I dream of the day when African integration reaches its highest point. When AU officials can drive with ease to annual meetings in Addis Ababa, from Kisangani to Juba, and onwards to the Ethiopian capital without extended layovers.
With the ongoing wars and famine in Eastern Congo (DRC) the country is in no hurry to industrialize, in order to take advantage of the bountiful resources supplied by nature. Currently there is not much of a government pursuing peace so that electrification and infrastructure development can eliminate chronic poverty.
The DRC has gold, diamonds, hydro-electric and petroleum waiting to be mined and exported near and far to benefit the Country in their quest for middle income and financial independence.
But its the same old story as corrupt leaders defy the constitution by using ‘hook and crook’ methods to remain in power, as shown by President Joseph Kabila refusal to step aside due to term limits.
He remains in charge because he has the strongest militia of them all, the Army. Yes, the military in DRC is a militia accounting for much of the killings, along with Muslim, Hutu and Tutsi militias, all craving for natural resources blanketing Eastern Congo.
You would think that all of the warring groups would put down the guns and build schools, improve road, waterway and railway infrastructures that is badly needed in the DRC.
Not gonna happen anytime soon.
Maybe by 2050 one can drive from Kisangani through Uganda onward to Juba, and finally reaching Addis Ababa without getting killed, not by a car accident, but by militias at war with themselves.
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