Africa is at a crossroad

Africa is at a cross-road. Western capitalist democracy has failed and many African nations remain brutal dictatorships under the control of a capitalist minority. The political parties fighting for liberal democracy have alienated themselves from the working class, by supporting capitalist politics promoting the idea of deregulation and privatisation as the ultimate good. Most working class Africans feel no connected to their politicians who they rightfully see as elitist. Another force for elitism are the militaries of Africa. Armies under capitalism serve the role of protecting the ruling class and their laws. Often armies are paid better salaries and are given privileges for their loyalty to the state and the system.

It is not up to western people to tell Africans what to do. We will not say that white people will tell black people how to build socialism. This task can only be done by the working class themselves. By organisations of revolutionary workers. Africa lacks these organisations as a new generation of young workers only knows poverty and massive inequality. The lack of a socialist alternative plays right into this as all established political parties support capitalism. Liberal, conservative and social democratic parties, all have sided with the system of exploitation and poverty. The old national liberation parties too have joined the capitalist camp, betraying their socialist origins.

In Burkina Faso and Niger, military coups have overthrown democratic elected governments. Western governments blame Russia for this, but the reality is that many of these democratic governments have carried out the dictates of world capitalism. Some Africans therefore have the illusion that Russia stands against western imperialism. This idea is strong among some African leftists who champion Russia and China (the eastern imperialists) as anti-imperialist. Reality however is that neither Russia nor China are socialist countries, worse they are imperialist and wish to compete with western imperialism for control and influence.

French imperialism has a lot of economic power in their former colonies. The West African CFA Franc is the currency of eight countries, who are forced to store half of their foreign exchange reserves in the French treasury. In 2019 it was reported that the West African Franc was to be reformed, reducing the power of France. However as of 2023 this has not happened as France is not so helpful in reducing their economic control over these eight countries. Western imperialism knows that it can control Africa by economic means, this is why it supports many dictators and their abusive regimes.

Bourgeois democracy has failed, the liberal democratic model has not brought freedom for working class people. Many revolts and strikes were hijacked by capitalist politicians who then reduced many demands to an election with universal suffrage by secret ballot. New governments then kept this the same with support from western countries, keeping poverty and injustice and creating massive disillusion in politics among working people. Because that is what capitalism wants, people who ignore politics and say that fighting for change is useless. In the western world this is also a problem as capitalism has created this idea that fighting it is impossible.

In Niger, the military overthrew the pro-western government. Africa nations are ready to intervene to protect western interests. Revolutionary socialists clearly oppose the coups in any African country. But we give no political support to military interventions. We know that the real power behind the ECOWAS is western imperialism. ECOWAS has not called for intervention in Burkina Faso and many other African dictatorships. Why then in Niger? Mainly because western imperialism fears it may fall to Russian imperialist influence!

Military dictatorships do not have the program nor the intention of changing society, for the benefit of working class people. Militaries are a pillar of any capitalist dictatorship, so they will remain that pillar in order to keep their privileges and wealth. We therefore give no support to any military coup in Africa, despite that some people might have illusions in them due to their anti-western rhetoric. Many pro-Russian and pro-Chinese Africans have a misguided believe that these countries are the lesser of two evils.

In this period of instability in Africa, revolutionary socialists call for the building of new embryos of struggle. New organisations with a clear analysis of the limits of capitalism, the role of imperialism, the failure of bourgeois institutions, the failure of the investments in war made by the military regimes in Mali and Burkina Faso. We advocates the nationalization of the key sectors (such as the uranium mines) under democratic control of the workers and population, in order to use their potential to meet social needs. This is why we call for massive investments in developing infrastructure and public services.

The ’’democratic’’ rhetoric of western countries in typical. They claim that they stand for democracy and human rights, but in reality the western world support 70% of all dictatorships. Most oppressive African dictatorships are supported by western imperialism. All the money supplied to these dictatorships have failed to change these societies, because the ruling classes use western financial support to enrich themselves. This is why we call for the formations of new organisations that can organise the resistance and opposition, to the capitalist dictatorships in Africa.

Few western workers have a clear understanding of Africa. Many think that western involvement ended after most African countries got independent from European powers. The reality is that most Africa countries like Mali and Burkina Faso are still linked to their old colonizer. France keeps a lot of economic control over the Economic Community of West African States. Western imperialism was involved in the killing of Patrice Lumumba in Zaire/Congo and worked to overthrow and murder Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso.

Africa is at a crossroad. The western liberal democratic model has failed. We need a socialist alternative for Africa that can be an inspiration for millions. Socialism is the only alternative as capitalism has proven to work for a very small minority. Corruption and dictatorial regimes are in a majority in Africa and western imperialism wanted it that way. Now there is a new Cold War between the capitalist west (mainly the USA and the EU) and the capitalist east (mainly Russia and China). Eastern imperialism however is new and can still mask its own imperialist ambitions under cloaks of equal cooperation and goodwill.

What are our perspectives for Africa?

1: We need new organisations of the working class
2: These new organisations must be anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist
3: Opposition to capitalist organisations like the Economic Community of West African States
4: Democratic control of the workers and population in order to use their potential to meet social needs
5: Massive investments in developing infrastructure and public services
6: Substantial aid to small farmers for climate adaptation
7: For a socialist Africa, free from capitalist dictatorships and undemocratic regimes

Africa, new colonialism in progress

Africa will become a new battlefield of colonialism in the next years. Both western and eastern imperialism try to control the resources of this wealthy continent. Western imperialism has a long history of looting, stealing and murdering Africans for the greed of their capitalist class. Africa used to be under control of European imperialists from 1884 until 1960. The biggest players before 1914 were Great Britain, Germany, France and Belgium. In the last 10 years however, a new player is entering the imperialist arena; China with their Belt and Road Initiative.

In 1884, Europe decided to invade and occupy most African countries. Great Britain, Germany and France controlled most of Africa by 1914. Belgium had been in control of Congo since 1885, this huge African nation was the private property of King Leopold 2. Like all western imperialists, Leopold believed that the white Europeans were superior to black workers and that he would made ”Congo Great”. In reality, white Belgians were guilty of systematic brutality, including forced labour, torture, murder, kidnapping and the amputation of the hands of men, women and children. King Leopold 2 is rightfully called the Butcher of Congo, but he was not alone!

Western monarchs all believed they were chosen by the Christian god to rule over the ”inferior” blacks of Africa. This racist mentality was enforced to legitimize colonialism and the enslavement of Africans. After slavery was abolished in the western world around 1865, colonialism was introduced to legitimize the occupation of Africa in the name of ”western enlightenment”. Instead of enslaving black workers to western countries, imperialist armies simply took control over Africa and drew borders to divide the continent between the white imperialists.

After the second world war, western imperialism lost its grip on Africa as national liberation movements stood up to colonialism. Despite some socialist rhetoric, most African countries became brutal dictatorships under these pseudo-liberation parties. The hypocrites of western imperialism allied themselves with any anti-communist African dictator they could find. Jomo Kenyatta of Kenia was a right-wing leader and was by the west supported for his capitalist politics. Other pro-capitalist dictators included Mobutu Sese Seko, who stole billions from the Congolese working class.

African leaders also embraced Stalinism or ”African socialism” as they called it. This African-socialism was a mixture of top down centralism with nationalist elements. Like Stalinism, African socialism failed because it stood for the build up of socialism in one country. Also African-socialism was a top down model, build on a single party state and a privileged caste of bureaucrats around the leading party. As of 2023, many former African-socialist and Stalinist parties still rule in Africa. However they have all abandoned their socialist rhetoric in the favour of capitalist barbarism. They are all corrupt, nepotistic and hostile to the working class.

The Belt and Road Initiative of the People’s Republic of China is welcomed by many African nations. They hope to use Chinese money to build up their infrastructures. However the PRC is not about giving money away, the Belt and Road Initiative is a loan and many African countries are now in massive debt, to the Chinese regime. Chinese capitalists have moved in on Africa and they are not less greedy or cruel compared to western capitalists, who have exploited the continent for 150 years now. African workers say that working under the Chinese is often more harsh as wages are very low and work conditions terrible.

Western imperialism does not like the Belt and Road Initiative. American and European propaganda call out the fact that China wishes to control the resources of Africa, but they fail to mentions that western countries are doing the same thing. Africa is a economic battlefield between the two imperialist blocs and working class people should not take any side. The eastern imperialist bloc is just as capitalistic and cruel as the west is. We see this in Namibia were only 6% of the populations owns 70% of all the wealth. This is because the ruling South West Africa People’s Organisation betrayed its socialist roots 30 years ago for capitalism.

The massive inequality is exploited by the imperialist blocs. Western imperialism and eastern imperialism do not care about the suffering of working class people. The only thing they care about is winning support from the local capitalist classes in order to defeat the other bloc. China is spending billions, despite losing massively as most African countries cannot repay their massive debts to the PRC. It remains to be seen if the Belt and Road Initiative is a success as China has come to the realisation that many African countries cannot repay their debts. It is possible Beijing will use the huge debt to force African governments to side with China against the west.

We know that all African countries are capitalist and none are socialist. Most are led by the same political parties for decades and who’s nepotism and corruption is exploited by the imperialist blocs. The Party of the Revolution (Tanzania) is a good example of this betrayal. It used to be an African-socialist party that promoted a system of collectivized agriculture known as Ujamaa. Because Tanzania was not a free democratic society, most workers never felt any connection to the bureaucratic regime that enforced the idea of Ujamaa. Therefore it failed to bring about economic growth and by 1990, Ujamaa was abandoned as the Party of the Revolution embraced capitalism and neoliberalism.

In Angola and Mozambique, the ex-Stalinist political parties still rule supreme. Their history books have been rewritten to remove all references to the period when Marxism-Leninism (Stalinism) was the dominating ideology. Both the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola and the Liberation Front of Mozambique renounced revolutionary socialism in silence and today embrace a vague concept of social-democracy. In reality both Mozambique and Angola have embraced capitalism, although the new capitalist class is linked the former Stalinist parties. China has included both former people’s republics in their Belt and Road Initiative.

Angola loaned around 24 billion U.S dollars while over 100 Chinese companies now work in Mozambique. Around 8 billion U.S dollars have been invested in the former Stalinist state by the CCP regime. It is clear that these loans are not charity. China will use Africa’s debt to control its governments into siding with them against western imperialism and its allies. While the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola and the Liberation Front of Mozambique claim to stand for working people, in reality they betrayed workers since the first Cold War ended.

What is to be done? Workers of Africa must not take a side in this new Cold War between western imperialism and eastern imperialism. China seems genuine because their money is used to build public buildings, but in reality all these new projects are funded by loans. Africa is already billions of dollars in debt to the CCP regime, which means that China will have a lot of political leverage. Human rights and labour groups have already exposed the massive abuses of workers rights by Chinese companies who operate in Africa. Like companies from Europe and America, the Chinese have a capitalist mentality. They do not care about African workers.

At the same time we say the western imperialism cannot be trusted. Behind their democratic façade, western countries have never cared about African workers and their struggle against poverty, abuse and injustice. What Africa needs is a united workers movement that can overthrow the corrupt ex-Stalinist forces, who are now in close collaboration with the CCP regime. Socialism is the only alternative out of the poverty circle create by capitalism. Revolutionary socialists will have to fight for independent class struggle and a Union of African Socialist Republics. By this we do not mean the centralized, bureaucratic and undemocratic methods of old African-socialism.

We say:

• No trust in the former Stalinist/African-socialist parties
• No trust in western imperialism and their democratic façade
• No trust in eastern imperialism and their Belt and Road Initiative
• Workers need to build political forces of their own to fight for a socialist alternative
• Nationalization of the biggest companies that control African countries
• Expropriation of all those who grew rich, thanks to corruption and nepotism
• Nationalization of the financial sector under democratic control
• For a united socialist Africa

Coups cannot bring genuine change in Burkina Faso

On 30 September military leader Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba was overthrown by a faction of the Burkina Faso army. Since 31 January, the army controls this West-African country. Damiba was praised by some because he claimed that he would stand up against Islamic terrorists. Reality is that over 40% of the country is not controlled by the capital: Ouagadougou. Terrorist groups have taken control of rural towns and murdered around 2000 people since 2015. As Damiba was unable to end the terror attacks, a faction of the military choose to overthrow him.

Burkina Faso has a history of coups against governments. The country was known as the Republic of Upper Volta until 1983, when Thomas Sankara took power in a coup and renamed the country. He was overthrown by his ally Blaise Compaoré, who was forced to flee after a popular uprising in 2014. The civilian government was overthrown in January 2022 and on 30 September, a military faction removed Damiba. Revolutionary socialists know that no military leader can solve the terrorist attacks nor the injustice of the capitalist system.

Ibrahim Traoré is no improvement over Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. He is a military man and part of the corrupt elite of Burkina Faso. The army of the country is a joke, only 6.000 men are armed and are called ”soldiers”. Like many West-African nations, the military is underfunded, weak and ineffective. The coups against civilian governments also proof that the army of Burkina Faso has no respect for democracy and is willing to remove governments if they see a reason for it.

Terrorist groups win support because of the deep inequality and instability in West-Africa. Burkina Faso has not changed for working class people since 2014, the country is still led by the same corrupt people who have their roots in the Blaise Compaoré dictatorship. Former military leader Damiba used to be a member of the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP), an elite force of soldiers who were given better salaries, houses and privileges as defenders of dictator Compaoré.

In 2015, RSP soldiers tried a coup of their own against the civilian government. This coup failed because the RSP was too small and there was massive rejection. The Regiment of Presidential Security was then dissolved, but its members are still part of the army. Traoré has now taken control over the ”Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration”, the political vehicle of the military junta. Political parties who oppose the regime are oppressed and silenced.

Workers of Burkina Faso will need to realize that the army and government never work in their favour. The country needs a revolutionary organisation that can overthrow the military apparatus. Only then can the terrorist groups be defeated, when the workers form a revolutionary army of the working class. The main problem is that the working class of Burkina Faso and West-Africa are kept backward, docile and uneducated. Capitalists and their politicians do not want them to develop a class consciousness.

The short revolutionary period of Thomas Sankara was a huge improvement, but it lacked working class control as Sankara was a authoritarian leader who favoured Muammar Gaddafi and Fidel Castro. His top-down centralism allowed Blaise Compaoré to kill the Che Guevara of Africa. Burkina Faso has since 1987 become a typical capitalist African country. Ruled by corruption, inequality and poverty. What happens in West-African nations is never hot news and the western world is kept in the dark about countries like Burkina Faso.

What is to be done in Burkina Faso? A class consciousness is essential and here lies the main problem. The working class of West-Africa has been told by western imperialism and their corrupt leaders to obey and not criticize. In 2014, the youth of Burkina Faso showed potential when they rebelled against Blaise Compaoré. But no political movement was created to overthrow the capitalist system. The regime that Compaoré build up has not been eliminated. This is why workers and youth will have to rise up again!

This time there can be no trust in established politicians. No trust in political parties who only act as vehicles for elitist politicians. We revolutionary socialists argue for the formation of a revolutionary party of the working class. A party build for workers by workers. Such a party could win over millions to the ideas of socialism, the democratic control of society by the millions. Capitalism has proven to be unable to bring about wealth for the majority.

In West-Africa, capitalism has only worked for corrupt politicians loyal to western capitalist companies. French imperialism retains a lot of economic power in West-Africa. We know this because of the West African CFA Franc. This currency is linked to the French State. One of the “rules” of the currency is that the central banks of all of the nations involved have to keep at least 50% of their foreign assets in the French Treasury. This shows us that countries like Burkina Faso will need to brake with the CFA in order to build up a socialist alternative to western imperialism.

Revolutionary socialists call on workers and youth of West-Africa to fight for a socialist alternative. Only a democratic planned economy can end the circle of poverty, injustice and misery that plagues Africa. Democratic planning from below is essential and that will require the expropriation and nationalization of the means of production. A revolutionary party however is needed first. This is the first task socialists have to build up in any country of the world, in order to fight capitalism!

Burkina Faso: No trust in military coup

The military of Burkina Faso has overthrown the democratic elected government of the country. The Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration is now in power, it abolished the parliament and the constitution of the Burkina Faso. Revolutionary socialists reject this attack as the military of any capitalist country is no alternative for working class people. President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré was a typical capitalist president who offered nothing, but military general Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba is a militarist and sure no friend of ordinary workers.

Burkina Faso is not hot news like Ukraine. It is no a country that gets much attention in the western media. Since Africa is often ignored by major imperialist powers, few western workers know of this country and its history. Burkina Faso was known as Upper Volta until 1983. Since its independence from France there have been 8 coups carried out by the military. The most famous coup is that of Thomas Sankara in 1983.

Sankara was a revolutionary leftist, who believed that the army was to be the revolutionary vanguard. He led a ”Marxist” faction of the army. This faction overthrew the capitalist government of Upper Volta and Sankara became the first President of Burkina Faso. He changed the name of the country and also turned against former colonialist ruler France. This was not well liked in Paris by the traitorous regime of François Mitterrand, who had abandoned socialism for neoliberalism in the 1980’s.

Burkina Faso wanted to become independent of foreign control and Thomas Sankara did succeed in preventing famine with agrarian self-sufficiency and land reform, prioritizing education with a nationwide literacy campaign and promoting public health by vaccinating more than 2 million children against meningitis, yellow fever and measles, which saved the lives of 18,000 to 50,000 children annually. However all this was done in a top-down authoritarian way, with no democratic input from the working class.

Sankara’s revolution was build on top-down rule and his Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, made sure that any criticism of the government was called ”counterrevolutionary”. This led to resistance and protests from working class people, who rejected many dogmatic aspects of the revolutionary government. Opposition parties and unions were also banned and media freedoms curtailed as striking teachers were fired and replaced by young people with no experience.

In the end, Thomas Sankara alienated his revolution from the very class he claimed to support. Western imperialism did not like the young president and his friendships with other anti-imperialist leaders like Muammar Gaddafi. Behind the scenes, the western world (mainly France) plotted with Blaise Compaoré to overthrow Thomas Sankara. Compaoré betrayed his friend and overthrew him on 15 October 1987.

Thomas Sankara together with 12 members of his cabinet were murdered when officers loyal to Blaise Compaoré attacked the presidential palace. After the murder, the traitor took power and destroyed all gains made under Sankara. Burkina Faso became a typical capitalist Africa country, ruled by a corrupt, nepotist and wealthy capitalist elite. The generation born after 1990 only knew inequality as the legacy of Thomas Sankara was buried by the new autocracy of Blaise Compaoré.

On 24 October 2014, the generation who lived under Compaoré rose up against him. The popular uprising led to the downfall of Blaise Compaoré, but it did not end the corruption, capitalist injustice and poverty. As of 2022, over 40% of the population lives in relative poverty. President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré who was elected in 2015 and 2020, changed nothing for the average working class. His government was weak and unable to stop Islamist attacks.

The military coup led by Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba is the result of deep anger inside the army. Military officials hated the fact that the civilian government failed to stop Islamists attacking the country since 2018. Each month innocents are brutally murdered by supporters of Islamist groups. Damiba wanted to recruit the Russian Wagner Group to fight the terrorists, but the pro-western government rejected that idea because they did not wanted to anger the western world.

Now Paul Damiba has installed himself as President of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration. On the streets the new military leader has some popularity, because he is one of the few who stood up against the terrorist attacks. Many working class people think that Paul Damiba can protest them from the evil that is Islamism. However we revolutionary socialists think that it is very dangerous trusting the words of military leaders.

The army of Burkina Faso is not revolutionary, its officers and generals live a life above that of ordinary workers. They are granted higher wages and have privileges. When faced with governments who wish to limit those privileges, armies often staged coups to safeguard their elitist lives. In Africa, many dictators make sure that officers and generals are paid off with high incomes in order to keep them loyal. Ordinary soldiers are not so lucky as they are recruited from the working class.

We did not supported the capitalist government of president Kaboré. In 2015, Revolutionary Socialist Media wrote:

”Kaboré is not offering a alternative to the corrupt capitalist system that Blaise Compaoré introduced. He himself was part of the that corrupt regime and would have served his master, had the youth not rebelled in 2014. It is also that Kaboré has the money to run a successful campaign. All candidates in this first democratic presidential elections were able to run campaigns, because they had made their money under Blaise Compaoré reign”

Working class people in Burkina Faso need to build a workers party on a socialist program. Such a party is needed to fight for a socialist Burkina Faso under control of the working class. Therefore we reject the military and the current capitalist state. Thomas Sankara was an inspiration, but like Fidel Castro he failed to build socialism because his vision was based on top-down methods. To build socialism you need democracy like humans need air.

Pandora Papers, again we knew!

”Revolutionary socialists warned about this for years. How the rich and the capitalists of the world, evade taxes by playing on capitalist laws to hide their fortunes. Because our laws are created by those who serve capitalism, they benefit those with a lot of money. Not only the owners of our economy hide their money; politicians, celebrities and even a none-profit group have used foreign banks to evade taxes. Revolutionary Socialist Media is not surprised by the leaks called the Panama Papers. The capitalist system works in favour of the 1%”. That was the opening of the article: ”Panama Papers, we knew” written on 11 April 2016. Back then the Panama Papers exposed to the world how capitalists evade taxes to enrich themselves, now the Pandora Papers say the same but on a much larger scale.

The capitalist media will not cover this too broadly. Because just as in 2016, nothing has been done to stop rich people from using tax heavens. The capitalist system favours them and their eternal greed. At fault here are the governments of the world, who (as capitalism) favour the 1% or ruling class as we revolutionary socialists call them. New famous names on the list include the elitist king of Jordan, the right-wing war criminal Tony Blair, ”czar” Vladimir Putin (not surprised) and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who claims to be harsh on corruption.

It is estimated that 32 trillion U.S dollars have been hidden from being taxed. The Paradise Papers and Panama Papers told us years ago what revolutionary socialists have been saying for decades. Capitalists hate taxes and they use corruption and tax heavens to hide their millions from being taxed in their native countries. One big capitalist family named is the ruling Aliyev family of Azerbaijan. This family is the dynasty that governs the Republic of Azerbaijan since 1993. Ilham Aliyev is the current ”monarch” who inherited the presidency from his father, who was a KGB boss during the Soviet period.

Another more official monarchist family who made sure their money was not taxed is the Royal House of Jordan. King Abdullah II has embezzled over 95 million dollars and used that money to buy luxurious villa’s in Europe. Meanwhile working class Jordanians are suffering from poverty and low wages. 35% of all youth in the Kingdom of Jordan has no work. Meanwhile the king and his elitist family are enjoying privileges and massive wealth and yet they still hide money from their own tax collectors.

”Czar” Vladimir Putin is said to hide his money in the Principality of Monaco. His circle of rich cronies is doing the same thing. Rich Russians and the top of the Kremlin bureaucracy have always hide money outside the Russian Federation. The reasons are clear, they fear a potential revolution and expropriations as we saw in 1917. Russian capitalists know that they are hated and they rather have their millions stored in tax heavens far way, in case they need to escape the current ”Russian Empire” of Vladimir Putin.

The Paradise Papers, Panama Papers and now Pandora Papers show us why capitalism must be abolished. No government regulation can stop the ruling class from hiding their money outside the reach of the tax collector. This is why we call for the expropriation of all millionaires, billionaires and members of the ruling class. People like King Abdullah II, Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin and many others do not deserve to be millionaires/billionaires. It is the system that allows them to hide money away. Since all countries are capitalist we cannot trust them to collect taxes equally.

Moscow is already denying everything as they have done in the past. The Jordanian king is also denying any fault. This is typical behaviour of elitist people who see themselves above the common worker and their families. Using tax heavens and offshore companies to enrich themselves and their own. Not just dictator and authoritarian leaders have been exposed. Western leaders like Tony Blair have also been named. The former Labour leader and war criminal used an offshore company, to hide 364.000 British pounds that he had to pay in taxes.

What is next? Nothing will change if we allow the current leaders of the world to stay in power. We cannot trust leaders like Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping. All three are imperialist and serve their own needs. Neither the United States of America, the European Union, the Russian Federation or the People’s Republic of China are going to stop the massive tax evasion by their own capitalists and leaders. We need a political and economic revolution to end the private ownership over the means of production. Those who have been exposed need to be put on trial for tax evasion and should be fined heavily.

The Pandora Papers report that there are over 95.000 offshore companies in use to dump untaxed money. These companies are then used to buy luxurious products unavailable to common workers. It is worse enough that there are millionaires and billionaires, when billions of workers are living in poverty due to low incomes. The capitalist system need to be abolished and replaced by democratic socialism under control of working class people. For that to happen we need to organize and build up working class political parties that dare to be revolutionary socialist and anti-capitalist.

Revolutionary socialists demand:

• Take the wealth off the super-rich
• Reverse the cuts to HM Revenue and Customs. Close tax loopholes and enforce collection of avoided taxes. Increase taxes on the super-rich and big business
• Nationalize the banks and the major corporations under democratic workers’ control and management – with compensation only on the basis of proven need
• Through public ownership of the commanding heights of the economy, democratic socialist planning of industry and services can be introduced to meet the needs of the majority. You can’t control what you don’t own: only socialist nationalization can end the great tax robbery!

More hunger due to capitalism

Food prices have risen with 40% since 2010, then Covid-19 and the economic crisis that followed now result in the iron fact, that 20 million extra’s are suffering from hunger. In total over 150 million humans do not have enough food to survive each day. While food is wasted in western capitalist countries, millions are suffering from malnutrition each day. The reason for this is the food production system, which is based on the greedy capitalist market system. Countries with a weak currency cannot afford the food prices set by richer countries. After all, the market decides prices. With a crisis since 2020, food prices are also skyrocketing due to rising temperatures and failed harvests. Still many capitalist commentators deny that there is a climate crisis.

There is enough food to feed any human on this planet. We can produce enough for seven billion humans. The capitalist system that works on greed, profiteering and exploitation stands in the way of a fair distribution. Corrupt capitalist governments in many countries also are part of the problem. After all, a capitalist dictator needs to pay off his cronies to stay in power. These cronies want money and are often given it to enrich themselves. Many of the poorest countries on planet Earth are govern by these capitalist dictators, 70% of them are supported by the United States of America and the European Union.

The Republic of Chad is one of these nations that has a large population that is suffering from malnutrition. Over 35% of all people inside Chad do not have enough food each day. Another country that is suffering is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, known as North Korea. The totalitarian monarchy of Kim Jong Un is in a crisis now that trade with China has decreased since 2020. China is delivering most food products since the DPRK is unable to feed its 25,2 million inhabitants alone. With its means of production deeply outdated and not enough farmland to produce enough, North Korea has always relied on imports from China.

Madagascar is also suffering from malnutrition. As with Chad and North Korea, over 35% or more do not have enough food. Chad, North Korea and Madagascar are countries who lack the means to produce enough. North Korea could open up to South Korea, but their dogmatic isolationism is preventing this. Chad and Madagascar are not isolationist, they lack simply lack the money to feed its population. Nobody in the world cares about the people of these African nations, most western people might never have heard from them. However food insecurity is also happening in the western world. In 2018, about 11.1% of American households were food insecure.

The problem is often then same. Working class people do not have enough money to buy food. Healthy food is also more expensive then unhealthy food in the USA and Europe. Before the Covid-19 crisis, there already was food insecurity with millions of Americans affected by it. Now with Covid-19, the economic crisis and rising food prices, it is not unlikely that the percentage of Americans living with food insecurity will rise to 15% or higher. The core problem remains the capitalist system that is causing malnutrition and food insecurity. We revolutionary socialists call for a global planned economy so that we can stop food waste and feed all.

A planned economy must be democratically and decentralized with planning done by working class people on the ground. We cannot trust a market system that is build on profiteering with the most basic human needs such as food, medicines and housing. Capitalism is build on the exploitation of resources to benefit only a very small minority of owners such as Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and other billionaires. The unfair distribution of food shows us that capitalism is unable to feed all seven billions humans, despite the fact that we have the means. This is why we call for a socialist alternative, not a social-democratic model that reformists like Bernie Sanders/Jeremy Corbyn stand for.

Social-democracy wrongly believes that they can regulate the market. But regulation can only work if all capitalists of the world are forced to obey it. Problem is that capitalism itself is very hostile to regulation and by 2021 most social-democratic governments are too cowardly to even make the smallest regulations. Even if we had a world government that would regulate all capitalists, they would try to sabotage that government in anyway as they have done with American and European governments. Capitalism as an international system is very powerful since it has billions at it disposal to buy off corrupt leaders and their cronies.

Hunger in the world is not because of individual choices, hunger is a product of capitalist inequality. Nations and borders are drawn to divide working class people. Revolutionary socialists understand that there are different cultures and languages. But in essence all nations under capitalism work the same. The wealth that the working class creates is owned by a minority because they own the means of production, physical and non-​financial inputs used in the production of goods and services with economic value. Food is an economic value and therefore used by big food companies to profit off.

The biggest food capitalists on this planet are Mondelez, Coca-Cola, Nestle, PepsiCo, Associated British Products, Mars, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg’s and Unilever. Together these companies are making record profits, while 150 million humans are suffering from a shortage of food in 2021. The problem remains the same, poor nations like Chad and Madagascar have a weak economy and its population lacks the income to buy food. Under capitalism the law is very clear, if you cannot afford it you cannot have it. Because the market is god, competition is king. With growing food prices due to Covid-19 and climate change, more and more working class people will be forced to pay more money for basic food products.

We reject the cruel logic of the capitalist system. We stand for a society under democratic control of all. This alternative we call socialism, not social democracy (more government control) or Stalinist ”communism” (total government control). We want democratic control from below and full participation of those who do the actual work. Socialism cannot be build in one country. We need international socialism to combat the capitalist system which is international. Working class people who wish to fight for this socialist alternative, we call upon to join International Socialist Alternative (ISA). There are over 27 sections of ISA, from the USA to Britain, Brazil and China.

Corrupt Jacob Zuma jailed?

The former president of the Republic of South Africa Jacob Zuma has been jailed for 15 months. Although we know that he was a corrupt politician, he was not jailed for his corruption. Instead the former president was only jailed for not appearing in court on corruption charges. Jacob Zuma was a capitalist president who was in power between 2009 and 2018. Although using leftist rhetoric, Zuma was in fact a corrupt president who enriched himself and his ANC friends.

South Africa is a very unequal society. Before 1994, the white minority controlled all wealth and enjoyed racial privileges in the form of Apartheid. The African National Congress (ANC) of Nelson Mandela and the South African Communist Party (SACP) fought bravely against this racist and unjust system. The Apartheid regime was able to survive for so long because of international capitalist support. Both Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain and Ronald Reagan of the USA supported the racist government because of its anti-Communist stance. Apartheid South Africa was an ally of western imperialism against Soviet supported African nations.

When the Soviet-Union collapsed in December 1991, the South African Communist Party advised the African National Congress not to follow the socialist ideas of the Freedom Charter. The ANC was also told by the communist parties of Asia not to follow a planned economy. As China, Vietnam and Laos embraced state-capitalism, the ANC and the SACP abandoned the whole idea of a alternative to capitalism. When Nelson Mandela was elected president, the ANC ruled as a typical bourgeois capitalist party with the SACP in full agreement. Even today the Stalinist party is still fully in line with the ANC, despite 27 years of corruption and capitalist exploitation.

Jacob Zuma himself was a communist from 1963 until 1990. He was a member of both the ANC and SACP. Zuma left the South African Communist Party in the year that Mandela was freed. His communist party membership might have only been tactical. Because after 1990, Jacob Zuma never supported revolutionary socialist politics. After 2000, Zuma became involved in scandals based on corruption. The Schabir Shaik trial was one of the first trials in which he was involved. In 2005, President Thabo Mbeki removed Zuma from his post as Deputy President due to allegations of corruption.

Using populist rhetoric, Jacob Zuma was able to become the presidential candidate of the ANC for the 2009 elections. Because of voter loyalism, the African National Congress knew that they would win, even with a controversial character like Jacob Zuma. He won the presidency and ruled over South Africa until 2018 when the ANC forced him out of office. This was because Zuma was never free of corruption scandals. One of the more recent controversies was the refurbishment of Zuma’s personal home. He spend 17 million dollars (246 million ZAR) of public money on his private compound. This former ”Marxist-Leninist” build himself a luxury estate with fences and private security guards.

On 29 June 2021, the Constitutional Court demanded a 15 month sentence for Zuma after he defied an earlier court order to return and testify. This makes Jacob Zumba the first former-president of South Africa after the end of Apartheid to be jailed. Zuma has described himself as a socialist and he supported the coalition between the ANC and the SACP. However this is only his public façade. In reality, the former president was pro-capitalist and enrich himself with tax money. Like Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma ruled as a capitalist president and did not offer workers a socialist alternative out of the inequality that capitalism and racism created during Apartheid.

The Workers and Socialist Party (ISA in South Africa) wrote the following statement about Jacob Zuma after he was removed from power in 2018 by the ANC:

Jacob Zuma converted government into a criminal enterprise for the self-enrichment of his family and cronies. Under the direction of the Gupta family of Indian immigrants he developed a network of cronies so powerful that they even decided on appointments in cabinet and SoEs that the beneficiaries themselves heard about from this corrupt family even before it was announced in the ANC itself. It is estimated that the looting spree has resulted in the loss of over R100bn to the public purse

Executive Committee of the Workers and Socialist Party – 2018

The arrest of the former president shows us that South African workers cannot trust any ANC leader. We said this in 1994, when Mandela abandoned the socialist ideas of the Freedom Charter, we said it when Thabo Mbeki carried out the same neoliberal program when he was president. Jacob Zuma build on what Mandela and Mbeki started. Although all three claimed to be socialist before 1990, all abandoned their ideas and ruled in a typical capitalist way. They symbolize the huge betrayal of the African National Congress in South Africa and world wide social democracy in the 1990’s.

South Africa needs a socialist alternative. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) who split off from the ANC are not that alternative. Also the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party (SRWP) that was founded by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) failed to provide one. Despite being founded by a trade union with over 300.000 members, the SRWP won only 24.439 votes during the 2019 general election. For NUMSA leaders this defeat was a major setback and massive disillusion was the result. They could not understand why so few voted for the SRWP. Revolutionary socialists said that many voters simply did not vote, because they saw no reason to vote.

Had NUMSA created the party back in 2013 right after the Marikana massacre, then it could have profited from the massive anger against the ANC. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa left the Congress of South African Trade Unions in 2013. There was a revolutionary mood and willing of millions to fight for a alternative. But NUMSA refused to become political and waited six years, before they announced the creation of the Socialist Revolutionary Workers Party. By then the masses were disillusioned and voter turnout dropped to 66.05%. Compare that to 1999 when over 89.30% of all voters came to vote.

Now in 2021 the butcher of Marikana is President of the Republic of South Africa. Cyril Ramaphosa is the man who told the police to murder 47 striking mine workers. In doing so he exposed the ANC and himself as defenders of the capitalist class. Ramaphosa called the mine workers ”dastardly criminal” because they stood up against capitalist exploitation. With a net worth of at least 450 million U.S dollars, the current president is also one of the richest people of South Africa, while 49.2% of the population over the age of 18 falls below the upper-bound poverty line. It proofs that a socialist alternative is needed to fight the ANC, SACP and all who defend the capitalist system in South Africa!

Although the ex-president was to be send to jail, he is is still free as of 4 July. This is because he appealed to the country’s supreme court. It is possible that the sentence is rejected by the supreme court, because the ANC and Zuma himself have enough cronies to shield themselves from any jail time. Working class South Africans cannot trust the courts or the capitalist republic. The Republic of South Africa is still a state for the capitalists and the ANC is their vehicle. It is up to revolutionary socialists to provide workers with a alternative. As the Freedom Charter of the ANC used to say:

The People Shall Share in the Country’s Wealth!

• The national wealth of our country, the heritage of all South Africans, shall be restored to the people;
  
• The mineral wealth beneath the soil, the banks and monopoly industry shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole;
  
• All other industry and trade shall be controlled to assist the well-being of the people;
  
• All people shall have equal rights to trade where they choose, to manufacture and to enter all trades, crafts and professions.

Ethiopia: EPRDF dropped its revolutionary name and starts war!

The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front has finally dropped the last remnant of its revolutionary socialist façade. Under the name EPRDF, the opposition to the Stalinist dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam was formed in 1988. After it overthrew the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in 1991, the EPRDF dropped its socialist mask and embraced capitalism. For 28 years, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front ruled the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, while pretending to be leftist. On 1 December 2019, the EPRDF name was dropped as its member parties dissolved into a bourgeois political party called: Prosperity Party!

Ethiopia has made improvement to combat poverty. In 2011, its was reported that 1/3 was living in poverty. This has now been reduced to 24% in 2016. Politically the country is ruled by the (former) member parties of the now renamed Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. Although revolutionary in name, the member parties were tribal/ethnic based. The front was made up of the Oromo Democratic Party, Amhara Democratic Party, Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is the only member party of the original front, who refused to fuse into the new Prosperity Party led by Abiy Ahmed. Although leftist and even revolutionary in name, the TPLF is not a socialist alternative for the Tigray people. The TPLF has fully embraced capitalism as ruler of the Tigray Region. Before 1990, the TPLF was a Marxist-Leninist party, who even supported a independent Republic of Tigray under a single party Stalinist state. After the collapse of the (also Stalinist) People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front abandoned all revolutionary rhetoric and established itself as a party of power.

With parties like the Oromo Democratic Party, Amhara Democratic Party, and Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement dissolved into the Prosperity Party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was the only opposition party in the House of Peoples’ Representatives. Abiy Ahmed is the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia, he decided to fuse all EPRDF members parties into the Prosperity Party. This would turn the country in a single party state de-facto. Although democratic on paper, Ethiopia is ruled by the parties of the EPRDF since 1991. Opposition to the former front is allowed but since the state is dominated by members of the Prosperity Party, there is little change to be expected.

Between 1991 and 2018 it was impossible to challenge the absolute power of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. Bureaucratic laws and police brutality made sure that any opposition force was silenced. The four member parties of the EPRDF demanded absolute political power and the dictatorial nature of the state gave them that power. Socialism was never a theme after 1990. It was a façade to rally working class Ethiopians against the brutal dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam, who also claimed to be revolutionary socialist (Marxist-Leninist). The first Ethiopian civil war was fought between two sides claiming to be revolutionary socialist.

Western imperialism supported the EPRDF, knowing that its members would drop their socialist façade after defeating the Stalinist: Workers Party of Ethiopia, who was supported by the Soviets, East-Germans and Libyans. As world stalinism collapsed in 1991, Mengistu Haile Mariam abandoned his Marxist-Leninist façade and claimed to be a social-democrat. It did not saved his regime and on 21 May 1991, he fled into exile. The Workers Party of Ethiopia was dissolved by the victorious Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. With the establishment of the current Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the EPRDF decided not to build socialism but rather choose capitalism for its absolute reign.

In December 2019, the EPRDF was renamed Prosperity Party. This process started a dispute between Abiy Ahmed and the leaders of the TPLF. With 250.000 armed men, the TPLF remained a military force in the Tigray Region. Abiy Ahmed claims that the TPLF refused to accept his authority, while the Tigray claim that the prime minister did not allowed elections to be held. In September 2020, the Tigray Region held its elections, which were regarded as illegal by the central government. Then on 3 November, the parliament of Ethiopia decided to brand the TPLF a ”terrorist organization”. The 35 Tigray members of the House of Peoples’ Representatives, were arrested and removed from office.

On 4 November, the Ethiopian National Defense Force started an attack on the Tigray Region. Their goal is to remove the Tigray People’s Liberation Front led by Debretsion Gebremichael, who is the leader of the Tigray Region since 2018. The central government claims that TPLF soldiers attacked a military depot to steal weapons. Although this claim is made, no proof has been delivered. It is likely that Abiy Ahmed just needed an excuse to attack the Tigray Region. The fact the the TPLF refused to fuse into his Prosperity Party a year ago, may have been the reason for his decision to attack the Tigray.

The official line during EPRDF rule between 1991 and 2019 was that its four parties represented the main ethnic groups of Ethiopia. In reality, the old EPRDF government was in fact a centralized dictatorship around the Tigray leaders who created the front since 1988. Abiy Ahmed broke their power structure in December 2019, with the creation of the Prosperity Party. With this new party he would dominate Ethiopian politics. It also allow him to carry out privatization of key sectors such as telephone/internet, electric, logistics and Ethiopian Airlines. Naturally the leaders of the TPLF rejected Abiy Ahmed, not for his capitalist politics, but for the fact that he excluded them from real power.

Now the central government is at war with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Workers have nothing to gain from either side. The TPLF has proven to be a party of power, a bureaucratic dictatorial force that rules with an iron fist in the Tigray Region. The central government of Abiy Ahmed may have made reforms, but they are aimed at creating a typical capitalist state with western support. Out of six million people in the Tigray Region, the war has already caused two million to go hungry. The food distribution is traditionally very unfair with poor people in rural parts often excluded from basic needs.

A member of ISA in Sweden, who has Ethiopian roots noted:

Too little attention is being given to the widespread ethnic-based killing, human rights atrocities and destruction of property being carried out over the last months against our fellow Ethiopians. It is affecting many of our people throughout Ethiopia, from Afar to Oromia, to Benishangul-Gumuz, to the Southern nations, the Amhara region, Harare, Dire Dawa and Gambella. No ethnic-based killing has been reported yet from either the Somali or Tigray regions. Yet, in other places, hundreds of people are dying violent deaths as many are targeted based on their ethnicity or religion

The reality is that ethnic killings are still part of any Ethiopian conflict. This strong tribalism has not been eliminated by 28 years of EPRDF/Prosperity Party rule. What Ethiopia needs is a workers party on a socialist platform. Too often the working class of this country has been misled by organizations who only used revolutionary socialism as a façade. The Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia (1974-1987), the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1987-1991), the Workers Party of Ethiopia (1984-1991), the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (1988-2019) and the current: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia have never been forces in service of the Ethiopian proletariat.

Meanwhile the first Stalinist dictator of Ethiopia is still alive. Mengistu Haile Mariam lives in Zimbabwe since 1991. Although declared guilty of war crimes, Mengistu Haile Mariam renounced Marxism-Leninism (Stalinism) and is now a ”proud social democrat”. This is no uncommon as many African Stalinist leaders switched ideology after the collapse of the USSR between 1989 and 1992.

Congo: 60 years of independence

Note: This article was written in 2013. It is slightly edited.

The nation is called Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) but like the former German Democratic Republic (1949-1990) or the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1954-1975) it is neither a democracy nor a free nation. Congo is the name of two African nations. One nation used to be called the People’s Republic of Congo (PRC) and the other the Republic of Zaire. The Stalinist PRC was hated by the anticommunist leader of Zaire; Mobutu. He became president in 1965 with CIA support, who feared a ”communist” takeover of Congo. Mobutu was a kleptomaniac and turned the former colony into a totalitarian anticommunist dictatorship that lasted 32 years. After Mobutu was removed from power the Republic of Zaire was renamed Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo-Kinshasa).

There are two Congo’s in Africa. The former People’s Republic of Congo was part of the French African Empire and today’s Democratic Republic of Congo was part of Belgium. King Leopold 2 bought the land that became his private African empire. He called it the Congo Free State and murdered more then 10.000.000 million black workers between 1885 and 1908. Leopold and his Belgian colonialists also loved to amputate arms and legs of black workers, who worked not hard enough for the European monarch. Finally in 1908 did the Belgian state intervene and nationalized the Congo Free State. For 52 years the nation was called Belgian-Congo, a colony of the Kingdom of Belgium.

On 30 July 1960, the Kingdom of Belgium gave up its colony. But soon political unrest started when American and Belgian imperialists fuelled violence and terrorism. This was done to destabilize the government of Patrice Emery Lumumba, who was a popular anti-colonialist fighter. Lumumba held a positive view of socialism and wanted Soviet aid, this is why western imperialism destabilized the new government by supporting ethnic violence and terrorism. Soon Patrice Emery Lumumba was arrested disposed and killed by agents of the Kingdom of Belgium. In 1965, army leader Joseph-Desiré Mobutu took power. Unlike many African anti-colonialists, Mobutu was a supporter of US imperialism and hated communism.

Lumumba was murdered by separatist soldiers under control of white Belgians. In 2001 it was reviled that these whites were present during the torture and final execution. Western imperialism had murdered a democratic elected president and with his death, Congo was turning more unstable. Army leader Mobutu came out as the winner of the Congo Crisis that killed 150.000 people. He banned all political parties, only his Popular Movement for the Revolution was allowed.

In 1970, the Congolese Party of Labour took power in Congo-Brazzaville, the smaller Congo next to today’s DRC. The Congolese stalinists created the People’s Republic of Congo, a single party state that supported Marxism-Leninism ( Stalinism ). Joseph-Desiré Mobutu hated the revolutionary government in Congo-Brazzaville. So the dictator of Congo-Kinshasa, created the Republic of Zaire in 1971. This anticommunist nationalist dictatorship was very totalitarian in nature. Mobutu created a cult of personality around himself and forced the Congolese people to worship him.

The 1974 constitution enshrined the Popular Movement for the Revolution ( MPR ) as the vanguard of the nation. It stated that “there exists a single institution, the MPR, incarnated by its President,” that the “President of the MPR is ex officio President of the Republic, and holds the plenitude of power exercise,” and that “Mobutism” was constitutional doctrine. All citizens of Zaire became members of the MPR at birth. In effect, the government was a tool of the Popular Movement for the Revolution like the Congolese Party of Labour in the People’s Republic of Congo.

In Zaire, Mobutu changed its name to Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga. He was now the only man who was allowed to rule. His government was very corrupt, but loved by France and Belgium for its anticommunism. Western leaders were very nice to the dictator of Zaire and paid him millions to oppress the people of Congo-Kinshasa. Mobutu owned at least five billion US dollars, stored in western banks. He and his wife lived in a luxurious palace that was created with rooms copied from Buckingham Palace. Also Mobutu build a Chinese mansion and was called by the state media; Father of the Nation,” “Messiah,” “Guide of the Revolution,” “Helmsman,” “Founder,” “Savior of the People,” and “Supreme Combatant”.

Western imperialism came to the aid of Mobutu twice. In 1977, rebels with support from the People’s Republic of Angola invaded Zaire. France came to the rescue and lifted 1.500 paratroopers into Zaire to aid Mobutu. With French support, the rebels were pushed back into Angola. But a year later they returned in larger numbers, again trying to overthrow the anticommunist dictatorship. The governments of Belgium and France deployed troops with logistical support from the United States and defeated the rebels again. France, Belgium and the USA knew about the totalitarian dictatorship, but they needed the corrupt dictator. Because Mobutu was anticommunist and an ally of western imperialism.

Mobutu cared only about himself. He did nothing to help his people and behaved like a kleptomaniac. He owned a fleet of Mercedes-Benz vehicles that he used to travel between his numerous palaces, while the nation’s roads rotted and many of his people starved. Infrastructure virtually collapsed, and many public service workers went months without being paid. Most of the money was siphoned off to Mobutu, his family, and top political and military leaders. Only the Special Presidential Division (on whom his safety depended) was paid adequately or regularly. A popular saying was that the civil servants pretended to work, while the state pretended to pay them. A clear indication that the Republic of Zaire was already a failed state in the 70’s.

The end for the kleptomaniac came in the 1990’s. Western imperialism would no longer support him, because the Soviet-Union was collapsing and the ”communist” nations of Africa were turning pro-capitalist. Now the old dictator was suddenly criticized by western leaders for his single party state and totalitarianism. Mobutu was forced to accept a multi-party system in his Republic of Zaire. In May 1990, he lifted the ban on political parties. Soon the people of Congo-Kinshasa started to rebel against unpaid wages and political corruption. By then more then 186.000 people had been murdered by the Mobutu government.

In order to give the opposition more power, Mobutu gave them seats in his government. But he kept most power for himself. After four years, the situation was still very bad. People were demanding changes and western imperialism wanted capitalist reforms in Congo-Kinshasa. So Mobutu started with privatizations and market reforms. This led to more poverty as only the elite of the Mobutu regime were able to buy companies and own economic property. In November 1996, the dictator tried to arrest a popular opposition figure, this led to rebellion and his government lost control over the north,

The army of the Republic of Zaire was very backward. It was not able to fight the rebels in the north, as it was underpaid and only used to crush civilian demonstrations in the past. It was no effective fighting army, thanks to years of corruption and mismanagement by the Mobutu clan. On 16 May 1997, Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga, fled his Republic of Zaire. Leaving a destroyed and very poor nation behind. The rebels led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila faced little resistance and proclaimed victory on 17 May. A few months later, Mobutu died from prostate cancer in exile.

Laurent-Désiré Kabila became the new president of the renamed Democratic Republic of Congo. But he could not keep stability. World capitalism demanded that he acted as a pro-capitalist politician which he did. Poverty and corruption did not ended with the removal of Mobutu. Soon the former rebels started to fight among themselves for power. The African world supported both sides in the conflict. Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda supported the Tutsi led opposition while the new Congo government and nations like Angola supported the Hutu’s. So the civil war in Congo became an ethical conflict between two rival tribes. The conflict between Thusi’s and Hutu’s is very old, but it was the Hutu government of Rwanda that murdered between 500.000 and 1.000.000 Thutsi’s in what is known as the Rwanda Genocide,

The Congo Civil War also led to the death of president Laurent-Désiré Kabila. He was assassinated in 2001 by one of his bodyguards. Some say that Rwanda paid for the murder. Kabila’s son became the next president and remained president of the DRC until 2019 when he was replaced by Félix Tshisekedi. Joseph Kabila was a typical corrupt African president. He faked elections to remain president, his supporters used terror and voter intimidation. Finally in 2019, he lost an election and was forced to step down. However many local politicians are still loyal to the ex-dictator because he gave them power. Despite releasing many political prisoners, president Tshisekedi is unlikely to change anything for working class Congolese.

Today in 2020, Congo-Kinshasa is failed state. Corruption, abuse of power and rape of women are common. The government is ineffective and not able nor willing to help those in need. Criminal gangs are very active as police forces are underpaid and have low interests in keeping the population save. To blame is western imperialism who planted the seeds for poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nations like France, Belgium and the USA supported the regime of Mobutu until the end. They paid him millions for his anticommunist viewpoints. That is why we revolutionary socialists blame the capitalist governments of western Europe and the USA for the destruction of the Congo nation.

60 years after independence from Belgium, the people’s of Congo-Kinshasa are not free. Capitalist exploitation is everywhere. Its population had increased massively from 47 million in the year 2000, to 83.301.151 in 2017. This huge increase is because of poverty and the believe that a big family is the only social security. Since Congo-Kinshasa is a failed state, people are left to care for themselves. Some take advantage of the massive corruption and get very rich. However 72% of the population is living in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 a day. This inequality is why a socialist alternative is needed. True independence has not been achieved. Only socialism can make sure of that. Mobutu stole the wealth with support from western imperialism. It is time that workers take back the wealth from the current rulers!