“Many of the problems the country faces remain without adequate solutions, due to the crisis that is undermining the coalition. It is unacceptable that the country is held hostage by an agreement which, moreover, is kept secret”, say the Catholic Bishops.
“A year after the presidential election, several crises have arisen that cause concern for the long-awaited social change”, write the Bishops of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in their message entitled “Coalition for what end?” in which they take stock of the situation one year after the victory of President Félix Tshisekedi who, in order to be able to govern, formed a coalition with former President Kabila.
The Bishops underline “the worrying tension within the ruling coalition, which has repercussions on the governance and undermines the functioning of the state apparatus. The allies seem more concerned with their political positioning than with the service that must be rendered to the people. Many of the problems the country faces remain without adequate solutions, due to the crisis that is undermining the coalition. It is unacceptable that the country is held hostage by an agreement which, moreover, is kept secret.”
While this is happening “there is an unjustified and scandalous enrichment of a group of political actors at the expense of the population. Corruption and misappropriation continue. To make matters worse, these crimes are committed by the same people who are called to be guarantors of the common good,” denounces the message.
Added to this are concerns about insecurity in different areas of the DRC: “We remain concerned about the persistent insecurity in the eastern part of the Country, sown by local and foreign armed groups, particularly in the provinces of Ituri, northern Kivu and southern Kivu. There have never been so many victims in this part of the country in less than a year, like today. Insecurity is also spreading in other forms in the big cities of the country, which gives the impression that people are abandoned to themselves”.
“We believe in our country’s ability to recover. The important thing is to put goodwill into it and commit yourself. We need a patriotic momentum. No one else can better rebuild the country without the participation of the Congolese in the first place,” urge the Bishops. “The Democratic Republic of the Congo is not condemned to remain in conditions of poverty, bad governance, corruption, violence and many other evils.”