President of Congo, he fought elections in October, 2006, the first one held in Congo ever since the creation of the country in June, 1962.
The United Nations spent $5 million on the occasion, more than any other in the organisation’s history, maintaining that the Congo is crucial for establishing peace in whole of Central Africa.
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Kabila’s father was assassinated and the mantle of running the country fell on his young shoulders. Kabila was opposed by Jean-Pierre Bemba, a businessman and rebel leader accused of war crimes. Bemba’s supporters tried to paint Kabila, 35, as a pawn of the West and as a non-Congolese because he grew up in Tanzania and speaks Swahili, the language of East Africa.
His father Laurent Kakjila was himself a captain of a rebel movement that in 1997 overthrew the notorious Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, who had plundered the country shamelessly for 30 years. Over 4 million people have died in Congo and the situation remains grim. Joseph won the elections in Dec. 06, but Bemba remains relentless in his resolution to grab power.
Image Source: igf.gouv.cd
Congo continues to bleed. According to some estimates over three million people have died during the civil war of the past few decades. Congo’s only fault has been its inexhaustible deposits of mineral wealth. The People’s Republic of China is cozying up to Kabila because it needs the energy resources of the African continent.
In late 2009 both Joseph Kabila and Kagame, President of Rwanda, decided to take on the notorious rebel leader N. Kunda. Over 17,000 UN troops have been deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo to bring order and sanity in the war-torn country. At times the UN troops have also been accused of helping the rebels for selling their arms in return for a few precious diamonds.
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Violence and civil war continue unabated in Congo and according to a conservative estimate, millions have died during these conflicts. What a pity a country bestowed with so much of natural wealth and beauty is suffering on account of the greed and avarice of locals and the foreigners. The U.N. has sent one of its largest contingents for peacekeeping operations in Congo.