THE CONGO CONGOLESE HAVE SHOWN NEED FOR CONTROL BY OUTSIDERS

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30625, 16 December 1964, Page 20

THE CONGO CONGOLESE HAVE SHOWN NEED FOR CONTROL BY OUTSIDERS

IBW

JOHN BULLOCH

of th* '■Daily Telegraph" London)

(Reprinted from the “Daily Telegraph," by arranpement)

In Stanleyville, a few days ago, one of the only two doctors left there, Dr. Alexandre Barlovatz, a Belgian, gave me a lift through the deserted streets in his battered, Red-Crossed car. I asked him if he did not intend to leave. He shrugged and smiled. “Where can I go?” he asked. At Leopoldville Airport, when the first planeload of wounded, dead and dying came in hours after the Avenue Kitele massacre in Stanleyville, I talked to an elderly Belgian planter who had lived there for 35 years. “What are you going to do now?” I asked. He looked surprised. “A holiday, perhaps,” he said. “And then I shall go back home.” Back home to Stanleyville.

When the senseless killing ends, a political solution must be found. What is to be? Writing from Leopoldville, John Bullock of the Daily Telegraph, London, discusses the question.

These two reactions, typical of so many others, express the hope and the horror of the Congo. The hope that normal life can be re-established, that there are men and women from other countries who regard it as home and have sufficient faith and courage to stay and work and build. The horror that they know, and everyone else knows, that for years to come they will live with the constant threat of murder, mutilation and torture. But this is the only way. For four bloody years the Congolese have been proving that they eannot do it themselves. Tribal wars, civil war, rape, murder and primitive brutality have marked the Congo’s history since independence, and in the process have retarded the development of the whole African continent. If this country is to be rescued from the savagery to which it is fast reverting, that must be stopped, and it must be stopped from outside.

Humanity Defiled The Mulelist revolution now defiling the name of humanity in its death throes has demonstrated finally and conclusively that the Congolese cannot exist alone. They must be led, driven and shown by outsiders. The revolution, which is now being suppressed by the guns of mercenaries, was not something arranged by Communist agitators, however much they may have fomented it once it started. The rising developed from the chaotic administration of the Central Government, the venality of officials, disputes over tribal boundaries and rage at the blatant difference in conditions of the haves and the have-nots.

Funds sent from Leopoldville to pay the salaries of teachers and civil servants never got further than the pockets of the provincial administrators. Foreign aid programmes were used to build new houses for party officials instead of roads or bridges. The police and the Army outside the capital battened on the people.

In those conditions it was not difficult to raise the tattered standard of revolution. The injustices were plain to see, so all that had to be done was to inspire ordinary Africans to fight. And that

too was easy, tor savagery here is only just below the surface. Cannibalism Normal Cannibalism is still normal in many parts, and in the remote areas of the Equateur or Orientale Provinces every family has its household fetish which still exacts its toll of blood at the proper times. Gbenye, Soumlalot, Olenga and the rest tapped this reservoir of superstition to make the naturally cowardly Congolese fight. And to win them to the cause they promised fantastic benefits, clearly

impossible to achieve but blindly accepted by the unthinking low-grade Africans who made up the bulk of the rebel army. In Stanleyville I found an order from Gbenye directing a “Simba” officer, a driver and two escorts to go over towards the Uganda border to find new recruits. They were to sign up “Simbas, pygmees.” And there is no doubt that they would have succeeded, for even the pygmies living in Stone-Age conditions in the forest have heard of the incompetence and maladministration of the Central Government But the revolt started under Mr Adoula’s regime, and it is Mr Tshombe who now has the power. And Mr Tshombe is that rare African, a man who does not believe that Africans can and should be given all the white men’s jobs as soon as independence comes.

He proved that when he recruited foreign mercenaries. It is these men from 19 different countries who have stemmed the tide of revolt and assured a military victory, and it will have to be men like them who maintain the peace once the present senseless killing ends. It is one more paradox in this paradoxical land that when some dispute arises, the timid and fearful Congolese will take his panga in his hand and go out and settle it with violence. And [hat is something that will not be eradicated in our lifetime.

Permanent Force A permanent strike force of a couple of hundred foreign soldiers, equipped with helicopters, jeeps and all the most modern weapons, could deal adequately and effectively with the fresh spurts of violence which are certain to come. That is realised, and particularly by Mr Tshombe, but it is anathema to the rest of the “emergent” African countries.

The Organisation of African Unity, the rather nebulous body which at one time seemed to be the best hope of peace and development in the African continent, is now the great stumbling block to order in the Congo. To the brash, young and politically ignorant Ministers who represent their countries at the meetings of this organisation, Mr Tshombe is still "a puppet of the Belgians,” “in the pay of the Americans,” “a tool of neo-colonialism.” Somehow Mr Tshombe and his Government have got to do what they realise must be done without the support of the other African States. And that is not easy, but makes it all the more, important for European countries to continue to support and help the Congo.

When the Belgian paratroops floated down on to Stanleyville and found the corpses of the slaughtered it was the end of an era in the Congo. It had been a bloody period, but always before the killings of whites or blacks not involved were incidental, and not deliberate. This time the killing was done as a matter of studied policy—and it is worth noting that during the revolt something more than 6000 Congolese civilians have been “executed” by the rebels.

Economic Prize After the events of the past weeks, there must be a tendency to write the Congo off, for Western countries to wash their hands of the whole affair. Many times people have pointed out to me that there is no difference between a Congolese with a white band round his head to signify allegiance to the Government, and a rebel wearing the monkey-skin head-dress of a Simba. Let them kill each other the argument goes, but let us get out of it. Apart from the fact that this is a denial of our common humanity, it is practically impossible. In politics, as in nature, a vacuum is abhorred. If America and Belgium, the two Powers most closely coni cerned, were to pull out, China or some other Communist country would move in. If they did, they would have not only a centre for the

conquest of al) Africa, but also one of the economic prises of the world, with diamonds and tin, copper, timber, cotton, manganese, uranium and dozens of other materials. The Congo could, and should, be the rich neighbour of surrounding countries, sending them help instead of pleading for assistance from abroad. But the practical factors remain, and these are that, despite the capture of Stanleyville, Kindu, Uvira and all the rest, the Central Government’s writ runs only in many parts if there is a foreign soldier with a gun in his hand prepared to back it up. The rebels have not been cleared from the country, but from certain centres. They could return at any time. So political solution must follow the military. What is it to be? When he first assumed power, Mr Tshombe tried to appease the rebels by appointing a couple of Left-wing Cabinet Ministers, and that had no effect whatsoever. The answer lies much deeper than that. The only hope lies in demonstrating that the Government is governing, effectively and strongly. And the only way to do that is to ignore African opinion and rely on foreigners to fill key positions. In the Army and the Civil Service, one white man in a department can galvanise it into action by his presence alone, and also prevent the steady round of embezzlement which has become the norm in the administration.

United Nations Aid

But to meet the criticism of the rest of Africa, and also to prevent a hostility building up among the Congolese, no one country should supply all this “assistance technique” which is so badly needed. It is because of the heavy and blatant American and Belgian involvement here that nationals of those two countries have been singled out by the rebels for the worst treatment. The ideal would be for the United Nations to mount a greatly expanded programme of civil aid, and for many different countries to second officers to the Congolese Army, leaving a permanent force of mercenaries to deal with trouble for the next few years.

Now that the United Nations soldiers have left, there is no longer any real animosity to that organisation, and its civil help would be welcomed. Another special Congo levy might be necessary to pay for it but that would be a small price compared with a new Stanleyville or Paulis.

In Stanleyville to-day there is no civil administration of any kind. A tough Swiss United Nations representative has become the de facto Mayor. But he has only four men to help him. The mercenaries and the Congolese troops are too busy alternately fighting and looting to bother about bringing the town back to life again. Someone is going to have to do this, not only in Stanleyville, but in every other shattered town and village, too. If the Congolese cannot or will not, then the fear of accusations of neocolonialism should not deter other countries from doing so.

I still believe that in the future the Congo will join the roll of civilised nations. I have watched it at close quarters since 1961, and it is usually violence that I have seen. But it is a potentially great country, and it must be helped to achieve that potential.