I,
Pacifique Sukisa-Makasi, leader of the Revolution Congolaise (RC) and
on behalf of the RC would like to share with you valued compatriots
my thoughts and suggestions about the armed struggle
that has cost many human lives, that has caused horrendous suffering
and destruction in
our country because of bad
governance, social injustice and intolerance of diversity.
I
hope that every Democratic Republic of Congo citizen shall make an
effort to understand that making our beloved country peaceful,
stable and prosperous is every DRC citizen's responsibility.
Without
fear or favor and because I believe that a good number of the DRC
citizens has gained the very needed maturity to tolerate the views of
others, I am going to honestly share with you my thoughts which I
believe shall contribute on making our country peaceful, stable and
prosperous.
On
behalf of the Revolution Congolaise (RC) of which I am a founding
member and its current leader, I have spent the past many years
searching for answers to the persistent social, economic and
political misery in our country despite its immense natural and human
resources. To try and contribute on avoiding the repeat of political
inhuman decisions, I have identified that in most cases we are the
main cause of our social, economic and political negative situation. The
main objective of this message is to share with you beloved
compatriots what I am convinced to be the main causes of our social,
economic and political misery:
- Internal causes
I
have no doubt that many of you will agree with me that we
are the main cause of our social, economic and political problems.
For
example:
We
have no respect to our country's constitution that should have been
our guidance to good governance, social justice and prosperity. We
are a nation in a fight against itself.
It
is part of our country's constitution, article 10, that the Congolese
nationality is either of origin, or by individual acquisition. Any
person belonging to an ethnic group of which the members and the
territory are constituent to that which became the Congo (presently
the Democratic Republic of the Congo) at independence is Congolese of
origin.
- However, soon after our country's independence, some sons and daughters of the DRC were cruelly driven out of the country which they knew as home, simply because of their skin color.
- In the nineteen nineties other sons and daughters of the DRC were ordered to leave the DRC that they knew as their only home, simply because their parents originated from a neighboring country.
- Unfortunately, most of us in exile today, have no identification documents, making many of us illegitimate DRC citizens.
- Then we have our deeply rooted diversity intolerance. We seem to forget that our country is a country with many races, tribes, genders, provinces, religions, political belongings and other beliefs and that we can only be a true nation if and only if we tolerate one another despite of these differences. We also tend to forget that our country is surrounded by 9 other countries, meaning that whether we like it or not, our country has members of its legitimate citizens who originally came from its neighboring countries. For those who think that we do not need the International community, we should not forget that our country is not a planet on its own but is and I believe that it shall always be part of our planet earth or our interdependent world. Therefore, those who truly love our country and all its citizens have to understand that we need and shall always need the international community for our country to become peaceful, stable and prosperous. In today's world only unwise leaders can expect to improve their social, economic and political situations in isolation. In short we need to understand the need to create a safe environment for international businesses. We need to understand that our natural and human resources can only be effectively useful to the people of DRC if and only if we become true citizens of our interdependent world. We also have to understand that like any investor, small, medium or big, invests for him or her to extract a reasonable profit out of his or her investment. We simply have to choose who our international partners are and we have to do business based on the universal principles if we need our business deals to benefit our nation as a whole and not only a few individuals.
The
International community has been important to us in the past, it is
important to us today and shall always be important to us and without
an honest and formal partnership with the international community, I
am afraid to say that our country might never change from a human
slaughtering field to the very needed peaceful, stable and prosperous
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where to live in harmony, a DRC to visit without fear, a DRC
where the honest and the hard worker shall invest and prosper.
For
examples:
- Our independence was not an effort of DRC citizens alone but an effort of the International community too.
- Mobutu was not willing to accept a multiparty political system in Zaire until some members of the International community put him under pressure.
- The 10th July 1999 ceasefire accord in Lusaka that ended the six African countries involvement in war in our country was an effort of both the DRC citizens and the international community.
- The 31st January 2012 Ambassadorial Forum - DRC presidential elections and its aftermath was an effort of both the DRC citizens and the International community.
- The 27th March 2012 Regional Response to the post-election situation in the DRC was an effort of both the DRC citizens and the International community.
- The 24th February 2013 Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the. Democratic Republic of Congo and the Region was an effort of both the DRC citizens and the International community.
- For many decades now, our country has been relying on grants and loans from the International Community.
- The other important example is that we might, against our conscience choose to be ungrateful but the truth in conscience is that for the past several decades many countries across the Globe have willingly and simply based on humanitarian ground have decided to host us. From these countries members of the broader International community, our children and ourselves have access to safety, drinking water, electricity, food, clothing, freedom of expression, modern education and other necessary skills, work, business... The list is long.
- External causes
I
am well aware of external elements that have contributed on making
our country socially, economically and politically miserable but they
are international matters which require international solutions.
Therefore, I suggest that we deal with the internal causes first and
with the external causes we need an honest partnership with the sub-regions that our country belongs to, the African Union, the
United Nations and the broader international community. I believe
that such a partnership shall pave a way to rebuilding good relations
with our neighbors. Relationship which shall make it possible for
every concerned country to enjoy the other country's neighborhood, to
do business with each other while each country shall be respecting its
neighbor’s sovereignty based on universal principles.
- My suggestion
As
we all know, the armed struggle
in our country has cost many human lives, caused horrendous suffering
and destruction. I believe that what is needed now is for all actors,
starting by us present here, to set aside our differences, to
mobilize and to organize the compatriots toward a resistance movement
in the interest of all the people of DRC. We
are financially and militarily powerless but because:
-
Like Dr. King, “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love
will have the final word in
reality and that right temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
reality and that right temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
-
Like President Obama, I believe that "Change
will not come if we wait for some
other person or some
other time
and
that we are
the ones
we've
been waiting for
and we are the change that we
seek."
I
suggest that like Dr. King, like Ghandi and Like Mandela, we
unite and together resist dictatorial governments that oppress us
than protecting us, dictatorial governments rooted on injustice,
dictatorial government that deny us the rights to Democracy; right to
a fair and to free elections; right to a legitimate, competent and
responsible government with strong institutions among others the
Independent Electoral Commission, the judiciary institutions, strong
/ disciplined army, police and security forces, rather than strong
individuals.
Because:
-
I agree with Nelson Mandela, that: peace is the key to stability and
prosperity and that, "If
you want to make peace with your enemy,
you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner".
-
I agree with Clinton
that “We all do better when we work together and that our
differences do matter, but our common humanity matters more.”
-
I agree with Johnson
that 'Yesterday
is not ours to recover,
but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.'
and,
because
I agree with Jesus
that we should , “Do to others as we would have them do to us.
I
suggest that the result of our nonviolent revolution be the new
beginning to a new DRC. A DRC where both the former oppressor and the former
oppressed shall
work together despite of our differences in order to build a nation
out of our deeply divided societies. To build a peaceful, stable and
prosperous DRC that both the sons and daughters of the former
oppressors and of the former oppressed shall call home with dignity.
By
doing so, like Nelson Mandela, like Abraham Lincoln, we shall
hold our country together. Together, we shall promote good
governance based on democracy and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights’ principles and strong State Institutions rather than strong
individuals with self-centered vision. We shall build a DRC where to
peacefully live, a DRC to visit without fear, a DRC where the hard
worker and the honest shall invest and prosper. Like in a mature
democracy, today’s members of government shall not be driven out of
the DRC or cruelly punished but shall be our political opponents.
Together, we shall build a DRC that shall formally and effectively
contribute on making the sub-regions it belongs to, Africa and our
interdependent world, better places.
Valued
compatriots, positive change is possible and has to take place in our
country.
May
God bless the DRC,
May
God bless the DRC citizen,
May
God bless the International community for its effort to contribute on
making our country a better place.
Pacifique Sukisa-Makasi, on
behalf of the Revolution Congolaise, rc,
I
thank you.
