Kabila wins the DRC ballot

An acquaintance who is Africa-literate by way of a West African birth, East and Horn of Africa work experience and marriage to a Great Lakes Regional belle recently educated me on the “real” strength and might of African Military. He has gained these insights from wide travel across the continent and watching Africans in despair due to man-made catastrophes that could be avoided. We were discussing the long-drawn Congo elections and why democracy was necessary by hook or crook. The issue of natural resources as a magnet for undesirables came up as the explanation for a whole eight neighboring and distant nations “invasion” of the country in the recent past. Uganda and Rwanda opened a front on the eastern border, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola were on the southern front while South Africa, France, Belgium, AU, UN and a host of mercenaries from Africa and beyond all claimed pieces of the second biggest and resource-rich country in Africa. Anyway his brief report on real and imagined African muscle:- South Africa- Saboteurs long used to hide-and-seek tactics to poison or blow away dams, power stations, bridges and foment trouble for neighbors. They gave up nuclear weapons voluntarily, though. Ethiopia- Hardened. The only real power with adequate hardware and practice. Backed by a pride of being the only African country that was never colonized. Have been sitting idle since they sorted out the Eritrean problem. Uganda- Bully. Gaining notoriety for invading and intimidating neighbours. Gets adequate practice both at home and abroad. Since LRA are demobilizing, someone needs to keep the boys occupied with more than board games. Zimbabwe- Idle. Former guerillas that are not used to the regimental demands of a regular army. Could easily turn aggressor on their own people, but lately found some wide open grounds up north in Congo to do all those things that Mama said you couldn’t do. Somalia- Disordered. Every village elder (read warlord) has his own militia. 15 years of internal strife is used by the west as an indication of how hopeless Africa and Africans can be. For Africans though, Somalia is our living example of why tribalism is not THE problem with Africa. Resources are the issue everywhere. Rwanda- Mean and lean. Small nosy army that loves to fight in other people’s backyards. Burundi- Who? Hard to tell who the army is and who is a rebel. Not a threat to the outside, but with the perennial Hutu-Tutsi problem, you fear that an idiot on one end of the country could ignite a huge firework that the neighbors will ignore until after silence means that everybody is dead! Tanzania- No clue. Largely isolated limited to short haul Amin-bashing trips up north in the late 70s and mid 80s. Remember that Tanzania got private TV in 1994 and state TV in 2001 long after CNN, long after the Gulf War. Can you imagine that? Sudan- Color coded. Taking pot shots at your own subjects in the south for 21 years is a habit you don’t drop one morning. With peace coming in the south the military suddenly discovered Darfur. Anyway. Congratulations to Monsieur Kabila for winning the first free elections in Zaire/DR Congo. Let’s keep it together brother.