‘The Lost Forgotten W@r of Congo’
…does Zambia face any direct thr£at?
Amb. Anthony Mukwita
21 Mar 25.
Many of you have recently come into my mailbox and personally asked that I pen something on the raging w@r in neighbouring Congo on our northern border.
The reason you said, as far as the Congo confl|ct 2.0 goes, its nearer to us than Ukraine, Russia, Gaza and Israel would ever be—it’s about proximity and relevance.
It also fits neatly in our geopolitical scheme of things so today is you lucky day because I actually agree with you.
Instability in Congo has the ability to spill over, much faster in Zambia than what happens in Ukraine and Palestine.
IS A CONGO WAR STORY RELEVANT TO ZAMBIA?
Here are some FAQs you wanna bite on quickly:
• Zambia shares a more than 2300km border line with Congo on the northern border line with Kasumbalesa all the way to Solwezi and Kolwezi. You can drive to Johannesburg and back to Lusaka on that distance
• A huge part of Congo juts right into the gut of Zambia on the pedicle road where’s free movement of goods between our two countries
• Congo is Zambia’s largest export partner with trade volumes or gains for Zambia of up to $2 billion according to official statistics. SA and China are our largest trading partners.
• Congolese bring in their cash dollars in exchange for our mealie meal, goats, chickens, and eggs and protective clothing for their thriving mining industry and hungry stomachs
• About 1000 thirty ton trucks trek onto Zambian roads laden with goods entering Congo from ports in Namibia, South Africa, and Tanzania daily paying up to $100 per day.
I could go on for a moment but then I can only pen about 1k words for some of you that can’t read beyond a paragraph because of either a short attention span or lack of reading interest
REPERCUSSIONS OF ESCALATION OF HOSTILITIES EAST CONGO ON ZAMBIA
It’s easy to conclude therefore that the conflict between the Congo government forces of Felix Tshisekedi and M23 reb£ls, the UN says are backed by Rwanda’s Paul Kagame escalate, Zambia suffers a huge and immediate ‘security and economic blow’.
Few goods or less trucks could start entering DRC via Kasumbalesa while hundreds of refugees and other internally displaced Congolese could flow into Zambia, along them, ‘bad elements’ with gůns and a vi0lent screak ready to unlease hell on Zambia.
HOW MANY MORE MUST DIE?
Bear in mind that since hostilities escalated in January, almost 10,000 Congolese have di£d needlessly.
Among them are 15 peace-keepers from South Africa, a development that incensed President Cyril Ramaphosa and led to sabre rattling between Ramaphosa and Kagame.
My point is trouble in Congo’s latest w@r pauses a direct ‘economic and security thr£at’ for Zambia.
It is important for Zambia to work double shift in ensuring that the w@r doesn’t cross the border with its attendant baggage in our country.
The w@r has already sucked Rwanda believed to fund the 4000 forces of M23, Uganda and Burundi, it’s a disaster waiting to cross the border.
For starters work as closely as possible with SADC to avoid a spill over, but also establish our own arm to ensure the w@r doesn’t come to our door step.
PEACE DAWNS BETWEEN CONGO AND RWANDA?
I love peace more than confl|ct and love above hate, hence the reason I was elated on Tuesday to learn that, under the Emir of Qatar, Congo and Rwanda agreed to an unconditional ceasefire.
I pray the immediate ceasefire in eastern DRC ends and the gůns go silent, peace returns to Congo that has suffered the brunt of bl00d since 1993. I resent bloodshed.
On record, there’s a been a total of four w@rs in Congo in recent history namely, the Congo Civil W@r (1993–1994), Congo Civil W@r (1997–1999) Pool Department confl|ct (2002-2003) Pool W@r (2016-2017).
About six million innocent Congolese have perish£d as a consequence sadly, millions displaced and fled the w@r-torn nation as refugees.
WHAT ABOUT THE MINERAL WEALTH OF CONGO?
At the centre of the long forgotten w@r on Congo, the bull£ts and the gůns is the vast mineral resource deposit in Congo being looted by mostly companies and recently, Rwanda.
HOWS RWANDA CAPABLE OF EARNING ALMOST $2bln FROM MINERAL EXPORTS?
Without mines to write home about, Rwanda has according to official international watchdogs earned up to $2 billion in mineral exports just recently, how?
The most common minerals found in Congo that gas light the confl|cts are copper, cobalt, diamonds, gold, tin, tantalum, and lithium.
Cobalt and copper being key for global manufacturing and the energy transition to EVs needed by Beijing and Uncle Sam.
My conclusion is Zambia must ramp up security and enhance the economy to earn more money from our neighbour on the northern border given our strategic border sharing.
WHY NOT A MAIZE AND CHICKEN PROJECT FOR CONGO?
For instance if I were an advisor of our President, I would have said apart from the about 3 million tons of corn/grain we grow annually for Zambia, grow ten million ton of maize for Congo.
Congo will buy everything and we can stop kicking the can down the road for a million dollars in debt and grant packages from western donors. Make love not w@r.
If this subject interests you, join me with other panellists such as Dr Lubinda Haabazoka as we discuss this during a public lecture organised by Eden University at the KK International Wing of the Mulungushi International Conference Centre this Sunday afternoon don’t miss it.
And next week Saturday, join me as I sign some of my books at Bookworld East Park store, grab yourself a signed copy two.
Also not that the Emerald Park NHEF stand off for many of you that wrote me is NOT over.
I will update you more this week as more experiences pour in, please keep ‘em coming until we find justice.
Amb. Anthony Mukwita is a published author and international relations analyst. His books are available in Bookworld, Grey Matter and Amazon.
Source: The Daily Nation-Mukwita on Point