Kennedy continued, “I got about the same answers in our tour of the Congo, talking with its experts, inspecting its schools and colleges two years ago. They claimed to have profited from the mistakes of other nations who sent students from the colonies to study abroad, where they were exposed to political ideas they were not sufficiently educated to be able to criticize.”
In 1960, Congo won independence and held its first free elections. Patrice Lumumba, one of the leaders of the independence movement, was elected Congo’s first prime minister. He was a popular figure, a voice for Congolese ownership, responsibility, and power. He decried colonial rule and envisioned a future for Congo on its own terms. “The future of Congo is beautiful … without dignity there is no liberty, without justice there is no dignity, and without independence there are no free men… . History will one day have its say, but it will not be the history that Brussels, Paris, Washington, or the United Nations will teach, but that which they will teach in the countries emancipated from colonialism and its puppets.” 2
In 1961, Lumumba was assassinated. The United States’ CIA was widely considered to be behind the killing, 3 which apparently was based on concerns about budding alliances that Lumumba was forming with the Soviet Union. A 2013 article in The Guardian covered alleged deathbed revelations by the MI6 operative Daphne Park:
In a letter to the London Review of Books, Lord Lea said the admission was made while he was having a cup of tea with Daphne Park, who had been consul and first secretary from 1959 to 1961 in Leopoldville, as the capital of Belgian Congo was known before it was later renamed as Kinshasa following independence.
He wrote: “I mentioned the uproar surrounding Lumumba’s abduction and murder, and recalled the theory that MI6 might have had something to do with it. ‘We did,’ she replied. ‘I organised it.’”
“… We went on to discuss her contention that Lumumba would have handed over the whole lot to the Russians: the high-value Katangese uranium deposits as well as the diamonds and other important minerals largely located in the secessionist eastern state of Katanga,” added Lea. 4
With the backing of the US government, Mobutu Sese Seko was installed as the country’s new leader, and he received sustained support from the United States. Mobutu proved to be the quintessential corrupt African dictator, siphoning off approximately $5 billion into his personal coffers and pandering to Western interests. 5
The catalyst for the present-day Congo crisis began with the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Though historically there had been little conflict between Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda and intermarriage between the two groups was common, colonists exploited loose tribal affiliations, issued ethnic identity cards, and stoked animosity and the myth of Tutsis as a minority ruling class. Tensions boiled over at various points in the twentieth century, sending ethnic Tutsis fleeing for safety into Congo, where they established communities. Congolese-Tutsis, known as Banyamulenge, were never fully integrated into Congolese society.
Those ethnic tensions originally orchestrated by colonists ultimately exploded into the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Hutu militias killed at will for four months, resulting in the deaths of between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people.
A Tutsi-led defense force ultimately retook and secured the country. In the process, 100,000 to 200,000 Hutu genocidaires, known in Congo and Rwanda as Interahamwe (“those who kill together”), were pushed across the border into neighboring Congo, along with 1 million to 2 million Hutu refugees. The Interahamwe melded into refugee camps and organized with the aim of retaking Rwanda.
Rwanda’s new Tutsi-led government viewed these forces as an extreme security threat, which they appealed to the international community to address. Peaceful options were proposed by various authorities, such as spending a few hundred million dollars on moving the refugee camps far from Rwanda’s border so they no longer posed an imminent threat, but the international donor community rejected this arrangement.
With the support of the United States, Rwanda groomed Congolese Laurent Kabila to lead Rwandan forces into Congo. Kabila invaded and wiped out the camps overnight. Some Hutu civilians returned to Rwanda; others fled more than a thousand miles into Congo. The latter were pursued by the Rwandan forces, who carried out several massacres of Hutu civilians—attacks that a United Nations report labeled genocide (though the UN later retracted that classification at the protest of the Rwandan government). Laurent Kabila made it all the way to Kinshasa and overthrew Mobutu. Meanwhile, Interahamwe retreated into Congo’s forests, where they set up camps, rebranded themselves the Forces for the Democratic Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and have been terrorizing Congolese civilians ever since.
Other militias were formed to fight the FDLR, then each other; several other nations jumped into the fray, and the conflict erupted into what has been termed “Africa’s World War.” The United Nations and many policy analysts have accused all parties involved in the war of using the conflict as a cover for looting. 6 The Democratic Republic of the Congo is among the most resource-rich countries on the planet, with more than 1,100 minerals, including tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold. These minerals are often extracted illegally and traded illicitly by nearly all armed groups, including the Congolese army. The minerals are smuggled out, often through Rwanda, and, until 2014, ultimately ended up in 100 percent of consumer electronics products, among many other consumer goods.
In 2001, Laurent Kabila was assassinated and his son, Joseph Kabila, took his place as president of Congo. Warlords eventually engaged in a peace process, agreeing to a unique power-sharing agreement wherein the junior Kabila could maintain his presidency while heads of various factions took on the roles of vice presidents. Fighting continued in Eastern Congo, mostly by rag-tag militias, including the notorious FDLR.
The Congolese army integrated several militias into its ranks over the years. But the army often doesn’t pay its soldiers. Instead the army leaders give the soldiers guns and send them off to their outposts, assuming that the soldiers will take what they want and need from the same locals they are supposed to protect. These soldiers are major perpetrators of rape. A culture of impunity and lawlessness has taken over Eastern Congo, leading to mass displacement, atrocities, and the worst rape pandemic on earth. While for the most part people are no longer massacred by the hundreds, smaller-scale violence has continued unabated and the rape pandemic has spiked.
The ongoing crisis in Congo has proved more deadly than any conflict since World War II. A 2007 mortality study by the International Rescue Committee placed the death toll at 5.4 million, with new deaths occurring at a rate of 45,000 per month. 7 According to a 2011 study published in the American Journal of Public Health, in one year alone more than 400,000 women and girls were raped. 8
In 2006, with heavy international support and monitoring, Congo held its first democratic elections in more than forty years. Joseph Kabila won the presidency but his popularity waned in the following years. In 2011, the second round of democratic elections was held, with far less international technical and financial support. Though Kabila was declared the victor, the elections were widely regarded as fraudulent. Nonetheless, the outcome was accepted by the international community, which sent a powerful message that Kabila is not accountable to the Congolese people, thus bypassing an essential path to Congolese ownership of their country’s future.
When Joseph Kony is captured, the damage done to the community affected by his attacks will take years to undo. Meanwhile, Congo has collapsed. The dysfunctional army, police, and justice systems, along with corrupt, self-interested government, have left regular Congolese families like Mama Koko’s wide open to mass atrocity.
List of Characters
• • • •
Alexander, also known as Papa Alexander: Francisca’s uncle, André’s only full brother, and the last of forty-three children of Gamé
André: Francisca’s father and elder brother to Papa Alexander
André (Jr.): Alexander’s son
Ant
oine: Francisca’s younger brother
Antoinette: Francisca’s cousin, who was murdered during the LRA attack in Dungu in 2010, just prior to our arrival
Bernard: Francisca’s cousin
Bi: Mama Koko’s father
Bingo: Francisca’s cousin, adopted by Papa Alexander after being orphaned
Biroyo: Cisca’s classmate
Bondo: Bi’s father
Cecile: Francisca’s Congolese friend in Wyoming
Claude: Francisca’s younger brother
Dieu Merci: Roger and Marie’s youngest son, Papa Alexander’s grandson
Father Ferruccio: Italian priest, in Congo since the 1970s
Francisca, also known as Cisca as a child: Mama Koko’s daughter
Fulabako: Roger’s son
Gamé: Father of André and Alexander
Gamé (Jr.): Francisca’s younger brother
Harriet: Sister to Modeste, aunt to Antoinette, great-aunt to Heritier
Herbert: Heritier’s four-year-old brother
Heritier: Antoinette’s baby boy, found after the attack that killed her
Isaac: Francisca and Kevin’s first son, born in Dungu
Jean: Francisca’s firstborn son, from a previous relationship
Justine: Francisca’s younger sister
Kevin: Francisca’s American husband, a former Peace Corps volunteer
Kuli: Raphael’s daughter
Kumbawandu: Chief of the area in the 1960s, in Duru
Lomingo: Francisca’s daughter from a previous relationship
Mama Cecelia, also known as Cecelia: Papa Alexander’s fourth wife
Mama Koko, also known as Bernadette or Dette: Francisca’s mother
Mamba: Our second driver
Marie: Roger’s wife
Mayano: Our first driver
Modeste: Francisca’s cousin and Antoinette’s father
Modeste (Jr.): Heritier’s brother
Nahilite: Bi’s mother
Narcissis: Francisca’s niece
Neseti: Papa Alexander’s former girlfriend and mother to Roger
Nico: Francisca’s Greek playmate
Nico: Francisca’s brother
Nyakangba: Son of Roger and Marie, grandson of Papa Alexander
Patience: Francisca’s daughter from a previous relationship
Patrick: Neighbor of Bernard
Paul: Neighbor of Bernard, present at his death
Raphael: Roger’s friend and classmate, and Chief Kumbawandu’s grandson
Roger: Alexander’s firstborn son
Sako: Papa Alexander’s former girlfriend
Sasha: Congo and LRA expert, friend of the author
Serge: Aid worker from Kinshasa, neighbor of Lisa and Francisca at the Procure
Solomon: Francisca and Kevin’s youngest son, born in Dungu
Toni, Ngalagba, and Monokoko: Alexander’s first three wives
Vivica, later known as Tita Vica: Mama Koko’s mother, Francisca’s grandmother
Author’s Note
• • • •
Mama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen is a true story. It weaves together my 2010 trip to Dungu, firsthand accounts of the impact of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army on Francisca Thelin’s friends and neighbors, and Francisca’s family history stretching back to the 1950s and earlier. The material is based on my memory and on notes from my trip to Dungu, as well as on videotaped and transcribed interviews. In some instances, information that was relayed to me over the course of several conversations has been compressed into one conversation. Some portions are not presented in chronological order. There are no composite characters. The material has been confirmed by Francisca and other family members present. The re-creation of Francisca’s childhood and events taking place prior to our visit was based on and verified by Francisca and other members of her family.
Lisa J. Shannon
June 2014
Notes
• • • •
Notes to Appendix
1. John A. Kennedy, “Prime Need Is Education; Only 19 Native Congolese College Graduates There,” Times Daily, April 28, 1961, p. 5, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19610428&id=9Jct AAAAIBAJ&sjid=zMYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1227,6181859.
2. David Renton, David Seddon, and Leo Zeilig, The Congo: Plunder and Resistance (Zed Books, 2007), p. 99.
3. “Patrice Lumumba: The Most Important Assassination of the 20th Century,” http://www.theguardian.com/global-development poverty-matters2011/jan/17/patrice-lumumba-50th-anniversary -assassination.
4. “MI6 ‘Arranged Cold War Killing’ of Congo Prime Minister,” http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/02/mi6-patrice -lumumba-assassination.
5. Lisa Shannon, A Thousand Sisters (Seal Press, 2010).
6. Enough Project Team with the Grassroots Reconciliation Group, “A Comprehensive Approach to Congo’s Conflict Minerals,” strategic paper, The Enough Project, April 24, 2009.
7. “Congo Crisis,” http://www.rescue.org/special-reports/congo -forgotten-crisis.
8. Amber Peterman, Tia Palermo, and Caryn Bredenkamp, “Estimates and Determinants of Sexual Violence Against Women in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” American Journal of Public Health 101, no. 6 (June 2011): 1060–1067.
Acknowledgments
• • • •
When I asked Francisca who we should thank, she said, “The little people always get left out. Let’s thank Mayano. I miss him.” So, to begin, the last first: a special thanks to our drivers, Mayano and Mamba. Also, to the many people who push-started the Runner in times of humor and times of drunken Congolese army pursuit.
This book only came to be because of Francisca Thelin, along with Mama Koko, Papa Alexander, and everyone we interviewed. My deepest gratitude to them for their extensive time and willingness to embark on that sometimes painful journey into the past. They did it as a service to help their homeland heal and prosper, and to show us all the beauty of the real Congo.
Specifically, thanks to Aunt Harriet, Modeste, Raphael, Nyakangba, Paul, Antoinette’s brother, Father Ferruccio and the other mission priests, and Kevin.
Thanks to Francisca and Kevin’s family: Jean, Patience, Lomingo, Solomon, Isaac, Mimi, Safina, and Olivia.
This book would not be in your hands were it not for Emily Lavelle, the biggest champion of Mama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen; thanks to Emily’s keen editing instincts and dogged commitment, the book is now the very best version of itself. Thanks also to Lisa Kaufman for her behind-the-scenes support and commitment to getting stories like this one into the world. And of course to everyone at PublicAffairs, from the design team to the sales agents.
As ever, there aren’t enough words to thank the one and only Ann Shannon, my mom and go-to partnerin-crime for all things Africa, activism, and editing.
Thanks to my sister Julie Shannon, for serving as my “ideal reader” and reviewing multiple drafts, as well as my niece Aria Shannon, for reading early drafts and being generally awesome.
To Andrew Shakman, my sanctuary and best friend, for his undying support and remarkable story notes.
To dearest friend and editor extraordinaire Michelle Hamilton, as well as coach, producer, and protector Rachel Hanfling.
To Jerry Jones and the So-Hum Foundation, for early, ongoing, and always generous support.
To my agent Jill Marsal, for her early belief in me and the importance of these stories, for her ongoing support and stellar story notes.
To my dear friends Shelley Jacobsen, Kristen Leppert, Jesse Emerson, Gwen, Tammy and Amit Singh, Richa and Anil Sehgal and their family for tireless volunteer support, and Lana Veenker for her encouragement at many steps along the way.
For their encouragement, structure, and invaluable feedback in moving this project from notes to proposal to book, tremendous thanks to Harvard writing guru Jeffrey Seglin as well as Greg Harris, Harvard writing instructor extraordinaire.
Thanks to Charlie Clements of the Carr Center for Human Rights, mentor an
d fierce advocate for amplifying grassroots voices, and Vidya Sri, for their endless patience and support during my absence from campaign work and fellowship duties to complete the book. Also to Frank Hartmann, whose mentorship and game plans have kept me on track and implementing effectively.
Huge thanks to some of my favorite advocates working on the LRA and experts Sasha Lezhnev, Michael Poffenberger, Lisa Dougan, John Prendergast, Jason Russell, and all the non-elites who ever worked to stop Kony or bring stability to Congo.
Thanks to the many veteran aid-worker friends and colleagues who have indulged me with hours of conversation on the dynamics of international aid and the complexities of working for change in Africa.
And to everyone, anywhere, who steps up in his or her own way in the name of good, who sticks with it despite complications and criticism, often with nothing more than blind faith that in the face of atrocity, doing something—anything—is imperative.
AJC Photography
Lisa J. Shannon is a human rights activist, writer, and speaker. She is the founder of Run for Congo Women, which raises awareness of the forgotten crisis in Congo, and the author of the award-winning book A Thousand Sisters. She has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and NPR’s Morning Edition and has been featured in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, and The Economist. In 2010, she was named one of O magazine’s 100 Most Influential Women on the Planet. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
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