IMPERIALISM: CONGO

Introduction

I am Beni Mwe and I currently live in Kinshasa, the capitol of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I am one of four vice presidents in the country. My job is to help President Joseph Kabila make decisions.

I have come to the U.N. today to demonstrate the affects that colonization has made on my country

Background Information

My great grandfather, Twa Mwe, was a leader for one of the small villages in the Luba Kingdom in the late 19th century

His village was very peaceful and everyone got along

Most of the people lived off of agriculture, with occasional hunting

The people worshiped the king of the Luba empire and their dead ancestors

His village was very well known for their wood carvings which they would trade to other towns

Beginning of Colonization

One day a white man showed up to his village and asked him to sign a treaty

The treaty promised my great grandfather a large amount of wealth and prosperity in exchange for land

He happily signed the treaty and heard nothing of any white man for around a year

Colonization Process

After a year passed, a group of white men showed up to the village with guns

They told my great grandfather that all of the people in his village, including him, were now slaves of King Leopold II of Belgium

Those who refused to be slaves were immediately killed

The white men then told them that they must get a certain amount of rubber, if the amount was not achieved, people would be tortured (Rubber Link)

Colonization Process (cont.)

The white men held my great grandmother captive until my great grandfather came back with enough rubber

When he did not have enough, they killed my great grandmother, who was pregnant at the time, in front of him

He was then tortured and his hand was cut off Later that week, his village was raided by a

neighboring village in search of human hands The neighboring village had not met the amount

of rubber so they had to pay for it in human hands

Colonization Process (cont.)

Catholic missionaries then came to my great grandfather’s village and forced him to convert

He had to forget about all of his ancestors, and the King of the Luba empire was killed

My great grandfather later escaped with my grandmother and traveled to British East Africa

My family remained in the area until my father moved back to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where I was born

The Congo as a Result

Before colonization, the Congo was a very peaceful area with one form of government

The Luba people had a very small army because there was no violence throughout the land

Almost everyone practiced the same religion and nonviolently traded

After getting independence in 1960, there have been a variety of different political parties and religions which continue to change the government

Anti-government gangs also go from village to village killing people and burning buildings

So far 3.9 million people have died because of this, the most of any war since WWII

The Congo as a Result (cont.) While King Leopold II owned the Congo free

state the population of indigenous people dropped from 20 or 30 million to 8 million

This deprived the country of human resources and it has taken almost 75 years to recover

The rubber industry also contributed to major deforestation throughout the nation

This has put many rare animals in extreme danger of extinction

Conclusion

Finally, the Belgians brought greed to the Congo Before, the Luba people were satisfied with

everything they had Today, the Congo faces the problem of blood

diamonds Local warlords are exporting millions of dollars in

diamonds to help fund violence throughout the country

This has created a very hostile environment to live in, and gives the Democratic Republic of Congo the highest rate of rape in the world

Without colonization, the Congo was a tranquil, problem free area, but because of colonization, the Congo was put in a state of despair

The Democratic Republic of Congo would greatly appreciate if the United Nations would financially aid the government to help make up for the multiple losses from colonization

Helpful Resources to help complete worksheet: CIA World Factbook Blood Diamonds