THE SILENT INFLICTION IN CONGO

Saturday, 27th April, 2024.

                                 By Adejide

The silent infliction in Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo is an African Country blessed with precious resources as copper, gold, Colton diamonds and cobalt. Just like other African countries, DRC suffers from irresponsible leadership and the greed of Western powers.

The DRC has the second largest forest in the world after Amazon and it is a home for cobalt production. It produces more than 60% of the world’s supply of cobalt. Cobalt is a hard, lustrous, silver-grey metal which has variety of industrial applications. It is a component in the production of batteries, smart phones, laptops and other electronic devices. It is also an important element in the production of JET ENGINES which played a critical role during the Second World War (1939-1945) as the US importation of cobalt from DRC was skyrocketed.

Democratic Republic of Congo President, Felix Tshisekedi

In spite of all these benefits, DRC remains one the poorest countries in the world. Larger percentage of Congolese live in abject poverty. There is a report of a humanitarian crisis as a result of exploitation of the labour force, unfairness to child labour and unsafe working environment.  The percentage of children used in mining is inhumane and the mining system is informal where labourers primarily use their bare hands and they earn as little as $2 per day. The abuse of human right and exploitation suffered by the workers is untold. With 6.9 million Congolese people displaced due to crises and deadly rebel attacks, we can agree an average Congolese undergoes severe hardship.

Image showing miners working under bad working condition

Factually, researchers from Northwestern University confirmed cobalt mining is the cause behind violence and insecurity in DRC. Neighbouring countries such as Uganda, Burundi and most especially Rwanda play a critical role in causing conflicts in the DRC. Rwanda is criticized as proxy representing Western power and UK due to their close relationship. Investigations revealed Rwanda is working alongside M23 to invade DRC for cobalt mining. The Congolese government are also enablers of corrupt practices due to their lack of empathy, the usual way of African leaders. Mining companies also capitalize on this condition to buy cobalt at extremely low cost and steady the exploitative conditions.

Numbers working under terrible condition

Meanwhile, International communities are very much aware of the slavery going on in DRC. Companies like Apple , BMW, Goggle, Samsung that rely extensively on Cobalt for their production said to establish various initiatives to improve working condition in cobalt mining. Unfortunately, it does not change the systemic problems which has led to poverty that chase citizens to work under such manipulative conditions to provide their basic needs.

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How can African leaders break away from the influence of Western power?

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