according to the law. However, the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also called the DRC, appears to have fair regulations, but in reality, the leaders are easily able to perform processes that violate the law.
The current leader of the DRC, Joseph Kabila, has been president from 2001 up until now, and he has only stayed in power for so long from delaying the elections scheduled in December 2016 (Drifting). In the Constitution of the DRC, Article 70 states, “The President of the Republic is elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of five years which is renewable only once.” Although Kabila was not able to change this law, he somehow still remained president after the second term had long passed. This kind of direct violation of the national constitution seems unthinkable in current times, and it has affected the people in that their protests met with unnecessary violence from government agents.
How is Kabila able to openly defy the law? One of his methods is postponing the list of voters until the date of the scheduled election, even though it takes a year to create this list (Drifting). This was seen in the DRC’s National Dialogue Agreement of October 18, 2016, where the government promised to complete this list of voters by July 31, 2017 (DRC National Dialogue Agreement), even though the election was scheduled in December 2016. As a result, the other officials had no choice but to leave him in power for another year, rescheduling the election to December 2017. However, in late 2017, Kabila announced that the elections would be delayed once again to 2018. The supposed reason for this delay was the protests against the Congolese government.
Between December of 2016 and 2017, many peaceful protests were held against the government as the people realized Kabila’s intent to not leave the Presidency. According to the United Nations, government agents killed 1176 people in these protests (Drifting). One of the most recent protests against Kabila was organized by the Catholic Church on February 2018. Rather than handling the situation without violence, the government’s response was to use teargas, killing two protestors (Anti-Kabila). Another earlier protest occurred on January 2018. Thousands of people, peacefully protested in the capital of the DRC, demanding that Kabila follow the law and leave his position as president (Brutal Crackdown). The security response was again to shoot at the protesters, killing and injuring many. These incidents show that government corruption is indirectly causing the deaths of thousands of Congolese.
Several other parties have condemned the actions of the DRC government. For instance, on March 19, 2018, the United Nations issued a statement condemning the government’s killing of dozens of protesters (U.N. Condemns). The United Nations further condemned the government’s denial of these mass killings and its attempt to hide these incidents. One expert, Gwynne Dyer, believes that DRC’s government needs to fundamentally change beyond just an election in order to establish control over the country (Drifting). If outside countries are able to take more action and the DRC government itself is able to reform itself, then perhaps change can come to the corrupt and disorganized government of this country.
BBC. “DR Congo Protests: Anti-Kabila Protestors Killed.” BBC, BBC, 28 Feb. 2018,
www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43190515.
DRC Constitution. Article 70.
“DRC National Dialogue Agreement and Steps Toward Presidential Election.”
Ambassade De La République Démocratique Du Congo, République Démocratique Du Congo, 28 Nov. 2016, ambardcusa.org/drc-national-dialogue-agreement-and-steps-toward-presidential-election/.
Drifting into dangerous waters; The Congolese need a reasonably honest government that
can re-assert power." Spectator [Hamilton, Ontario], 3 Feb. 2018, p. A18. Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A526120820/GIC?u=los42754&xid=13c0728d. Accessed 9 Mar. 2018.
My favorite aspect of your writing is how you connected it to what's happening in our government. I feel this made your piece more personal and relatable. My main takeaway is the horrible lies being told by the DRC government and how they are abusing their citizens. The government keeps promising to host an election, but then they keep postponing for petty reasons, such as an "incomplete" voter's list. When citizens protest this, the government then slaughters their own people! With so many innocent people being killed for protesting, how else should the DRC citizens stand up for their rights to elect a new president?
ReplyDeleteI really like your ending/conclusion paragraph because it ties your whole article together and gives it a good finish. My main takeaway is how the African government is harming their citizens just because they want a fair leader that will not manipulate the law. It is horrifying that the government is willing to kill their own people just to stay in power. My question is, in what ways can the people achieve what they want without risking their own lives?
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