The Congo, basic facts

The Congo, basic facts

• Population: 56 million (UN, 2005)
• Life expectancy at birth 42.0/47.0 m/f (years)
• Healthy life expectancy at birth m/f 35.0/39.1 (years, 2002)
• Child mortality m/f 217/192 (per 1000)
• Adult mortality m/f 578/452(per 1000)
• Total health expenditure as 4% of GDP (2002)
• GDP $5.6 billion in 2003
• Annual GDP growth rate: 5% (2003)
• Per capita GDP: $98.65 (2003)
• Total external debt: $8.211 billion(2002) (Currently under revision due to HIPC decision point in 2003)
• Capital: Kinshasa
• Area: 2.34 million sq km (905,354 sq miles)
• Major languages: French, Lingala, Kiswahili, Kikongo, Tshiluba
• Major religions: Christianity, Islam
• Natural resources: Copper, cobalt, diamonds, gold, other minerals, petroleum, wood, hydroelectric potential
• Agriculture:Cash crops - coffee, rubber, palm oil, cotton, cocoa, sugar, tea
  Food crops - manioc, corn, legumes, plantains, peanuts
• Land use: Agriculture 3%; pasture 7%; forest/woodland 77%; other 13%
• Industry: Types - processed and unprocessed minerals; consumer products including textiles, plastics, footwear, cigarettes, metal products, processed foods and beverages, cement, timber
• Currency: 1 Congolese franc (FC) = 100 centimes
• Exports: $1.040 billion (2002)
• Products: diamonds, cobalt, copper, coffee, petroleum
• Partners: EU, Japan, South Africa, US, China
• Imports: $1.216 billion (2002)
• Products: consumer goods (food, textiles), capital equipment, refined petroleum products
• Partners: EU, China, South Africa, US
• Internet domain: .cd
• International dialLing code: +243
• Suffrage: 18 years of age, universal and compulsory
[www3.who.int]

• The Republic of the Congo (as the DRC was known then) early years were marred by political and social instability
• In 1959, Patrice Lumumba, with the MNC party or Mouvement National Congolais, won the first free legislative elections and was appointed Prime Minister. Joseph Kasavubu, of the ABAKO (Alliance des Bakongo) party, was elected president by the parliament
• After independence in June 1960, the country immediately faced an army mutiny and an attempt at secession by its mineral-rich province of Katanga under Moise Tshombe
• Subsequent events led to a crisis between President Kasavubu and Prime Minister Lumumba
• On 5 September 1960, Lumumba was dismissed from office by Kasavubu, and was later arrested
• Lumumba had previously appointed Joseph Mobutu chief of staff of the new Congo army, Armee Nationale Congolaise (ANC)
• 1961, the prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, was seized and killed by troops loyal to army chief Joseph Mobutu
• 1963 Tshombe agreed to end the Katanga secession
• 1964 Kasavubu appoints Tshombe prime minister

• 1965, following five years of extreme instability and civil unrest, Joseph Mobutu, now Lieutenant General, overthrew Kasavubu and Tshombe in a coup d’etat
• A one-party system was established, and Mobutu declared himself head of state
• Mobutu would occasionally hold elections in which he was the only candidate
• 1971, he changed his name - to Mobutu Sese Seko - as well as that of the country – to Zaire. Katanga became Shaba and the river Congo became the river Zaire
• 29 July 1984, sham elections held with Mobutu Sese Seko being reelected president without opposition
• 1990, Mobutu agrees to end ban on multiparty politics and appoints a transitional government but retains substantial powers
• 1994, appointment of Kengo Wa Dondo as prime minister
• 1996-1997, Tutsi rebels capture parts of eastern Zaire while Mobutu is abroad for treatment
  [www.news.bbc.co.uk]
• 1997, ethnic strife and civil war in Zaire was exacerbated by a massive inflow of refugees in 1994 from the fighting in Rwanda and Burundi; this led to the toppling of the Mobutu regime in 1997 by a rebellion led by Laurent Kabila
• On 16 May 1997, the multinational army headed by Kabila battled to secure Lubumbashi airport after peace talks broke down and Mobutu fled the country. He died on 7 September 1997 in Morocco)
  [www.wikipedia.org]
• Mobutu was president for 32 years through several subsequent sham elections, as well as through the use of brutal force

• Kabila had been a longtime political opponent of Mobutu, and was a follower of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the independent Congo
• In March 1997, Kabila's forces launched an offensive, and demanded the government surrender
• 2 April, a new prime minister was installed: Etienne Tshisekedi, a longtime rival of Mobutu
• Ascended to the presidency following a successful military campaign - with the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFLC)
• Kabila changed the country's name back to Democratic Republic of the Congo - Kinshasa.
• 1998, his regime was challenged by an insurrection backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Troops from Angola, Chad, Namibia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe intervened to support the Kinshasa regime
• The war, which began in August 1998, resulted in the deaths of close to 3.5 million people from war, famine, and disease
• A cease-fire was signed in July 1999 by the DRC, Congolese armed rebel groups, Angola, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe but sporadic fighting continued
• The fighting was financed by revenues from the illegal extraction of minerals such as coltan, diamonds and cassiterite
• 2000, the UN Security Council authorises a 5,500-strong UN force to monitor the ceasefire
• Kabila was assassinated in January 2001 and his son Joseph Kabila named head of state

• Joseph Kabila ascended to the presidency on 26 January 2001, at the age of 29 following the death of his father, Laurent Kabila
• Kabila spent much of his early life in East Africa, where his dissident father lived in exile
• He received military training in Rwanda and Uganda
• Kabila had fought in his father's rebel army during the military campaign that brought the senior Kabila to power
• Kabila went on to serve in the army as major-general and chief of staff, and headed the government forces in the fight against former rebel allies
• Unlike his father, he was perceived to be shy, unassuming and soft-spoken
• 2002, the new president quickly began overtures to end the war and an accord - the Sun City Agreement -was signed in South Africa maintaining Joseph Kabila as president and head of state of the Congo
• An interim administration was set up under him, including the leaders of the country's two main rebel groups as vice-presidents (two other vice-presidents are representatives of the civilian opposition and government supporters respectively)
• By late 2003, a fragile peace prevailed in the DRC as the transitional government was formed
• 28 March 2004, a coup attempt or mutiny around the capital Kinshasa - allegedly organised by supporters of the late president Mobutu Sese Seko - failed
• Kabila surprised diplomats and observers when he declared his willingness to seek a peaceful end to his country's civil war and introduced multi-party democracy
• The eastern part of the country remains insecure, primarily due to the Ituri conflict and the continued activity of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in the Kivus
• In December 2005, a referendum approved the new constitution, and presidential elections are planned for 30 July 2006
• The new constitution lowers the minimum age of presidential candidates from 35 to 30, which allows Kabila to run
• On 22 March 2006, the incumbent Joseph Kabila registered as an independent presidential candidate

• Peoples Party for Reconstruction and Democracy or PPRD [Joseph Kabila]
• Democratic Social Christian Party or PDSC [Andre Bo-boliko]
• Forces for Renovation for Union and Solidarity or FONUS [Joseph Olenghankoy]
• National Congolese Lumumbist Movement or MNC [Francois Lumumba]
• Popular Movement of the Revolution or MPR (three factions: MPR-Fait Prive [Catherine Nzuzi wa Mbombo]
  MPR/Vunduawe [Felix Vunduawe]
  MPR/Mananga [Mananga Dintoka Mpholo])
• Unified Lumumbast Party or PALU [Antoine Gizenga]
• Union for Democracy and Social Progress or UDPS [Etienne Tshisekedi) - boycotted the registration for the 2006 general elections
• Union of Federalists and Independent Republicans or UFERI (two factions: UFERI [Lokambo omokoko]; UFERI/OR [Adolph Kishwe Maya])
  [www.odci.gov]

Other groups
• DRC's largest former rebel groups are the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) and the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC). The RCD was backed by Rwanda while Uganda supported the MLC
• Under a peace deal signed in December 2002 the two former rebel groups shared fourteen ministerial positions in the interim government
• There are many other rebel groups, usually ethnically-linked and with fluid allegiances
• The Mayi Mayi

• Ethnic strife and civil war, exacerbated/sparked?? by a massive inflow of refugees in 1994 from fighting in Rwanda and Burundi, led in May 1997 to the toppling of the MOBUTU regime by a rebellion led by Laurent KABILA
• KABILA renamed the country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but in August 1998 his regime was challenged by an insurrection backed by Rwanda and Uganda
• Troops from Angola, Chad, Namibia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe intervened to support the Kinshasa regime
• A ceasefire was signed in July 1999 by the DRC, Congolese armed rebel groups, Angola, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zimbabwe but sporadic fighting continued
• Laurent KABILA was assassinated in January 2001 and his son, Joseph KABILA, was named head of state
• In October 2002, the new president was successful in negotiating the withdrawal of Rwandan forces occupying eastern Congo; two months later, the Pretoria Accord was signed by all remaining warring parties to end the fighting and establish a government of national unity
• A transitional government was set up in July 2003 reopening relations with international financial institutions and international donors
• Joseph KABILA remains as president and is joined by four vice presidents representing the former government, former rebel groups, and the political opposition
• The transitional government held a successful constitutional referendum in December 2005, and plans to hold a series of elections in 2006 to determine the presidency and National Assembly seats
• 32 presidential candidates are registered for the 2006 general elections with women candidates vying for 11% of the legislative posts
• Despite a formal end to the war in July 2003 and an agreement by the former belligerents to create a government of national unity, the state remains weak and much of the eastern region continues to suffer from violent conflict
• In 2004, an estimated one thousand people died every day from violence and disruptions to basic social services and food supply
• Sporadic outbreaks of fighting continue to lead to large-scale forced migration of two to three million internally displaced persons
  [www.unhcr.org]
  [www.state.gov]
The fragility of the state has allowed continued violence and human rights abuses in the east
• There are three significant centres of conflict: North and South Kivu, where a weakened FDLR continues to threaten the populace; Ituri, where MONUC has proved unable to contain the numerous militia and groups driving the Ituri conflict; and northern Katanga, where Mai-Mai created by Laurent Kabila slipped out of the control of Kinshasa
  [www.wikipedia.org]

Principal Government Officials
Vice President - Jean-Pierre Bemba
Vice President - Azarias Ruberwa
Vice President - Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi
Vice President - Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma

Key Ministers
Foreign Affairs - Raymond Ramazani
Defence - Adolphe Onusumba
Interior - Theophile Mbemba
Finance - Andre-Philippe Futa
Justice - Honorius Ksimba Ngoy
Information and Press - Henri Mova Sakanyi

The press

• Le Potentiel - daily
• La Reference Plus - daily
• L’Avenir - daily
• Le Soft - weekly
• Le Palmares - daily
• L’Observateur - daily
• Elima - evening daily
• Boyoma - daily
• Mjumbe - daily

• Radio-Television Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) - state-controlled terrestrial and satellite TV
• Television Congolaise - government commercial station run by RTNC
• Antenne –privately-owned
• Canal Z - commercial
• Canal Kin - private
• Raga TV - private
• Tropicana TV - private
• Radio television Kin Malebo (RTKM) - private

• La Voix du Congo - state-controlled, operated by RTNC, broadcasting in French, Swahili, Lingala, Tshiluba and Kikongo
• Radio Okapi - UN-backed politically-independent network, on FM and shortwave
• Raga FM – private
• Top Congo FM - private

• Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP) - state-controlled