If Kabila Hangs On To Power, Should SADC Just Disband?

Political instability rocked the Democratic Republic of Congo in December 2016 when Joseph Kabila chose not to stand down as president of the central African nation after his term of office ended. 

But he did elect to remain as president of DR Congo. Today, DR Congo is encumbered with an unelected head of state that has scant regard for common law, human rights and democracy: NGO Human Rights Watch reported that last September 66 protesters perished when government forces fired live ammunition on unarmed protesters in Kinshasa. The unrest has continued unabated: Congolese authorities on Monday discovered 10 mass graves in the violence-hit region of Kasai in eastern DR Congo.

This brings to 52 the total number of mass graves unearthed in this part of the central African nation since Kamuina Nsapu militia began an armed insurrection against the authority of Kinshasa last August. The unstable situation there has led to over 3000 deaths, according to a report released by the Congolese Catholic Church (CENCO). United Nation Human Rights Chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein has lamented the brutish nature of the conflict amid warnings both sides involved in the conflict – government forces and rebel militia – have committed war crimes. "My team saw children as young as 2 whose limbs had been chopped off; many babies had machete wounds and severe burns," he said in his report to the UN Human Rights Council. "One 2-month-old baby seen by my team had been hit by two bullets four hours after birth; the mother was also wounded. At least two pregnant women were sliced open and their foetuses mutilated."

Meanwhile, Kabila's near kingly rule remains intact: contrary to the peace agreement negotiated in December Kabila appointed a national government that excludes opposition leaders on May 10. His unilateral and authoritarian action has frustrated protracted attempts to bring about peace and stability in DR Congo. Kabila has also managed to remain one of 15 heads of state from southern African countries that form the Southern African Development Community (SADC), although he has violated the founding objectives of the regional body again and again. While DR Congo has vast mineral wealth and natural resources the former Belgian colony is one of the poorest and least developed nations in the world and was ranked 176 out of 187 countries on the United Nations Human Development index (2016). The World Food Programme (WFP) reports that DR Congo has 2.7 million internal refugees; roughly 63.6 % of 72 million citizens live below the international poverty line, and 43% of children aged five and under are chronically malnourished.

CENCO has had enough of Kabila's skulduggery though and called on Congolese citizens to 'stand up' against the government of Congo amid unprecedented chaos, widespread insecurity and economic pillage and devastation that is worsening "by the day" and causing a high unemployment rate among the youth. CENCO further condemned the presence of foreign, armed groups, inter-ethnic violence, kidnappings, abductions, and "apparently planned" prison breaks around the country. The religious leaders also said restrictions on free expression and peaceful demonstrations have only increased, and that "instead of confidence building measures," there has been a "hardening" of those in power." The Kabila regime has been on the warpath in the last few years: United Nations Joint Human Rights Office director Scott Campbell was expelled from the country in 2014.

Kinshasa deported Congo Research Group director Jason Stearns after his organisation released a damning report on atrocities committed in the Beni region of eastern Congo in 2015. Last week, Radio France Internationale (RFI) correspondent Sonia Rolley's media accreditation was not renewed even though she had been working in DR Congo for 13 years. And, in a further crackdown on the media: the RFI signal is no longer accessible in Kinshasa, and five media houses linked to the opposition have been banned from operating. Kabila has also cracked down on the opposition: security forces this year detained seven members of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) during a voter mobilisation campaign in a clear sign Kabila is not serious about upholding the New Year peace agreement.

While the European Union and United States imposed fresh, targeted sanctions against the Kabila government in May and June respectively, SADC has not censured Kabila or introduced punitive measures against his leadership. However, SADC should in fact issue an ultimatum to Kabila: hold peaceful and free and fair elections and step down - or face expulsion from SADC. Anything less would be wholly unfair for DR Congo and clearly indicate that the leaders of SADC do not want to see democracy thrive in the region. Anything less would mean SADC stands behind the illegitimate rule of Kabila and does not support the democratic rights of DR Congo citizens. Anything less from an organisation that is supposed to promote peace and freedom in the region may mean that the 25-year-old body has run its course.

If SADC cannot protect Congolese lives and further shun and punish modern-day tyrants like Kabila: who needs the organisation? In Zambia opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has been jailed for a treasonous act: blocking the presidential motorcade on the highway. Another SADC leader, President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who has led the former Portuguese colony for 37 years, has skilfully guided his country to number 164 on the Transparency International Corruption Index. Angola sits one place above DR Congo on the 176-nation list. That awful marker is not astonishing: Isabel Dos Santos - daughter of Jose - has a personal net worth of US$3.2 billion, according to Forbes Magazine, in a country where 68% of the population live below the international poverty line. Interestingly enough, both Angola and DR Congo have postponed elections in recent times: Dos Santos in 2014 unilaterally postponed municipal elections until after the 2017 general poll. Over in Swaziland, King Mswati III has successfully resisted democracy and maintained a suffocating grip on power. Whom will SADC stand up for: the battle-worn people of DR Congo or King Kabila?