On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 10:46 PM, Huruma NaShimbi <k_huruma@yahoo.ca> wrote:
Mugabe's bad legacy DRC Kabila wants life presidency
By Prof. Bent Mboyo Ndombo Francis
During his speech in Accra, Ghana, U.S. President Barack Obama said: "So do not be fooled: the story is on the side of brave Africans, and not in the camp of those who use coups or amend the constitution to stay in power. Africa has not need strong men, but strong institutions."
That is exactly what Joseph Kabila is currently doing in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The people of Honduras stood their grounds and objected to Zelaya's calculated attempt to stay in power. Congolese should be courageous and fight enemies of democracy.
At the moment, Kabila has stepped in the shoes of former President of Niger Mamadou Tandja who was bitten by the virus of lust for power. Tandja weakened a lot of state institutions, succeeded in organizing a referendum that gave him the audacity to change the constitution. The 72-year-old dissolved parliament. He extended his second term of three years to eternity but the courageous few stood against that selfish act.
This is the modern version of "presidency for life" that DRC's Kabila dreams of all night long.
Selfish Tandja knew he was walking on the opposite path of democracy but deliberately closed his eyes because of personal interest as oppose the national interest. All he wanted was a political "accordion" to play at will till he dies.
Young Kabila is just 38 years (June 4, 1971). If he is not stopped now from changing the supreme document of DR Congo then Congolese are doomed for life. Like Tandja, he has tasted power and therefore do not dream of relinquishing it.
Eventually, Tandja was kicked out of power on Thursday, February 18, 2010. The people were tired of suffering, they could not mortgage the future of their children and children's children as a few lots enjoy at their expense.
Power drunk
Kabila is power drunk. The people around him are thirsty for power. He has knowledgeable people around him but they are refusing to tell him the truth. They do not have the ordinary people at heart and would go at all length just to hold on to power.
Those in power at the DR Congo do not feel for the masses. They do not pay for water, electricity, food, medical care, rent, fuel, vehicle hence they are living in a different world full of opulence. Kabila and his people have reluctantly ignored the priority of the Congolese people.
We need to introduce a systematic state authority that would stop the killings, rape and the looting of shops in our dear country. There is only one DRC and that belongs to us. We must protect our country and no one would do it for us. We must lay solid foundation for the next generation. We need someone who can take the bull by the horn and put the Country on the international pedestal. DR Congo needs change and not war.
We must move from the past and forge ahead. The new wind of change blowing across the continent must come to DRC too. A change that would strengthen the peace and security of the state. A change that would bring work to the Congolese people, healthcare, give them clean water and electricity.
Congolese need someone who is pragmatic to churn out ideas that would make it affordable to send their children to school, workable pension system that would let people retire in dignity.
This is my social contract with the Congolese as I strive to come to power legitimately in the 2011 elections.
Nobody should be allowed to reverse the trend. Those in power abused the second chance given to them in the 2006 elections. There is no time for rehearsals. We need a proactive and pragmatic leadership. We need change.
As happened to General Pétin France with the Nazis, any person contravening the constitutional provisions of Congolese nation, that person would be exposed, tried and stripped of his civil and political rights.
Once elected President, I'll champion for this law to be passed by parliament in the DRC.
I call on my dear Congolese people to give me their full support. They must be courageous and protect their patriotism as gold. We need to banish fear and fight for the truth.
Why refuse to die for your political beliefs as Lumumba, in dignity and agree to live in shame and humiliation, to die in poverty, hunger, disease and misery imposed by processions of some few heartless people?
Break silence
We need to break the silence now.
It took the sacrifice of a man named Jesus Christ to save the whole world. It took the bravery of young David to kill giant Goliath to free the Israelites from slavery under the Philistines.
DR Congo's parliament should emulate the courage of other parliaments across the continent to resist any selfish person who wants to take the country to ransom. In 2006, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria tried to amend the Constitution to give him a third term but parliament blocked it. Why can't we do the same in the DRC?
I want to conclude with a quote from President Obama: "America will not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation. The essential truth of democracy is that every nation determines its own destiny. What America will do, however, it will be of increase assistance to individuals and institutions accountable, focusing on supporting good governance: the parliaments, which the abuse of power and ensure that opposition voices are heard; to the rule of law, which guarantees equality of all before the law; to civic participation, so that young people are active in politics, and practical solutions to corruption such as accounting, automation services, the upgrading of emergency, the protection of those who report abuse in order to promote transparency and accountability ".
By Prof. Bent Mboyo Ndombo Francis, Leadership and Change PhD Candidate, Ed.D, MS, MPH, MBA
President of Union of Congolese for Change
