Political conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The state actors have dominated this war by use rebels groups as government proxies of achieving the state’s set goals. While contrasting the civil unrest in Congo with other African nations with similar experiences of civil war, it is evident that the interests of warlords have overshadowed state’s interests. The aim of this thesis has been to investigate the understanding of the political conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), seen and understood from the perspective of Congolese refugees living in Uganda. To answer this question, the researcher adopted a qualitative semi- structured interviews, conducted among 15 Congolese refugees living in Nakivale refugee Camp in November 2017. The findings the thesis was that, the Congolese refugees in Uganda understood the conflict in their country to be based on a combination of complex reasons.

In Severine Autesserre book (2010) “The trouble with the Congo”, she provides several reasons for the degradation. The Congo which is positioned in the Africa’s heart gained independence in 1960. The country then changed its official name to Zaire when Joseph Mobutu SeseSeko took the power through a coup in 1965. Mobutu single- handily run the country, and stayed in power as the most powerful man for 32 years. Compared to the vicious monarch who owned the same territory a century earlier, Mobutu`s regime, just like Leopold`s were violent and extremely corrupt. There is no single leader that can be pointed as done to Mussolini or Hitler in the mass murder of the civilians in Congo. Instead, the war is waged by unnamed ordinary people whose reason for engaging in the conflicts is difficult to comprehend.

Stearns, 2012: 5). The big rebellion that broke out in the eastern part of the country, is what is known as the beginning of the first Congo war. First Congo War (Hutus and Tutsis) The commonly know Great African War took place in the DRC between 1996 and 2003 ( Reyntjens 2009, Stearns 2011) (Englebert and Dunn, 2013:278). The rivalry between these two ethnic groups had for the most part been about cattle, land ownership etc. Understanding of the above mentioned is what will lead us to understand why the Rwandan Genocide effected Congo so much. On the 6th of April 1994, a plane was shot down carrying the then Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana was it was preparing to land at the airport in Kigali. President Habyarimana was killed along with everyone in the plain. Habyarimana and co were on their way to a conference in Arusha, Tanzania.

Amongst them were the Hutu militia called Interahamwe. The majority of the Interahamwe had been very active and participated in most of the killings in the Genocide. The Interahamwes used refugee camps in Congo as cover and continued to attack the Tutsis in DR. Congo. The Congolese Tutsis are called Banyamulenge (Autesserre, 2010:133-142). In order to outweigh the Rwandese influence and power in Congo, the Ugandan troops after investigations through the leadership of Jean-Pierre Bemba, a Warlord created the Movement for the liberation of Congo (MLC) as another rebel group. In 1998, a conflict broke out. This was the start of the so- called African World War. DR. Congo became the centre of regional conflicts/wars resulting in millions of deaths. In July 1999, a ceasefire accord was signed in Lusaka by six of the African States that had been engaged in the war, however, as for the rebels in Congo who were the real perpetrators did not, the ceasefire was broken after few months.

And after the assassination of Kabila in 2001 by his bodyguard, the following week his son Joseph took over power. During the inauguration of the new president, similar and obvious sentiments were referred tin regards to restoration of peace and the re-launching of the accord signed in Lusaka in 1999 (Filip Reyntjens, 2007: 309). Congo`s ability to fight foreign militia occupation has been another major factor to the conflict, especially on the eastern border. This was made much more difficult with the implementation of the DDRRR process, also known as (Disbarment, Demobilization, Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration). The government of Congo created in 2002, comprised of Rwandan and Uganda and some Congolese. And the result of this has been people who were integrated in the Congolese army have been the biggest perpetrators of many horrible atrocities in Congo.

This is often reported or appeared in the media, that the Congolese army are the ones responsible for killing its own citizens, while in reality these are the Rwandan and Ugandan militias who have infiltrated Congo Army through the DDRRR program. The conflict in Congo has often been characterised as a civil war, mostly of what has been occurring in North and South Kivu which is located in eastern Congo. This has been based on the believe that all the involved militia groups are actually Congolese fighters; however, looking deeper into the matter, it is obvious that, that is not the case. And therefore he is not in Congo to lead the country or protect the Congolese people. He is Kagame`s “pin” in Congo………. All the Congolese supposedly know that Kabila is Rwandan and not Congolese, and this can be proven amongst other things when he agreed to the agreement, gave them the Congolese uniform, integrate most of them in the Congolese military, and then sent them to occupy Congolese military bases and wipe out Congolese offices and soldiers.

Armed groups in the Conflict Political crisis in DRC has revived most of the current armed groups which are approximately 70 and as a result creating a situation whereby the armed groups and politics are considered the primary feature of political instability in the country5. There are a large number of armed groups in the conflict in East as well as many other places in Congo. It is proved that Congo as result of rich minerals, it has suffered in terms of conflicts. It is obvious that if not for the presence of minerals in Congo, many things would not have happened. For instance, most of the engagement by multinationals corporations, international community and the neighbouring governments and rebel groups are as result of the resources that these actors are interfering with the Congolese affairs.

Therefore, one of the major factors to the conflicts is as result of the existence of rich resources that are endowed in the country. The UN has named 86 companies accused of plundering the minerals in the Congo, this includes mostly American, Canadian and some European operations9 According to many analysts such as Jennifer Cooke who is the director of African program, most of the conflicts are the results of mineral struggle. Thus, it is proved that the war in DRC is destructive. Political conflict had disrupted health, education services, and devastated National/local Economies and infrastructure. Joseph Kabila has been the president in DR. Congo since 2001. Kabila`s mandates expired in December 2016, but he is claiming to run for a third time, due to the countries financial crises. Although the country has had a long history of violence and deadly conflicts in the last decades, however, there had been peaceful, relative stability and positive development in terms of economic growth in many places in the country.

Until now, the Council on Foreign Relations reports that there are still approximately 70 armed groups that are operating in the Congo especially the eastern region12. The Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces and Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda are the main groups that are terrorizing the community with their presence in areas where it is weakly controlled. Looking at the current situation from the perspective of democracy theory, the state has clearly failed to promote its citizens interests. The state has unduly restrained the individuals from their freedom which is against the ideals of democracy which requires maximization of freedom. The result of weak governance as well as prevalence of rebel groups in Congo has caused further harm to the Congolese civilians with most of them becoming victims of widespread sexual violence and rape, extreme poverty and mass violation of human rights.

Despite the efforts by the African Union, the United Nations as well as the neighbouring countries, sustainable development has not yet been achieved. Moreover, there is a potential that the conflict will be spilled off to countries such as Uganda and Rwanda due to their involvement. Summary 3. Theoretical Framework This study concerns the political conflict in the DRC from the perspective of the Congolese refugees in the refugee camp in Uganda. At that time, it denoted a particular kind of regime, or political formation which meant ‘rule by’ or ‘power of’ ‘the people’, that is, ‘the common people’. This definition was developed later by the United States President Abraham Lincoln as ‘peoples’ government, for the people, and by the people. According to the Greeks, democracy is the ability to claim citizenship by right, be able to make informed decisions as a citizen regarding the nation’s important matters, and power to participate in the national debates to protect national interests and values.

Thus, it was not the exclusive for the ‘chosen few’ (oligarchy), the noble character (aristocracy), dominion (monarchy), or a discretional leader (tyranny).   Different ideologies use different criteria to define democracy. In reference to this assertion, therefore, it can be defined that democracy is the political will and power with those elected from among the people as representatives to exercise that power on their behalf. Typically, this can be defined in three levels, one the right to vote in general elections, political parties’ competitions, and the people’s freedom to associate. Thus, democracy can be defined in three terms, competition, elections, and the freedom. The point here is the individual freedom which defines liberty. In this case, various political scientists use democracy to define the words freedom, free will to elect and make choices, and competition.

Liberal democracy  In a liberal democracy, the people do not govern themselves but, rather, they elect politicians to do the job. The essence lies in representative government and not in self-government. Hence, it is indirect rather than direct democracy. Another feature of this form of democracy is that the will of the people is subjected to legal or constitutional limits. The aim is to protect individual rights to, for example, freedom of religion, speech and assembly.   The term democracy appeared in the form of representative democracy, at the end of the eighteenth century, with the French and American Revolutions even though they did not describe themselves as democratic (Christiano in McKinnon, ed.   Nowadays, the question is no longer whether democracy is desirable, but what is the best or most authentic form, and whether there is harmony between political practice and democratic principle.

During the Cold War, there was a debate over whether the combination of representative government and capitalist economics in the West, or Soviet-style ‘people’s democracies’ of the East, with their managed economies and one-party states, were more democratic. Generally speaking, legitimate authority springs from the people. The old adage voxpopuli, voxdei – meaning the voice of the people is the voice of God – expresses this idea (Jay in Eccleshall, 1994:121). Finally, many people prefer democracy on the basis of its beneficial effects on character. In the same vein as Mill and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, many people argue that democracy makes people stand up for themselves thus encouraging individuals to be more autonomous and to think carefully and rationally. This is because, in democratic societies, decisions made by majority in the society are based on the best will of the people than that founded on aristocracy (Christiano in McKinnon, ed.

Furthermore, democracy promotes the moral liberties of citizens in the sense which they are expected to give hearing to others when it comes to making decisions when making decisions, they are required to justify themselves before others, and must take into consideration the other peoples’ interests. In this kind of circumstance, they genuinely come to think in terms of the common good and justice. Egalitarian conception of democracy  This theory support some extent of equality of individual by indicating that equal and same treatment should be accorded to people in some instances15. The theory further leans towards the belief that people in the society are equal with regards to their moral status or the fundamental worth. The theory realizes equality among citizens in the context of disagreements that cannot be resolved over matters of political value.

What underlies the egalitarian conception is the idea of public equality, which holds that despite the many disagreements among persons about law and policy, democracy is a way of publicly treating each person as an equal (Christiano in McKinnon, ed.  Some of the proponents of this theory indicate that every individual’s interest in the society must be given equal consideration when deciding important aspects of the laws and policies to govern16. Levy, 2007: 20-21). Therefore, multiple explanations are used to explain a conflict in details. The theories that have been put forward to explain the causes of political conflict include The theory on New wars and State failure, the structural theory of conflict, the Marxist theory of conflict, the international capitalist theory, the economic theory, realism theory of conflict, the frustration- aggression theory, and the protracted social conflict theory.

Theories on New Wars and State Failure Following are the theories that will help me to explain The DRC as a failed state Some observers have asserted that many conflicts in Africa emerge because of a crisis of modernity (Englebert and Dunn, 2013:291). The view that many share in common is that contemporary wars are new wars ; they differ from those in developing countries before the end of the cold War (Cramer, 2005:19). Therefore, in situations where a state is considered a failed state, it is the structure and authority of that state that has failed to be recognized, the political order and law has also fallen apart (Englebert and Dunn, 2013:296). Robert Rotberg defines a failed state as country whose government caanot provide essential goods and services to the population. A failed state is thus one the four different types of states and whose index is categorised as weak due to its inability to deliver high and essential goods and services to its citizen (Rotberg, 2007).

He opines that the most important goods is security, expressed in the state monopoly of violence and human security. He further mentions other political goods like effective rule of law, political freedom, economic opportunity. In other words, it describes the condition of the society and how such conditions or environment can create conflict (Oakland, 2005). Although structural theory does not explain conflict universally, the theory actually finds expression when certain environment conditions are met. Thus structural theory becomes useful, because the theory provides a clear explanation for conflict between groups when trying to understand the chaotic events. From this perspective, This theory provides further a plausible explanation for a large (agglomeration) of social, economic and political vectors that influence groups that eventually collide in conflict. Different authors adopt different approaches which are put within broader theories of conflict.

Thus they will try to influence politics, education, and other institutions to protect and limit access to their forms of capital and resources whereas, in contrast, the lower class has a very different interest. They do not have specific forms of capital they need to protect. All they are interesting in is in gaining access to the resources and capital of the higher class. For example, education: the lover class will do everything to gain access to the higher class resources based on democratizing and liberazing education systems because these forms of capital are thought to be valued for future success. The various institutions of society such as the legal and political system are instruments of ruling class domination and serve to further its interest (Scott and Marshall, 2007). Marx further suggests that societal reorganization is the only way through which such conflicts may be avoided.

He considered an economic production system such as socialism as a way through which societal members needs can be catered and replace the capitalist system. The theory further captures the importation of imperialism and colonialism throughout the history. Hobson (2006:1902, for instance in his work on imperialism indicates that “the external drive of western nations propelled by the Industrial Revolution began to create numerous platforms for conflict. ” This approach which can also be understood somehow as the dependency theory, in African version, owned its existence to scholars like Samir Amim (1972-1976), John Saul (1979) as well as Walter Rodney (1981). According to the first hypothesis, a resource war would be triggered in cases where there is limited amount of physically controllable resources. Therefore, it is possible that the guiding principle in military force be related to the control of important natural resources in a country as evidenced in other countries experiencing conflicts from natural resources.

Secondly, there is a probability of ethnic conflict resulting from scarcity of resources which attracts newcomers who afterwards conflicts with the original dwellers. This is reflected among the Banyamulenge people of Congo who after migrating to the South eastern part of the country in such of land rendered them impoverished leading to emergence of conflicts and insurgency. In summary, scarcity is likely to increase the probability resource capture by individuals who have the power to amass at the mercy and marginalization of another group of individuals in the society (Englebert and Dunn, 2013: 288). There are basic and subtler versions of resource- centred analysis. Philippe le Billon (2005) observes that, increased importance and demand for natural resources by the combatants always change the course of the war and shifts it towards protection areas considered of economic importance.

Similar to other theorists, economists also have a tendency of explaining conflicts in the society by seeing material things as the ultimate cause among human beings. As result, material things have created grievance and greed thesis which are used to explain societal conflicts. Paul Collier is primarily associated with this framework as he has been an commentator with considerable influence. For instance, communities wrangles over farmlands and other resources such as water while other groups fight the government over collection and allocation of revenues. Therefore, the fear of scarcity or actual scarcity, needs and wants are all the drivers of political power and resource control contention. Similarly to how fear of both poverty and deprivation can lead to corruption, famine threat, resource mismanagement and deprivation can as well cause conflict in the society.

Realist Theory of conflict According to political realism, conflict is a man’s inherent attribute. Therefore, as long as human beings live with the emotional burden, conflict will still exists. Englebert and Dunn, 2013: 292). This has happened when an electoral faction decides that success is more likely through armed struggle than through the established legal system. Thus, in such cases armed conflicts is more likely to emerge, as a result driven by feelings of social marginalization or regional disenfranchisement. Frustration described as the annoyance feeling especially when a person if blocked by another from achieving particular goals. Aggression on the other hand is considered as the ill behaviour or attitude which is commonly triggered by frustration and always directed towards a person of something else. In instances, where these needs are not satisfied, they are expressed through economic in consequences such as unemployment, poverty as well as politically through forms such as crime, xenophobia, group marginalization and violence.

From this perspective therefore, the theory concludes that violence and conflict in the society is as a result of failure to meet the basic human needs. For example, according to UN DESA (2001) ethnic conflicts can be clearly explained through issues such as security, identity, affection and freedom of the people among others. Nevertheless, other deep interests rooted in the human needs. Therefore, the ethnic groups needs are very relevant, non-negotiable and should not be compromised. Protracted Social Conflict Theory The protracted social conflict (PSC) theory, which is also referred to as the social conflict theory is based on the Protracted Social Conflict in the Azar’s model. The theory has its basis on the prolonged communal violence where basics needs including recognition and security are issues of wrangles. According to Coleman (2000), intractable conflict mainly caused by issues of identity claim, questions of value, discrimination, abuse and the human needs among others.

Particular attention is paid in issues of ethnic and communal conflicts while emphasizing the prolonged conflicts are usually sourced from internal factors and not external issues. Azar, points out this sources to include cultural norms, economic, political, institutional and colonial factors. The international linkage role also influences the diaspora community to offer their support against the rival groups in terms of arms inclines to protract the conflict. The protracted conflict theory can thus be seen as the theory that encompasses several factors including; social-economic, cultural, political, ethnic, religious, needs of humans and structural factors. In a nutshell, t he protracted social conflict theory is an all-encompassing theory that looks at conflict from the structural, cultural, ethnic, political, economic, religious, human needs as well as social factors. However, the only solution for protracted social conflicts can be achieved when there is proper management of the dominant ethnic group, economic provision to individuals as well as protection of the people and state in regards to their needs and rights.

Satisfaction of needs is also important especially in Congo where conflicts are driven by needs dissatisfaction. Consequences of the Political Conflict on Congolese • Displacement • Loss of property (loss of mean of sustenance) • Psychological impact - Trauma - Violence (sexual violence- rape as a weapon of war) - Further conflicts (vicious circle that leads to more and more conflicts. Loss of life (Death) 5. Analysis and Discussion. The primary purpose of this study is to examine the political conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), understood from the perspective of Congolese refugees living in Uganda. After presenting the different theories in the previous chapter, earlier research suggests that there are different ways to understand the political conflict in the DRC. Furthermore, the findings also reveal that the government in the DRC is characterised by the use of coercion, corruption, the quest to secure power and control over resources, failure to provide basic necessities such as education, healthcare, and security to the citizens.

According to my findings, democratic principles and values are not respected, and the government has lost its legitimacy. It is important to note that these findings raise a number of political issues which I shall now take up for discussion and analysis. In the first place there is the issue of governance. This concept refers to structures and processes that are designed to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation (cf. Respodent, P, T and S). My respondents P, T and S perceive and paint a poor picture of the governing regime in Congo, and from this picture we can infer that it is an example of a bad or rather inefficient government since the ruling elites and those responsible for managing the affairs of the country put their own interests first before the ones of their citizens.

Lack of citizen involvement in decision making Applying the perspective of direct democracy theory to the perspective of my informants, it seems that the majority of them are talking about lack of citizens participating in shaping collective decisions. From the voices of my informants, they mean that the ones in power think of their own personal interest rather than the national interest. Thus, this seems to be an argument in line with what has resulted to bad governance. Talking about a similar phenomenon in newly industrializing and less-developed world O’Neil says: Indeed, many of these states can repress or terrorize the population as they see fit, but this autonomy is quite limited, built largely (and dangerously) around force alone. In many cases, the state is not a highly independent actor, but is instead penetrated by actors and organizations that see the state as a resource to be exploited rather than a tool for achieving policy.

Frequently, the result of such penetration is high levels of corruption – what has been termed “kleptocracy,” or government by theft (O’Neil, 2007:232). Corruption in Congo, therefore diminishes state autonomy and capacity and has clear implications for freedom and equality. For example, it becomes difficult to establish the rule of law. Corruption has adverse effects on the economy and the social and political life of the state. It reduces public revenue and increases public spending thereby contributing to larger fiscal deficits and makes it difficult for government to run a sound fiscal policy. It gives room to well-positioned individuals to take advantage of the government activities at the expense of the rest of the population, and this increases income inequality. It also undermines accountability in the public service, and there is misappropriation of the country’s resources.

At a deeper level of analysis, corruption is not uniquely peculiar to the Democratic Republic of Congo but is a widespread universal problem of the greed which is a feature of capitalist society. In relation to this, Filip Reyntjens found that factors such as legal security, territorial control and territorial control has the capability of improving the prospect of Congo. However, in cases whereby a new government or international community wants to address the state’s failure symptoms, it will be doomed to fail (Reyntjens, 2007:317). Paul Orogun examined both the external and internal factors that precipitated civil awar and found that citizenship, group marginalization, resources (land) and security forms the center of war (Orogun. Lack of democracy Secondly, bad and inefficient governance implies that there is no true democracy. It is good to recall that Abraham Lincoln saw democracy as ‘government by the people, of the people, for the people (Christiano in McKinnon, ed.

Thus the social contract theory can help us make an appraisal of the political conflict in Congo as seen by the Congolese refugees in Uganda. According to this theory people, at first, lived in the state of nature without a government or law to regulate them. There was hardship, anarchy, oppression and the law of the game was the survival of the fittest. To address this situation, people came into an agreement through which they sought protection of their lives and property. The result was that a society was formed and the people agreed to respect each other and to live in peace and harmony. However, John Locke’s theory of the social contract is different from that of Hobbes. His view of the state of nature was not as miserable as that of Hobbes.

Instead, it was good and enjoyable, a golden age, a state of peace, goodwill, mutual assistance, and preservation. Locke argued that private property is essential to individual freedom and prosperity, and that the government’s job is to protect the natural rights of human beings such as the right to life, liberty, and the ownership of property. So long as the government fulfills this purpose, its laws are valid and binding, and when it fails to fulfill it, then its laws will be invalid and the government can be thrown out of power. The concept of legitimacy is also relevant to our discussion as it was brought up by many of my informants. It can be understood as a value whereby something or someone is recognized and accepted as right and proper.

That means, a legitimate institution or person is widely accepted and recognized by the public. Legitimacy confers authority and power. A state that fails to defend its territory from external actors such as other states will run the risk that other states will interfere and take its territory or destroy it. Many of these rebels are ready to die in order to gain peace (Respondent, “S”). From the voices of many others of my informants, this explains why in Congo the rebels are fighting and opposing the government : they each represent a minority or ethnic group that has been marginalized and discriminated against; the natural resources have not been equally distributed. To them the government has lost its legitimacy and credibility, and therefore should be replaced or ousted by force as advocated by Locke and Rousseau.

Some rebel groups have even seized and are controlling parts of the national territory in the eastern part of the country. This finding, therefore, leads me to the understanding that, without legitimacy, a state will be compelled to use the threat of force to maintain order, but this is a difficult task. There are two versions of utilitarianism: act utilitarianism judges individual actions directly against the utilitarian requirement to maximize pleasure and minimize pain, while in rule utilitarianism potential rules are judged against the utilitarian requirement to maximize pleasure and minimize pain, and the best rules are chosen accordingly. Then individual actions are judged right or wrong against these rules (Hyams in McKinnon, ed. From the perspective of act utilitarian it is clear that the political conflict in Congo is not morally justified since it has brought more pain than pleasure to the majority of the people particularly the women and children, girls and other men who have suffered pain, torture, sexual violence, and are now refugees.

Both the government and the rebels did not consider the utilitarian requirement to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Taking rule utilitarianism may easily show how we might construct a utilitarian case for political authority and obligation. Upon reading about Congo`s history and interviewing my informants in this study, I realized that the DRC have more than 300 ethnic tribes. And how to live together peacefully without violence has been one of the biggest challenges for the country and the world. Based on most of my informants’ experiences, I was told that most of the conflicts in the DRC seem to be ethnic in nature. During the interviews, this was expressed by all the informants. Everyone spoke about how one is thought about tribal ethnicity from the time one is still a child till adulthood.

From his understanding, tribalism refers to when violence occurs because tribe “A” clashed with tribe “B”. The term tribe could be defined as a notional form of human social organization based on a set of smaller groups, having temporary or permanent political integration, and is defined by tradition of common descent, language, culture and ideology (Thomson, 2004:61-65). In the Congo context, it was expressed to me by my informants that the ethnic tensions in the country which have led to the political crisis is a result of a long history with the background of oppression, injustice and domination by one ethnic group over the another. My findings reveal that, although there are many ethnic tribes in Congo, the so- called “ethnic issues” have been characterized or dived into two groups. The indigenous Congolese and the Congolese of Rwandan Descent.

And as evident, they are the ones ruling in Congo currently. This makes me upset a lot, since they are not real Congolese and do not have our best at heart. Thus, you can understand why many of our people have taken up arms and started to fight. They are only fighting for what is theirs. Respondent, S). I have witnessed that, as long as there are Hutus in other countries, especially the Hutus with good positions or in Power, we will always be targeted. Unfortunately as most of us are forced to flee due to ethnic tensions, they are succeeding. Respondent, A). Informant A perceives his tribe and ethnic background has everything to do with why him and his family fled from Congo. By him belonging to the so called Congolese Hutus (who are all generalized into one group and called Banyarwanda), he felt due to the ethnic tensions, he was left with no other choice than to flee the country in order to save his and his family’s life.

Moreover, the conflicts in Congo have impacted the entire circle of community life ranging from political to socio-economic aspects. As enumerated in the theory, the economic and political factors have a considerable effect on other social institutions and increasing the urge to impact more harm and generally creates a fear and insecurity among the population. Nepotism/ favourism According to Banks (1995), different people belonging to different tribes have always been stigmatized, stereotyped and excluded from the society even though they embrace the constitution and have always been part of the mainstream (Banks, et. al, 1995:299). It is important to note that these features of discrimination observed by Banks are common features found among the different tribes in the DRC. Thus, some could be said to be talking about domination and discrimination based on unequal political access between the different ethnic groups.

Others also mentioned identity and acceptance needs which gives common rights as equal citizenship. While others talked of power sharing and equal distribution of recourses that the country possesses. Thus, it can be argued to some extent that everyone is not seen as equal and dignified citizens, and therefore deprived of their needs. However, some have argued that this theory fails in a way to explain the conflict from a grass-root level. Evidently, this has resulted in distrust between the ethnic communities. Thus, from this perspective, it can also be argued to an extent that everyone is not seen as equal and dignified citizens. As indicated by the informants, ethnic diversity has always been a factor in Congo`s political History. Most ethnic conflicts have a background of domination, injustice or oppression by one ethnic group or another.

Autesserre (2010) notes that, in the case of Congo, social, economic, and political issues motivated the interclan and ethnic conflicts (Autesserre, 2010:151). During the era of Mobutu, for instance, he used “tribalism” in order to control and divide the country. He played on this strategy for the most part of his rule (Stearns, 2012:115. Today politicians still use the same ethnicity to gain votes and popularity. The different ethnic groups have been used to compete on the distribution of power, resources and inequality. This is partially one of the causes for the rise of the many armed groups and rebel organizations. My findings revealed that class and ethnicity has played a big role in the Congo conflict. To support this claim, one of my informants said: As far as I can remember, Ethnicity has always played a major role in Congo.

The class struggle in the country is to blame to have resulted in inequality, which has played a significant role that has led to political violence in the country (Respondent Y). The informant understood “ethnic tribalism” as the motor for the many conflict. Many of my other participants agreed also that the conflict in the country is in one way or another caused by ethnic issues. Thus, this gives us a better understanding of how exploitation of Congo`s natural resources is nothing new and how its linked to the conflict. Although the DRC is very rich in terms of natural resources and have a great potential to thrive economically, however, this has not been the case. The DRC is often referred to as a geological scandal (Stearns, 2012:288). And it is evident that the statement is not an exaggeration.

In the late 1980s, the Congo was the world`s largest producer of cobalt, third largest producer of industrial diamonds, and fifth largest producer of copper. With such estimation of the mineral wealth, Congo is one of the richest countries in Africa, if selling and trading the minerals is done in a legitimate way. As the theory of economic liberalism asserts, foreign trade is a means to market expansion and additional growth of the modern sector (Jackson, Sørensen, 2013: 188). Thus, if the DRC could manage its mineral resource wealth legitimately, it could benefit from foreign trade (Can lead to social development, economic growth, human rights, and good governance). Hence, more open trade is associated with greater growth (Englebert and Dunn, 2013:221). However, since this has been badly handled in the Congo, this has led to the continuation of exploitation and conflict in the country.

This is where my home is, where my whole family had been living for many generations. So this is our land, and if this is our land it means that we have the right to get some of the gold that is found here. But the reality of it is that we never benefit from this. The only ones benefiting from it is the government and the foreigners, (Respondent “S”). My respondent perceives that inequality and misappropriation of the resources is what have fuelled and increased violent conflicts. In other words, from Collier`s perspective, it can be implied that the conflicts in the DRC are not fought over political issues, but in order to gain access to profits. Consequently, the Congo conflict can be regarded as driven by the pursuit of personal wealth instead of political power (Englebert and Dunn, 2013:289).

Another respondent, D speaks of foreign interference as the reasons leading to further exploitation, corruption and misappropriation of the resources: The current exploitation in my country is caused by foreigners. There is a lot of interference from other nations in the affairs of the Congo. And for me, there is no other reason for their presence in Congo than the fights for resources. As a result of the invasions, the export of different resources of both Rwanda and Uganda has increased tremendously through the years. Some researchers estimated that the profits made by Rwanda between 2000-2001 was as high as $150 million for the coltan alone in the DRC38. While other researchers calculated total profits made from mineral trade at $250 million per annum throughout their occupation back then (Stearns, 2011:300). In addition to this, different resources are being smuggled from the DRC to Europe, USA, UAE through the neighbouring countries.

The evidence provided by different international actors indicates that, smuggling of different mineral resources affects negatively the Congo`s use of its natural resources. According to Autesserre, there are plenty of evidence, such as documents and interviewees claiming that, just as during the war, Rwanda Uganda and Burundian rebel movements continued to control many mineral- rich areas of the Kivu`s, often in collaboration with Mai Mai groups (Autesserre, 2010:64). By all accounts, national actors are also often participants in the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the DRC. It has been proven that, a number of Congolese army brigades are also involved in mining. Congolese soldiers either dug minerals or taxed the local production, while the officers both facilitated and benefited from illegal exportation to Rwanda, Tanzania, or Uganda (Autesserre, 2010: 64-65).

As Philippe Le Billon (2005) asserts, as natural resources gain importance for combatants, the nature of the conflict itself changes, as military activities become centred on areas of economic significance. Considering the consequence in relation to the exploitation of minerals from Congo, some would argue and blame the international manufactures who use the minerals originating from Congo in their products, for instance The Apple company, being part or connected in some way to the countries conflict as well. Again, this example states how the countries natural resources are the target of exceptional interest of international companies. Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler (2000, 2001) estimated that once the ratio of “lootable” primary commodity exports to GDP reaches, it shows a statistically significant association with conflict (Englebert and Dunn, 2013: 222)39. However, even though Congo`s natural resources are partial to blame in upholding the conflict in the country, they are not the main cause of the conflict.

Often, there has been provided different discussions as to what extent the availability of distribution of natural resources contributes to conflict. Thus, pushing the focus more on the minerals has left the other important causes of the conflict ignored. Other scholars have argued that a country does not necessarily automatically become poorer due to the fact that they possess resource in abundance, and argues that in the Congo case, for instance, the problem lies in the fact that the country is a weak state, which does not promote legitimate development of manufacturing and services. According to a couple of my informants, the Congolese state is a weak state with limited capacity, often faced with overwhelming material constraints and human needs. In their eyes, it is a weak state because it has been unable to generate growth in the manufacturing sector or in providing basic welfare services (education, healthcare, security etc.

to its people. By the majority of Congolese population living on the verge of undernourishment and not benefitting both economically or in another way from the countries natural resources, this proves how the country is still underdeveloped. Evidently, foreign invasions and resource wars which is a major part of the conflict in the DRC, indicates that the impact has been a negative one because the Congolese population does not profit from these different resources. In return, the bad mismanagement of the resources has caused various types of problems such as human rights violation, underdevelopment, economic instability and the continuation of bad and corrupt governance. Economic Hardship Another issue raised in the findings worth discussing is inequality which leads to economic hardship. My findings revealed that economic crisis is one of the major factors responsible for the political conflict in the DRC which has contributed to the country to be characterized as a failed state.

This implies that poverty can contribute to violent conflict and human insecurity, likewise violent conflict can contribute to poverty40. In addition to a range of factors that contributed to the violent conflict in the Congo (e. g. social, economic, political, and historical), poverty has also played a critical role. Poverty, economic grievance and greed are some of the elements that constitute economic motivations for conflict. According to this theory, aggression is the result of blocking or frustrating a person's efforts to attain a goal. As stated earlier, humans have needs such as physiological needs, love, sense of belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization, security, recognition, justice, protection, participation, identity and freedom which they seek to fulfil and any hindrance to the fulfilment of these needs can lead to conflict. Greed As we saw earlier, the economic theory of conflict explains the economic basis in conflict causation.

This provides another framework for analyzing the relationship between conflict and poverty particularly with regard to violence for profit. In the DRC many people are poor, meaning that they are deprived in, or fail to achieve certain basic capabilities; they are socially excluded and rendered poor through the suffocating consequences of social structures. in Williams ed. Some of the victims of the political conflict in the Congo are caught in a crossfire, many of whom do not even enjoy basic entitlements and rights. For some, conflict is seen as the means to secure rights and entitlements which they see as having been denied them by the government. It can be argued that conflict results from human greed and the desire to benefit from conflict, for example, the rebel groups that use grievance as a justification to go to war because of economic benefits.

Greed begets corruption, embezzlement and lack of transparency and accountability. They are deprived of their homes or shelters, farmlands, community ties, spiritual and cultural values, hence they are unable to provide basic needs for themselves and their families. They no longer take part in the cultural and spiritual activities of their communities such as traditional sacrifices or festivals, birth and death celebrations, naming rituals/rites, and marriage ceremonies, hence they risk losing their cultural identity. Because of the conflict, they also lose their livestock, and would not take the risk to go to the forest in search of firewood, game, and healing herbs. There is a fall in food production leading to food insecurity. Due to these factors, the displaced people and the refugees are rendered incapable of improving their wellbeing and pursuing activities that will lead to economic growth.

The political conflict in the Congo perpetuates and increases levels of poverty and inequality making a bad situation worse. Industries are closed down rendering many youths unemployed, and consequently they do not earn an income and without income they cannot save nor invest. This implies that the conflict slows down or even halts economic growth – development in the affected area. So far as there is poverty, unemployment, and inequality there is no development. Wade (2004) talks about inequality at the global level which aptly reflects the situation at the local level such as the DRC. They have been the victims of kidnapping, extortion, rape and many have lost their lives. In addition to this, the majority of these have suffered “loss of sustenance”, which basically means losing a means to “survive”. Thus, in this way, hunger has also been used as a war strategy.

Displacement One of the consequences of wars and conflict on the entire globe is the emergence of large numbers of displaced persons who before or later become refugee in different nations across the continent (Uwechue, 1996:16). Many Congolese have been forced to flee from their homes and are displaced. million Congolese are internally displaced, and over 537. people have fled the country as refugees 44. Although the numbers are high, recent studies have revealed that, more than 20 years of internal displacement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) show that high levels of vulnerability have remained unaddressed in significant parts of the population. However, though there are political instabilities in the whole DRC in general, some of the places which have been most affected are places such as the Kasai region, the Tanganyika and the Kivu regions.

Today the refugee topic has become a big problem for the world. And unless dramatic events occurred in the eastern DRC, it was anticipated that some 60. new DRC refugees were to flee to Uganda in 201745. Although, the majority of the Congolese refugees from the DRC live in camp-based setting, however, the Ugandan government has given them permission of moving freely all around the country. For instance, the number of refugees in Kampala has increased in fivefold from 2007 to 2013 at which time the number of refugees of Congo origin were only 48,000. Thus, the escalation of the conflict in the DRC, mostly in Eastern DRC, has resulted in the continuous growth of the number of Congolese refugees living in Uganda. Both respondents “S” and “X” experiences as voiced here led them to be displaced, and today, have landed them in Nakivale refugee Camp.

As the conflict affects many areas in the DRC, the risk of displacement continues. Thus, it is evident that the political situation in the country has led to this long term refugee problem, forced migration, and also helped the continuation of a poor infrastructure in the country. As Autesserre (2010) asserts, the infrastructure in the DRC seems extremely damaged. Consequently, present- day internal wars typically take a heavier toll on civilians than inter- state wars (Autesserre, 2010:205). His throat was slashed with a machete in the same way we kill animals. The picture of him dying in front of me will never be erased from my memory. Respondent “A”). According to a female informant that I spoke to in relation to psychological impact caused by the violence, she told me, even though she has fled and got away from the atrocities being committed in the name of politics in Congo, her life will never be the same, stating that she got traumatized passing through what she went through.

She says: I was seven months pregnant when I and my family were attacked by an armed group. Respondent “B”). Violence (sexual violence-rape as weapon of war) Some people have named the DRC the rape capital of the world. Sexual violence have been used as a weapon of war. In addition, using rape has also led to sexual slavery of women. In a similar vein, it have been asserted that rape has been used to force the local communities to leave their lands for the exploitation of mineral resources. Many of my female informants (majority of whom have had been raped) told me that they keep quiet and do not tell it to anyone if they are raped. One informant tells me: “Although rape is widely practiced in Congo, it is somehow a “taboo” topic in the Congolese society.

Being raped leads to social marginalization, you lose your value as a women and a human being. You become less important than others. Husbands divorce their wives because of rape. Congo, the conflicts have been associated with an increase in health infection disease, such as the HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and Malaria. Roberts and Muganga (2018), point out “the war in DRC showed that documenting the effects of wars by counting only violent causalities underestimates the consequences of war in setting of high disease transmission (Robert and Muganga, 2008:285). Conclusion The objective of this Master`s thesis has been to look into the political conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), from the perspective of Congolese refugees living in Uganda. The main question, to which this thesis has been aiming to answer, is how the Congolese themselves understand the political situation in the country.

The current political situation in the country can be described by several factors which will be described below. Therefore this is seen as a crucial contribution to the situation of present- day political situation in the country. Secondly, we have the ethnic tensions and their consequences after generations with tensions. According to many of my informants, ethnicity is something that have been used in the Congo for decades in order to divide power and put people and communities against each other, so opposition will be prevented from rising. Hence, In the Congo, it seems that ethnicity has become a political point that serves as a base for social and political organizations (Thomson, 2010. Throughout the years, ethnicity has had huge importance and continues to grow on a daily basis. This factor has led to lack of economic opportunities and have been one of the major reasons for easy recruitment in joining armed groups (Autesserre, 2010: 131).

In the East part of the country where the means to survive and source of income is land, land is another important factor that should not be overlooked. From this perspective, land is the peoples way of life and a form of social security. Consequentially, since land is has a major importance, this has been the base of many grassroot issues which has caused insecurity about one`s future. Because of land issues, tensions have mounted in the eastern part for the past couple of years. The analysis of this theory reveals the complexity of the conflict but helped in the understanding how groups of alliances as well as ethnic enmity lead to occurrence of conflicts and possible containment methods. Conflict resolution in Congo’s present and future peace attainment is of great importance.

The promotion of political stability in the region can only be achieved if the conflicting parties agree to resolve their differences for purposes of promoting development. It is imperative to note that, the fight against poverty eradication, corruption, ethnic tension and socio-economic programmes are ineffective if a proper conflict resolution strategy is implemented. Therefore, conflict resolution should take course of ending the political violence in Congo. E. Jureidini, P. McLaurin, R. Protracted social conflict; Theory and practice in the Middle East. Journal of Palestine Studies, 8(1), 41-60. African Studies Quarterly, 1(3), 39- Council on Foreign Relations. Violence in the Republic of Congo. Retrieved from: https://www. cfr. org/interactives/global-conflict-tracker#!/conflict/violence-in-the- democratic-republic-of-congo. Maher, J. C. Introducing Chomsky. London: Icon.