Cardinal accuses Congolese politicians of subjecting people to ‘slavery’

‘Politicians, when they come to us, talk about less important things. Faced with the misery of the population, the solution they offer us is to change the Constitution. And we applaud them. This is a new form of slavery.’

The Archbishop of Kinshasa Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu accused the political classes of the Democratic Republic of Congo of manipulating the population. 

He said politicians us the distress of the Congolese people as a bait to enhance their personal interests, arguing that it is the Church that acts as a moral compass for the nation. 

“If there is someone who loves this country, the DRC, it is us, your father bishops,” Cardinal Ambongo said during a visit to the Diocese of Bokungu-Ikela on 5 July. “It is not the politicians who use your name to foster their personal interests.” 

“The country is in danger. If we do not pay attention, our country risks disappearing. The country is in peril,” he continued, claiming politicians were discussing legal technicalities while citizens suffer from excruciating poverty. 

Debate on changes to the Constitution have dominated the political agenda as President Felix Tshisekedi manoeuvres to remove constitutional term limits so he can run for a third term. Cardinal Ambongo said such reform was completely disconnected from the daily reality of the Congolese people. 

“Politicians, when they come to us, talk about less important things. Faced with the misery of the population, the solution they offer us is to change the Constitution. And we applaud them. This is a new form of slavery,” Cardinal Ambongo said.

Meanwhile, another Congolese bishop said that youth should lead peace efforts in eastern DR Congo, where a decades-long civil conflict is driven by militias that recruit child soldiers.

Bishop Willy Ngumbi Ngengele of Goma, which has been badly affected by the violence in recent years, said young people should be at the centre of peace efforts.

“We are in a region that is marked by questions of insecurity, wars, and wars that have a relationship with tribalism,” he told reporters on 8 July.

“In this context, it is important that the youth come out of themselves and get used to talking to each other, meeting each other, working together, praying together, singing together, playing together.”

Militias target and recruit young people, with humanitarian agencies reporting that thousands of youths have lost their lives in the endless war.

“This war is here, and the youth are marked. This has a negative impact on the lives of the youth today. The youth must think together about how to be artisans of peace in this context,” Bishop Ngengele said.

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