Solidarity with the People of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in their just struggle for sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace & dignity

The Pan Africanism Today Secretariat joins people’s movements and organisations around the world in expressing our deep concern about the most recent escalation in the continued conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since Monday 27 January the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF) and their proxy M23 (backed by the United States, United Kingdom, France and European Union) have encircled Goma, entering into the city of 2 million people with up to 10,000 Rwandan special forces. In essence, the supply lines have been cut leaving the people in the dark with no electricity, limited food and water – a city under siege.

Protests have erupted nationwide in response to the most recent escalation. Notably in Kinshasa, protestors have targeted the embassies of Rwanda, Uganda, Belgium, the US and France. This demonstrates the people’s understanding of who their real enemies are and who profits from the decades long deadly war of destabilisation.

The African continent and its people have long insisted that our sovereignty must be respected. The decisions on how best to utilise the abundant resources of the DRC must be made by and for the Congolese people. It is clear that Imperialist countries, and their African allies and proxies are adamant to continue building prosperity for their own peoples at the expense of the Congolese people. This has escalated to the point where the plunder of the DRC is, once more, perpetrated through the barrel of a gun.

Central to the continued conflict and imperialist plunder of the DRC is the scramble for the country’s land and resources. As the dossier produced by Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research points out:

“Cobalt, lithium, and coltan: these are the minerals needed to advance the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) accounts for around 71% of the total production of cobalt in the world and 35% of its coltan. As long as these minerals exist in the Congo, there will be forces seeking to destabilise the country. But the minerals are not the source of the problem: capitalism is.”

A recent report by the UN Security Council’s Group of Experts has pointed out that M23 rebels fraudulently exported at least 150 metric tonnes of coltan from the Rubaya mines in the DRC to Rwanda last year, earning USD 800,000 per month in ‘taxes’. This coltan became part of Rwanda’s own production.

From the transatlantic slave trade to the the colonisation of the Congo by King Leopold II to the continued imperialist looting by multinational corporations today, it is clear that the Congolese people do not control their wealth. This week’s significant escalation underscores the urgent need for international support to address the conflict. Since 1996 more than 6 million people have been killed in a war plagued by a culture of impunity.

We call on progressive organisations throughout Africa, Latin America, Asia and the world to stand in solidarity with the people of the Congo who are fighting for their sovereignty, territorial integrity, peace, justice, human dignity and freedom. We understand that the Congo is central to the future stability of the entire African continent. As the revolutionary Pan Africanist Kwame Nkrumah said, “The Congo is the heart of Africa, any wound inflicted upon the Congo is a wound to the whole of Africa.”

We call on progressive forces to encourage their respective governments to join forces at the United Nations to call for the immediate withdrawal of aggressor foreign forces in the Congo.

We urge organisations to demand that their governments hold accountable those who are inflicting violence on the people of the Congo.

We take inspiration and hope from the Alliance of Sahel States – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – where popular forces and new state formations have taken charge of their sovereignty after decades of imperialist plunder, charting a new path forward for Pan African unity.

The words of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara ring true until today, ‘The Congo problem is a world problem…Victory will be continental in its reach and its consequences, and so would defeat.’ From the Congo to Swaziland and Sudan, from Western Sahara to Palestine, from Cuba to Venezuela, Haiti and beyond, the people will be victorious!

In solidarity,

The Pan Africanism Today Secretariat