HW 49061 Docld: 326276336 SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM atrocities in the first two years of independ- ence, the growing authority of ANC Commander Mobutu has increased control by the central government over the ANC. Recent incidents in- volving the ANC do not constitute evidence of generalized indiscipline. Rather, the ANC, except in ex-Kasai and southern Katanga, has proved to be a positive element in the political system. It has developed a nucleus of officers of real ability. It has retained the principle of ethnic: scrambline, which operates to im- munize it against local political influences and to give ita commitment tothe nationas a whole. In many areas it is capable of acting as an ade- quate constabulary. The ANC retraining pro- gram now being launched under Western auspices may consolidate recent advances to- ward providing the central government with a reliable constabulary capable of maintaining domestic order and preserving the supremacy of central power. 8, The Congo will continue to need substan- lii tial external technical and economic assist- ance. The United States, the UN, and other donors, including Belgium, have contributed massive technical and economic support tothe Congo since independence. The shortage of Congolese technical personnel and capital re- sources will persist for the foreseeable future. For a number of reasons the UN seeks to reduce its role. The United States to date has paid the lion's share, but wants to cut back its contribution. Belgium, the most likely candidate to increase aid to its former colony, is reluctant to shoulder more. Though an in- formal UN-US-Belgian consortium of assist- ance appears the most desirable formula for sharing responsibility, the Belgians to date have been relunctant to discuss forthrightly with us-the extent of further aid they might provide. The result is a precarious outlook for aid to the Congo at a time when clear defi- nition is needed to permit,economic planning. SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM Page 6
SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM THE CONGO: A STUDY IN POLITICAL DYNAMICS (Political Dynamics Study No. 3) by M. Crawford Young Harvard University and Edward J. Streator, Jr. Office of Research and Analysis for Africa Bureau of Intelligence and Research _ September 1963 External Research Staff Bureau of Intelligence and Research “ UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM HW 49061 Docld:32626336 Page 7
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 7 OO page I. THE NATURE OF CONGOLESE POLITICAL SOCIETY cece eeeee cee rcccveee L The Colonial Legacy wescescccecscccccnaccescccescvessecesceece Traditional Authority .ccsccsccccccccccccccccvcccusesseveveces os Education .occcccccccccvccscccccccccccsccecccsceccsseeessesess Economic Opportunities coccccecccsecccccccccccesccccnccescesecs Urbanization cececveccsccccvscccccccsvesvcesscedevcvetecvesias The Influence of Independence .esscccesccccccccccscvccccesecce II. ETHNICITY eee eee none eeeeeeeenseeeeseeseneceeeeegneaenas The Modern Brand of Tribalism ...ccecccccccccsceccccecccececes Urban Influences ceccccccccscccccvsvccvavccccccccvessevececese _ Ethnic "Nationalism" ...cecceccccccccccccccsccseccevssscevceus Examples of the Successful Assertion of Ethnic Solidarity oeee Belgian "Tribalism” ...cecscccccccccccccccvccceccscocceseccecs Ethnicity as a Political Expedient .esvsseccccccsccccccesseccs ANNA - NNMNHPREH III. THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORD: THE LOI FONDAMENTALE AND LIKELY SUCCESSORS ccc cec ce ececceectceecucecceccesvceccececs The Loi Fondamentale ..ccucccccccccccccccccccccccsecceceeevecs Principal Defects in the Loi Fondamentale ...... see eeeeecneses The UN Draft Constitution wosscccccccccccccevcvccccecceccesece Proposed Organization of the Central Government...ccccccsccce® Proposed Central-Provincial Division of Powers ....ceccceceses 1 Proposed Concurrent PowerS ..sccseccscesecccccccccccssccccccee L Recent Collective Provincial Initiatives to Amend the Draft Constitution. .cccccccccccccccscvcccecccccecessseces LL CONCLUSIONS. cc ccvevcccvccevnsvcecssaccveveecrcsecsecsccccsece ae 11 HOWO MMO o VI. FRAGMENTATION AND SECCESSIONISM: THE 21 NEW PROVINCES ........ 13 SEceSSLONISM wecccercceccccnccsscscccssececssececccessecscsese 13. Fragmentation. .ccccccscccccescccassceccsccsccecscccescscccccces Lit Legal Basis of the New Provinces.ccscceccccecccvccccccccccecese LY Characteristics of the New Provinces ...eccccccccccccccccccese 15 Provincial Administration. ..cacccccccscccccccssccescccssccesse LO . Possibilities for Further Fragmentation ...cccccccsccecessesee 16 A Mixed Blessing? ccccrsccccccccuccvecscccsccsccccsesssescesess LT Ss Vv. THE BUREAUCRACY soem c eect ec ce nce esesncecccaseccceseseceesecees 19° African Exclusion from the Colonial Civil Service wecovsseceee 19 The Statut UNIQUE eee eeacceeveraccececreceeesceecessseeseeesens 19 The Effects of Independence ..scscccsccovcvecessesecssesessece LY Inflation of the Civil Service Pay Scale... ..ccecscecsscecesees 20 Disaffection of the University Graduates.cccccccccscecesescecs 20 The Organization and Effectiveness of the Civil Service .wecece 21 The Circonscriptions indigenes pec cvccenceresscnccecvesecenves OL HW 49061 Docld:326276336 Page 6
Page Belgian Personne] seesesceseseseccccerccccccecccccccesvecseuees 2h The Judiciary.cccsecee eesee eestesvneweseeeeeene PETTITTE CT ESTE Te oh CONCLUSIONS . occ eeesececece cc eccererceccecceessccesceces weeeeeee C4 VI. POLITICS AND PARTIES: THE POSSIBILITIES AND. So RISKS OF ELECTIONS IN 1964 . ek ce ie 26 The Fragile Roots of Nationalism cece ccc eeveccescccecccsenceses LO The Messianic Sects .ecseccccvcccsccccvessscerecccessesesesseses OO ‘ Associational EXPOTICNnC cescesecseccecccasveccsecceecseeectaes 27 Parties Prior to Independence. .ssccceccsscscscccccssvecevsscess Of Parties Since Independence ..cececeseccsceccccsccccecsscsvcecess 20 The Alienation of the Politicians from the People.s.cscccceseees 29 The Failure of LUMUMDISMssecececcccodocceservesecvessovsssssess OF “Political Power Clusters in Leopoldville...ecsscccecccsceseeses 30 Provincial Political Consolidation. .sccceccccvcccccevessvscecvee SL The. Role.of Labor Unions, Students, and-Youth..ccscscosseveeees 31 Political Communication. ccrecceccccccccccccccccvccesesesssesves 32 Incentives to. BlectionsS.cesecceccccccccconccccscrsceccssecsnces 32 Provincial Electoral Experience since 1960...cecscceccccceveese 33 Prospects for a Moderate National Party. wsscssccccccccccssseeee 33 Recent Efforts to Create a Moderate National Party..eccsececeee 34 The Bargaining Power of the Provinces..cccccccccccccecesvccesese 34 Possible Coercive Instruments of the Central wo Government LeaderSsseessecceccsecscccscccevenecsecesssssseses 30 The Electoral Laws eeesccccccccccccnncc wes scccsssceeseeesssesees 3D CONCLUSIONS. ceecscccrcccsecvecccceccecssreeeseseseeesonsssecers 36 VII.THE POLITICS OF FORCE: .CONGOLESE NATIONAL “ARMY , (ANC), POLICE , AND SURETE....cccsesecceceeectecetseseeeeeeees 38 The ANC and Its: Antecedent.rccccccececccsccccccecesecscscvssess 30 The Shock of Independence...ccccscccccceccscnscccscccecsescseees 39 Mobutu's ea ee ara Reunification of the ANCL. ..ccccceccccccecccscesvescescsesveese AO ANC Gendarmerie Function.scsccccccceccccccsccccscccvcssessceceee HL The’ Security Problem.csecccccccccccccccccnescscvescsccsvcesssee YL The ANC as a Force Promoting Stability. er ANC Retraining. .cccccccccesecccccccceseccessccecsseecereeeueecs 43 The ANC Officer CorpScccecececcccccccccccecsccccccsscresscseceve Hy The SUreth i cccccececcccccvcccccccsccesseseecceseccececesesseees us The POLLCC sss eeevesesesteerseresereraecrereeecsseeenneeceeeees 4S VIII. EXTERNAL FACTORS... ceseescccecsecseccensctessecvens Ce 7 The United NationSesecsseccceccceccecceecececsecceecueeucennens U7 BelLGium.cccccccveccecedescvcveccccecccccsceccssesececessceesens 4G The United States.ccccccccccvecsccccvccccvsscccseccenccsecseecs HS The Soviet. BloCssecccsccccessecccccvccvesevcescsseccsseesesoees HY HW 49061 Docld:32626336 Page 9 a ec
HW 49061 INTRODUCTION After three turbulent years, Congolese independence is slowly ceasing to be a world crisis, With the end of the Katanga secession in January 1963, the Congo was removed as a major cold war issue. The eventual. departure of UN military forces will te#minate international responsi- bility for the maintenance of order, Authority over the entire Congo is now exercised by a government of unquestionable legality. There is no African state where the UScommitment is greater, both in prestige and money, than in the Congo. The re-establishment of the unity of the young republic, albeit fragile, was accorfiplished only through a successful diplomatic effort of great magnitude. Unity and legality are necessary, but not sufficient, requisites for the future political viability of the Congo. This study examines the emerging political system in the Congo, with a view toward clarifying possible alternatives in the pursuit of political stability. This would permit the harnessing of the Congo! s substantial e€énomic resources to the ends of development and, inthe process; vindicaté the massive US engagement in the 1960 rescue operation. The essential elements inthe post-independence political equilibrium have now emerged with sufficient clarity to bear analysis, We ex- amine the sociological coordinates, institutional framework, bureau- cracy, political parties, and coercive instruments. We have found it diffi- cult to strike a balance between generalization useful to policy+making and a reasonable accurate rendering of the complexities of the situation; If we have erred on the side of simplification, we have doné so de= liberately in the interest of readability. Docld:32676335 Page 10
WW 49061 DoclId: 32626336 SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM 1.. THE NATURE OF CONGOLESE POLITICAL SOCIETY The Colonial Legacy Congolese political society is the result of three-quarters of a century of acculturative contact between the Belgian colonizer and the plethora of traditional societies in the Congo Basin. Belgium constructed in Africa a colonial state distinguished by the thorough- ness of its organization, articulated in an in- terlocking alliance of state, church, and capital. The colony's ambitious economic and social programs were pursued through an admin- istrative organization heavily bureaucratic in norms and oriented toward increased economic productivity. The colonial state resolutely assisted the companies through extensive land concessions and aid in labor recruitment, and the religious missions through administrative support, In the words of former Governor- General Pierre Ryckmans, the aims of colonial rule were not to govern but to transform: "It is not only a matter of furnishing seeds or providing new techniques; it means the re- education of an entire people, modifying pro- foundly its mentality--giving it a new soul," The Congolese elite is very largely an "administrative bourgeoisie.'' In colonial society, access to high status for the African was almost exclusively through subaltern posi- tions in the .vast public and private bureau- cracies. Of the 27 members of Lumumba's 1960 government, 25 were clerks. before in- dependence. Commercially successful Con- golese were extremely. rare, unlike their brethren in West Africa, It was virtually im- pos sible for a Congolese to acquire land title in the colonial period, This placed the elite: in a situation of peculiar dependence upon the state. The civil service post continues to represent the individual's precarious niche in the modern world, and the stakes in re- taining it are high. Traditional Authority Traditional authority systems have not pro- vided a-major source of recruitment for modern political leadership, although in cer- tain areas hereditary chiefs remainimportant, The traditional systems are roughly of two types: , 1) Centralized Well-structured systems: traditional societies persist in Kwango (Bayaka tribe), Udlé (Azande tribe), Kivu lake region (Bashi tribe), a good part of Katanga (Baluba Shankadi, Lunda, and some smaller groups), 1. Etapes et jalons, 1946, pp. 137-138. 1 and east-central Kasai (Bakuba tribe), (See Map D in the appendix), © 2) Non-centralized|) segmentary systems: These cover the vast equatorial forest zone of the central Congo Basin, where traditional systems never functioned beyond the village level, and social differentiation was frequently relatively slight. The traditional element in leadership is of little importance in urban centers whose popu- lations are recruited from areas of segmentary or decadent systems. In the urban centers of provincial areas where centralized systems persist, as in Katanga,. it remains of con- siderable relevance. ~. Education At least a feigned interest in the priesthood was for a long period the only path to post- primary education. Consequently the Roman Catholic Church in the Congo has developed about 500 African priests and 10 Congolese bishops, the most numerous indigenous clergy in, any African country. The President of Uele Province, Pierre Mambaya,.is a former priest; the Vice-President of Sankuru, Abbé Athanase Djadi, has played an active political role since 1960 with the permission of the hierarchy. Many others, including President Joseph Kasavubu, received secondary educa- tions in the seminaries. . Except for religious training, secondary and higher education became available only after World War II, The first non-theological university student, Thomas Kanza, was en- rolled in 1952. The Catholic University of Lovanium opened its doors in 1954, the State University of Elisabethville in 1956; and the Ford Foundation sponsored the Ecole Nationale de Droit et d'Administration (ENDA) beginning in 1961. Belgian policy produced a broadly based but truncated educational pyramid. Enormous numbers have had some rudimentary primary instruction, and very few advanced training. By 1959 there were approximately ' 1,500,000 students in primary schools, and only 30,000 in secondary, technical, and higher in- stitutions. Those with post-secondary training in 1960 included 30 university graduates, 500 priests, 130 medical assistants, 250 agricul- tural technicians, 30 administrative special- ists, 20 social workers, and 15 veterinary assistants. A significant portion of the modern elite was employed in the educational system. There were in 1960 about 44,000 primary school teachers, Although many of these had no more than a primary education, they enjoyed con- SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM Page i1
HW 49061 Docld: 326276336 SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM | living standard of the mass of the population. By contrast, the "politicians'' became con- spicuously affluent, thereby producing a sharp sense of alienation by the mass from the political elite. Paradoxically, a popular nostalgia for colonialism developed--not, of course, for a return to the myriad vexations of European rule, but for the order and rela- tive economic prosperity of 'le temps des 3 belges,'' Thus, the norms and values of both ruler and ruled in the Congo vary import- antly from most post-colonial African politi- -cal systems. The absence of an articulated nationalist ideology to supplant the values ,of the colonial system resulted in a retreat ‘to the bureaucratic norms which characterized the Belgian administration, and in a lack of political structure. SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM Page 12
HW 49061 Docld: 3276276336 SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM Il. ETHNICITY No analysis of the emerging political sys- tem inthe Congocan escape the elusive problem of 'tribalism,"' or ethnicity, which lies squarely athwart every dimension of political behavior. A transcendent issue for the Congolese polity since the "steel grid of colonialism" was re- moved, ethnicity threatens the nation's con- tinued existence. Symptomatic of its prim- ordial importance are the many major po- litical movements. with ethnic names: Abako--" Alliance des Bakongo; Unimo— Union des Mon- go; Unerga--Union des Warega. No reader of any Congolese newspaper can fail to be ‘im-~ pressed by the extent to which political dis-- course has adopted an ethnic lexicon, contrary to most experience elsewhere in Africa. National integration tops the agenda of in- dependence in nearly all tropical African states, Almost all contain the germs of conflict between the diverse ethnic entities incor- porated within their artificial boundaries. How- ever, all other new African states so far have contained the problem within tolerable limits, In many cases, independence was achieved under the tutelage of a single party. In others, such as Nigeria and Uganda, ingenious con- stitutional arrangements were devised to en- sure a balance between major ethnic compo- nets of the state. In most, a liberal dose of authoritarianism has been necessary. Only ‘Kenya comes close to the Congo in the extent to which ethnic conflicts have dominated the political process, The Congo, however, lacks all three solutions: viable political organiza- tions, a workable constitution, ora government strong enough to impose authoritarian meas- ures, The Modern Brand of Tribalism _ It is initially tempting to approach the ethnic problem by establishing an analytical distinction between traditional and modern, equated respectively with anachronism and progress. The very term "tribalism'"'is tainted by an implication of retrogression. But ethni- city in the Congo is not a phenomenon of the primeval forest. The bloody conflict be- tween Lulua and Baluba at Luluabourg was in no sense a throwback to the misty, pre- colon- ial past. Even in the pre-colonial period, the notion of "tribe" was fluid and constantly transform- ing. Colonial rule not only imposed a new state, but also profoundly affected African society. Modernization wrought changes in individuals and ethnic groups, The increas- ing ferment of colonial acculturation ac- celerated the pace of change, and further 4 altered but did not eliminate the contours of ethnic reference units. 2. - Perhaps because the Copperbelt towns of .Rhodesia have so much in common with most Congo urban centers, especially the nearby southern Katanga cities, hypotheses related to them are particularly useful. Tribalism, in the view of scholars in this field, has two dimensions. In the countryside, based on economic and social needs, it involves par- ticipation in a working political system and sharing domestic life with kinfolk., In the towns, a new form of ethnicity develops. It does not involve a group bound in a patterned structure, but rather a solidarity network defined in ethnic terms. The towndwellers display their ethnic origin in the language they use and in their way of life. This en- ables others "immediately to fit their neigh- bors and acquaintances into categories which determine the mode of behavior towards them." According to Mitchell, "for Africans in the Copperbelt, 'tribe' is the primary category of social interaction, i.e., the first significant characteristic to which any African reacts in another fperson]. Frequently ‘relationships never penetrate beyond this, and tribes ap- pear to one another to be undifferentiated wholes.) Despite the emergenée in the urban en- vironment of new, non-ethnic prestige and status strata, Mitchell argues, "there is a constant flow of newcomers into the towns from the various rural districts from which the Copperbelt draws its labor supplies. They are not immediately absorbed into the pres- tige system which could possibly supply an alternative principle of social interaction. In- stead their own ethnic distinctiveness which they took for granted in the rural areas is immediately thrown into relief by the multi- plicity of tribes with whom they are cast into association. Its importance to them is thus exaggerated, and it becomes the basis on which they interact with all strangers. 113. There are other bases for group solidarity in the urban environment. The African may 2. Among a number of American scholarly contributions on this sub- ject, the most notable are Immanuel Wallerstein, “Ethnicity and National Integration,’’ Cahiers d’Etudes Africaines, October, 1860; © and A. R. Zolberg, “‘Effets de la structure d’un parti politique sur integration nationale,” ibid. October, 1960, The most systematic study has been conducted by scholars of the Rodes-Livingstone Institute in Northern Rhodesia, especially J. Clyde Mitchell, A. L. Esptein, and Max Gluckman (See especially Mitchell’s The Kalela Dance, 1956; Epstein’ s Politics in an Urban African Community, ; and Gluckman’s ‘‘Tribalism in Modern British Central Lica ”” Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, January, 1960. 3. The Kalela Dance, ibid, pp. 28-32. SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM Page 13 1
HW 49061 Docld: 32626336 SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM see himself as an African vis-a-vis the Eu- ropean ruler or employer. He may react as a worker confronted with the company in certain situations, Nascent social stratification within the African community is yet another basis for social identification, In the Congo, the termination. of the colonial regime re- moved the largest single progenitor of unity among the African population. Urban Influences As elsewhere in Africa, the focal points of the modern political process in the Congo are the urban centers, where two ethnic phenomena have been observed:. 1) ''super- tribalism,"' a reductive process fusing vaguely related groups into a single solidarity net- work; and 2) virulent ethnic 'nationalism,"' spawned by the tensions of urban competi- tion and subsequently transmitted to the coun- tryside. "Super-tribalism'' has been widely remarked throughout Africa. In Nigerian coastal towns, all immigrants from the Northern Region are labelled ''Hausa,''! whether. or: not the label is accurate, In the Copperbelt, those. from the north and east are ''Benba''; those from the west, 'Lozi.''!-In Brazzaville, all from up river are "M'bochi''; in Leopoldville, the same people are ''Bangala.'' In Katanga, all from the north tend to be classed as ''Baluba.'' The reductive process is completed when the in- dividual himself accepts, at least in terms of his relations with other groups, the new label which others have assigned to him, The im- . migrant from -Equateur eventually becomes, for purposes of his Leopoldville existence, a ''Bangala.'' With other ''Bangala'' he shares a common vehicular language, Lingala, and a sense of resentment at the attempted domi- nation of the rival Bakongo tribe. , In itS extreme form, the 'super-tribe" is an artificial entity like the Leopoldville ''Ban- gala.'' There is no ''Bangala'! tribe anywhere in the Congo, Yet several decades of.con- solidation of the legend in Leopoldville have . entrenched it to the point where Jean Bolikango could invoke the rande as a basis fora political movement (the Puna party). A more typical case is that of the ''Baluba" of the Katanga cities. The Luba empires of traditional lore never gave political unity to the peoples. now subsumed under the Baluba heading. Three of the world's four major descent systems are to be found among the | Baluba, and the whole gamut of traditional political structures--from the segmentary, stateless systems ofthe Lualaba Valley Baluba, through the petty state systems of the Baluba Hemba (northeast Katanga), to the centralized chieftaincies of the Baluba Shankadi (north- west Katanga), The unifying thread lay not in ethnie bangala!' 5 ‘“sensions, coherence of traditional culture, but in com- mon urban experiences, mainly in southern Katanga. Luba was many things in its rural ‘cradles; it could become one only when con- fronted with more alien groups in the new towns. Se Ethnic "Nationalism" Related to the new ethnic solidarity systems which emerged in the urban environment was the birth in the cities of an aggressive ethnic nationalism, especially among large groups with a sense of their own history, such as the Bakongo, The Bakongo were endowed with a potent historic myth which embellished on the ancient Bakongo kingdom at San Salvador (in Angola), However, the kingdom was only a memory, and the Bakongo were rent by dis- Reassertion of Bakongo unity was initiated by intellectuals in -Leopoldville in reaction to grievances suffered in the capital. ‘Lingala: was gaining ground and had become the official’ language of the schools, to the detriment of Kikongo, the Bakongo language. The two Belgian-appointed heads of the Afri- can quarters of Leopoldville since World War II had both been 'Bangala,'' seemingly con- clusive proof. of colonial ill-will toward the Bakongo., From these grievances sprang the Abako party, which gradually succeeded in transmitting from the city to the country its militant appeal in defense of Bakongo pre- rogatives. The Mongo tribe is a particularly significant example of highly developed ethnic conscious- ness, This vast group, including nearly 2,000,000 people and covering a large part of the central basin, was split among five of the six former provinces. A remarkable sense of cultural identity had been preserved over this huge area. All were conscious of having des- cended from the-common ancestor Mongo, and spoke similar languages. However, the modern articulation of their latent sense of unity and ''Mongohood" resulted .from the frustrations of-Mongo migrants to the cities. The ‘leaders ‘of the Leopoldville Mongo in- cluded Antoine-Roger Bolamba (MNC/L par- _ ty, now Information’ Minister), Paul: Bolya (Unimo party, former Minister of Civil Serv- ice), and Joseph Ileo (now central government Commissioner in Elisabethville). Bolamba wrote in a 1956 article indignantly rejecting the ''Bangala" label by which the Mongo were popularly known in Leopoldville: "If we defend our name, it is not by egoism or mistrust, but because it suits us ....For the Mongo or Nkundo group occupies a a stretch in the central basin of the Congo... . We are astonished: to bear. a name which is. ‘not ours and-has no. significance. . In the history of our ancestors, we are told that. the neigh- boring group was our master, nearly all _ SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM Page 14