The Democratic Republic of Congo, whilst having the potential to be a rich country, is in fact poor country. Corruption and armed conflicts in particular have inhabited infrastructure development and, hence complicated the access of the majority of the population to basic services as well as the protection and promotion of basic rights.
The central African country the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) also formerly known as Zaire has an estimated population of over 70 million (National Institute of Statistics, 2010). It is one of the few countries sharing its border with nine other states ;the Republic of Congo ,Central African Republic , Sudan , Rwanda , Burundi , Uganda ,Tanzania , Zambia and Angola . Geographically, the country is exactly at the heart of Africa and politically at the heart of the three major economic exchanges; the Economic Community of the Central African States (ECCAS), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
The Democratic Republic of Congo is known in modern history since the 15th century through the stories of the first Portuguese explorers who described it as the country of big pre -colonial political organizations such as Kingdoms and empires Congo. Lunda , Kuban ; among others and it has been subject to different kinds of oppression that resulted in four centuries of slavery before becoming the private property of the Belgian King Leopold II
In 1908 after, having gotten wealthier through the rubber trade and other goods in the region such as wood, King Leopard II, following bankruptcy, handed over the territory to the Belgium government. The country was then called the Belgian Congo and this was the start of the official colonization which lasted nearly five decades. In the 1950s, the winds of independence resulted in a political crisis which led to the creation of some Congolese. After several years of political crisis, the colonizers separates agreed to sit around the same table to discuss the conditions for independence to the effective of June 30th 1960. But this independence resulted in a political crisis which led to among others , the assassination of the prime minister , Mr. Patrice Emery Lumumba , and succession attempts in Katanga , the country mining reserve , and the rebellions in the current ‘Province Oriental “. In 1965, a young army officer, following a coup, took power by force from the elected president, Joseph Kasavumbu. He stayed in power over thirty two years and established a dictatorial regime characterized by lack of basic freedoms and the development of corruption.
In 1984, following the perpetration of genocide in Rwanda the Democratic Republic of Congo , sharing the border with the thousand hills country became I host country for ten thousands of Rwandan refugees and a refuge for the genocides perpetrators most of these seeking refuge in the country , gathered and organized the counterattack against the patriotic front which was established in Rwanda.
In background to this , in the eastern part of the Democratic republic of Congo some militias were being created to defend themselves and resist the enemies in the same environment ,Mr. Laurent Desire Kabila , a former militia man in the 60s exploited the political instability in the eastern part of the country by setting up an army and starting a two year march to Kinshasa , the capital CITY. On the 17th May 1997 , he self proclaimed President , replacing Mobutu who died some months mater in Morocco.
In the meantime , Rwanda felling threatened by the presence of the former ,militias on the Congolese territory , supported an armed rebellion in eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda for 2 years the country was out into two parts Kinshasa and the loyalist forces controlled a little than half of the territory
This crisis resulted in the signing of a Comprehensive and inclusive agreement in2008 which enabled the main prolagonists to come together in a Government, just in the time to organize free , democratic and transparent elections . In the meantime the self – proclaimed President Kabila was assassinated in Kinshasa and his son , Joseph Kabila took over head of the executive . He organized and won the elections in 2006 and 2011
