Democracy's turn

Joseph Kabila wins Congo's first democratic election since independence in 1960, beating his opponent Jean-Pierre Bemba by 2.5 million votes.

THE first free multi-party election in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since independence in 1960 has produced a clear winner. President Joseph Kabila beat Jean-Pierre Bemba, one of the four Vice-Presidents in the interim government, by 2.5 million votes. The country's independent Election Commission announced in the third week of November that Kabila won 58 per cent of the votes compared to Bemba's 42 per cent. The elections were closely monitored by hundreds of officials from the United Nations and South Africa's Election Commission.

The election was held in two rounds because Kabila failed to get the 50 per cent required for a victory in the first round in the last week of July. At that time Kabila won around 45 per cent of the vote and Bemba came a distant second with 20 per cent. In the run-off in the last week of October, several losing candidates rallied round Bemba. Kabila had the support of Nzanga Mobutu, son of the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Nzanga brought 5 per cent of the vote from the Equatorial Province, his father's bailiwick. The alliance was one of convenience; Kabila's father, Laurent Desire Kabila, was the man who terminated Mobutu's rapacious three-decade rule.

When early trends in the second round showed that Kabila was gaining an unassailable lead, Bemba was quick to allege impropriety in the conduct of the election. Bemba, who heads his own militia and has considerable support in Kinshasa, the capital, and surrounding areas, seemed reluctant to accept the people's verdict. In the second week of November, his militia went on the rampage in the capital - they burned down a court building where judges were preparing to hear an election-related complaint. Bemba's men had also run riot when the results of the first round were announced, killing 40 people.

In the third week of November, Kabila warned the militia to withdraw from the capital or face the consequences. The elite Presidential Guard is deployed in strength in the capital along with units of the international peacekeeping force.

The historic election is significant not only for Congo but also for the rest of sub-Saharan Africa. It has been compared to South Africa's election after the transition from apartheid. Since independence in 1960, the Congolese people have known nothing but sorrow and poverty despite the riches their country has to offer. A year after independence, their charismatic leader Patrice Lumumba was assassinated at the behest of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Even after the Cold War ended, the West continued to support the authoritarian and kleptocratic regime that followed. By 1964, Mobutu had sidelined his rivals Joseph Kasavabu and Moise Tshombe. Whenever a significant challenge cropped up against the Mobutu regime, the French and the Belgians, with the help of mercenaries and the support of Washington, rushed to save the dictatorship. Mobutu played a key role in destabilising progressive governments in the region throughout the 1970s and 1980s on behalf of the West.

After Mobutu's overthrow, Congo plunged deeper into anarchy. Veteran guerilla fighter Laurent Kabila marched into Kinshasa in 1997 with considerable help from the Rwandan army. However, Kabila soon fell out with Rwandan strongman Paul Kagame for a variety of reasons. The terrible war that followed the rupture brought many new players into the region.

It is estimated that more than four million Congolese lost their lives. That war has been described as the bloodiest conflict since the end of the Second World War: according to the estimates of various international organisations more than a million women were raped, tens of thousands were killed by landmines, and the eastern part of the country was turned into a proxy battlefield between the Tutsi-led Rwandan army and the remnants of the former Hutu-dominated army. More than a hundred thousand Hutus still roam the Congo with the Rwandan army keeping a wary eye.

The armies of Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia were active on the ground. Uganda and Rwanda sought to overthrow the government led by Laurent Kabila. At the same time, they looted the huge resources of Congo, which is the size of Western Europe. A report submitted to the U.N. Security Council in 1999 said that 80 per cent of Rwanda's military budget was financed by proceeds from the minerals looted from the Congo. Rwanda's export of precious minerals like coltan and diamonds rose mysteriously during the height of the civil war.

Rwanda, a small mountainous country, is known for its coffee and cattle. Sporadic fighting continues in different parts of the country despite the 2002 peace agreement. The deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force of 17,000 and an annual budget of $1 billion has helped calm matters to a considerable extent.

Now, the U.N. force could face a tougher test if Bemba and other disgruntled warlords take to the jungle again and restart the fighting. Voting trends show that the young Kabila, who took over the presidency following the assassination of his father in 2001, got most of the votes from the eastern Swahili-speaking part.

Kabila spent most of his childhood in exile with his father in Tanzania as a guest of Julius Nyerere, whom Kabila considers his role model. Kabila is not fluent in Lingala, the language spoken in the west of the country. Bemba and his supporters have tried to paint Kabila as an outsider.

Bemba himself was close to Mobutu in his last days. In the civil war of the late 1990s, he was an ally of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who helped him train and finance the rebel militia - the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC). With the help of the Ugandan army, the MLC managed to capture a large swathe of northern Congo. The military adventure made him rich. He now flies his own aeroplanes and helicopters. Charges of war crimes have been filed against him in the International Criminal Court for an assortment of activities, including looting, rape and killings. He will lose his immunity from arrest once he loses his job as Vice-President. After the recent violence unleashed by Bemba's supporters, President Kabila said that he would not stand in the way of international courts should they issue arrest warrants against Bemba.

The 35-five-year-old Kabila, who is the youngest President in the world, has promised to rule by consensus. The collapse of the Mobutu dictatorship saw the emergence of many powerful groups, some of them representing key ethnic groups and others acting as proxies for neighbouring countries.

In a speech after the election results were announced, Kabila called for "national reconciliation" and an end to "xenophobia" and "tribalism". He promised to make Congo a "united, strong and prosperous" country. Congo has only 550 kilometres of paved road. As a result of decades of neglect and civil strife, basic infrastructure has been run to the ground. Some militia groups have still not been disarmed.

Kabila's promises can only become reality if the losers accept the election result gracefully and play the role of a constructive opposition. President of the Pan-African Parliament Gertrude Mongella, like many other leaders in the continent, has appealed to the Congolese people to accept the result of the election. She added that most of Africa's problems were caused "by the non-acceptance of election results". The European Union and the U.N. have also urged all political parties to accept the election result.