07-23-2017, 10:23 PM
*** 24-Jul-17 World View -- DR Congo's Joseph Kabila brings the art of power and corruption to new heights
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** DR Congo's Joseph Kabila brings the art of power and corruption to new heights
****
![[Image: g170723b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170723b.jpg)
Joseph Kabila, billionaire president of Democratic Republic of Congo
The norm in country after country in Africa is that country leaders
refuse to step down when their mandates end. They demand money from
Western nations for to end poverty or help with climate change or
whatever, and then they put the money they receive into their own
foreign bank accounts, or they use it to build mansions for
themselves, or they use it buy weapons to kill their opposition.
That's why, in 30-40 years of massive aid payments to African
countries, most people are no better off than they were decades ago.
Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), appears to have brought this combination of raw exercise of
power and raw corruption to new heights. A new analysis by the Congo
Research Group at New York University and the Pulitzer Center shows
that by channeling public money to himself and his family, he's made
the Kabila family into billionaires
Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
and his family own, either partially or wholly, more than 80 companies
and businesses in the country and abroad. He and his children own
more than 71,000 hectares (175,444) of farmland. His family owns
diamond mines, a part of the country's largest mobile phone network,
companies that mine mineral deposits, gold and limestone, a luxury
hotel, stakes in an airline, a share of the country's banks, and a
fast-food franchise.
With tentacles reaching into so many businesses, it's not surprising
that Kabila is willing to use any method -- massacres, atrocities,
jailings, torture -- to stay in power. His mandate ran out on
December 19 of last year, at which time he was supposed to step down.
Instead, he pulled a breathtaking stunt late last year by doing
everything possible to prevent new elections from taking place, and
then claimed that he couldn't step down because there hadn't been any
elections to select a president to replace him.
In December there was a threat of civil war in DRC, but the Catholic
Church intervened and brokered an agreement: Elections would be held
in December of 2017 to choose Kabila's successor, and this time Kabila
would really step down. However, the agreement was a farce: It was
signed by members of Kabila's government, but it wasn't even signed by
Kabila himself. Since then, it's been pretty clear that Kabila has no
intention of stepping down.
Poverty and Kabila's massive corruption are being blamed for the
increase in violence in DRC, especially in the central province of
Kasai, where than 3,000 people have been killed and 1.4 million
displaced in escalating violence blamed on a government-sponsored
militia. The UN has identified more than 80 mass graves and said it
had found toddlers with limbs chopped off and pregnant women with
their bellies sliced open, their unborn babies mutilated.
Unfortunately, this is the norm in many countries in Africa, and the
reason why many international agencies and businesses are no longer
willing to invest in Africa, as the money just goes to waste.
Furthermore, many people are concerned that Kabila's refusal to step
down is resulting in violence that is destabilizing the whole region.
NY University and Guardian (London) and Bloomberg
****
**** Global Witness report finds most DRC mining revenue is wasted in corruption
****
![[Image: g170723c.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170723c.jpg)
Mining operation in DRC
A different report, this time by Global Witness, has found that more
than $750 million in mining revenue that was supposed to go into DRC's
national treasury has instead gone into the pockets of corrupt
government officials. Canadian mining companies, such as
Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. and Toronto-based Banro Corp., have
been some of the biggest foreign investors in DRC mines, and have
given millions of dollars in payments to official agencies and state
enterprises in the country. They are now learning that the money was
siphoned off by politically connected insiders, with some of the funds
distributed among corrupt networks linked to President Joseph Kabila’s
regime.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa's biggest producer of
copper and the world's largest supplier of cobalt used in batteries
for electric cars. It is also rich in gold, diamonds and coltan, used
in mobile phones, but its people remain among the poorest in the
world.
A key culprit in this diversion of funds is the main state-owned
mining company, Gécamines, a close ally of President Joseph Kabila. It
receives more than a hundred million dollars annually from private
companies in Congo’s mining sector, but appears to pass on just a tiny
percentage of that to the state coffers. Gécamines’ most important and
lucrative business relationships are with major international mining
companies, which often have Western investors and pensions tied up in
their profits and risks.
The Global Witness report, "The Regime Cash Machine," blames a toxic
combination of corruption and mismanagement in DRC's revenues agencies
and state mining companies. Instead of going to the regime, the money
should have gone to basic services such as schools, hospitals and
roads. Global Witness and Globe and Mail (Canada) and Bloomberg
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC,
Joseph Kabila, Kasai, Global Witness,
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., Banro Corp., Gécamines
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- DR Congo's Joseph Kabila brings the art of power and corruption to new heights
- Global Witness report finds most DRC mining revenue is wasted in corruption
****
**** DR Congo's Joseph Kabila brings the art of power and corruption to new heights
****
Joseph Kabila, billionaire president of Democratic Republic of Congo
The norm in country after country in Africa is that country leaders
refuse to step down when their mandates end. They demand money from
Western nations for to end poverty or help with climate change or
whatever, and then they put the money they receive into their own
foreign bank accounts, or they use it to build mansions for
themselves, or they use it buy weapons to kill their opposition.
That's why, in 30-40 years of massive aid payments to African
countries, most people are no better off than they were decades ago.
Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), appears to have brought this combination of raw exercise of
power and raw corruption to new heights. A new analysis by the Congo
Research Group at New York University and the Pulitzer Center shows
that by channeling public money to himself and his family, he's made
the Kabila family into billionaires
Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
and his family own, either partially or wholly, more than 80 companies
and businesses in the country and abroad. He and his children own
more than 71,000 hectares (175,444) of farmland. His family owns
diamond mines, a part of the country's largest mobile phone network,
companies that mine mineral deposits, gold and limestone, a luxury
hotel, stakes in an airline, a share of the country's banks, and a
fast-food franchise.
With tentacles reaching into so many businesses, it's not surprising
that Kabila is willing to use any method -- massacres, atrocities,
jailings, torture -- to stay in power. His mandate ran out on
December 19 of last year, at which time he was supposed to step down.
Instead, he pulled a breathtaking stunt late last year by doing
everything possible to prevent new elections from taking place, and
then claimed that he couldn't step down because there hadn't been any
elections to select a president to replace him.
In December there was a threat of civil war in DRC, but the Catholic
Church intervened and brokered an agreement: Elections would be held
in December of 2017 to choose Kabila's successor, and this time Kabila
would really step down. However, the agreement was a farce: It was
signed by members of Kabila's government, but it wasn't even signed by
Kabila himself. Since then, it's been pretty clear that Kabila has no
intention of stepping down.
Poverty and Kabila's massive corruption are being blamed for the
increase in violence in DRC, especially in the central province of
Kasai, where than 3,000 people have been killed and 1.4 million
displaced in escalating violence blamed on a government-sponsored
militia. The UN has identified more than 80 mass graves and said it
had found toddlers with limbs chopped off and pregnant women with
their bellies sliced open, their unborn babies mutilated.
Unfortunately, this is the norm in many countries in Africa, and the
reason why many international agencies and businesses are no longer
willing to invest in Africa, as the money just goes to waste.
Furthermore, many people are concerned that Kabila's refusal to step
down is resulting in violence that is destabilizing the whole region.
NY University and Guardian (London) and Bloomberg
****
**** Global Witness report finds most DRC mining revenue is wasted in corruption
****
Mining operation in DRC
A different report, this time by Global Witness, has found that more
than $750 million in mining revenue that was supposed to go into DRC's
national treasury has instead gone into the pockets of corrupt
government officials. Canadian mining companies, such as
Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. and Toronto-based Banro Corp., have
been some of the biggest foreign investors in DRC mines, and have
given millions of dollars in payments to official agencies and state
enterprises in the country. They are now learning that the money was
siphoned off by politically connected insiders, with some of the funds
distributed among corrupt networks linked to President Joseph Kabila’s
regime.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is Africa's biggest producer of
copper and the world's largest supplier of cobalt used in batteries
for electric cars. It is also rich in gold, diamonds and coltan, used
in mobile phones, but its people remain among the poorest in the
world.
A key culprit in this diversion of funds is the main state-owned
mining company, Gécamines, a close ally of President Joseph Kabila. It
receives more than a hundred million dollars annually from private
companies in Congo’s mining sector, but appears to pass on just a tiny
percentage of that to the state coffers. Gécamines’ most important and
lucrative business relationships are with major international mining
companies, which often have Western investors and pensions tied up in
their profits and risks.
The Global Witness report, "The Regime Cash Machine," blames a toxic
combination of corruption and mismanagement in DRC's revenues agencies
and state mining companies. Instead of going to the regime, the money
should have gone to basic services such as schools, hospitals and
roads. Global Witness and Globe and Mail (Canada) and Bloomberg
Related Articles
- Massive government atrocities in DR Congo's Kasai threaten regional stability (21-Jun-2017)
- Congo's president Joseph Kabila refuses to step down after losing election (07-Jan-2017)
- United Nations celebrates M23 rebel militia defeat in Congo (01-Nov-2013)
- African nations furious over possible collapse of climate change agreement (17-Nov-2016)
- Copper's crashing prices cause devastating economic ripples around the world (30-Sep-2015)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC,
Joseph Kabila, Kasai, Global Witness,
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., Banro Corp., Gécamines
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
