“Africa doesn’t need strong men, it needs strong institutions” was stated by President Barack Obama when he spoke to the people of Ghana on July 11,2009. He emphasized that Africans must own their future by strengthening democratic institutions and rule of law in their countries. Lack of past and present institutions in the countries of Africa has resulted in tyranny and crimes against humanity. The Genocide of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was an event that took place due to the lack of institutions. Genocide is defined as being the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group. But for the people of the Congo this is unfortunately all they know, since millions of their people have been killed, women raped and land has been exploited for its rich natural resources for decades.
Since the 19th century, the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaire, have endured numerous numbers of violence and systematic exploitation because of their country’s rich natural resources. Belgian King Leopold II acquired and ruled the Congo as his own property. He and his regime beat, killed and enslaved millions of Congolese in pursuit of their resources, which include gold, copper, diamonds, coltan, and timber. In 1960 the Democratic Republic of the Congo gained independence from Belgium but political turmoil continued. General Mobutu Sese Seko gained power in 1965, destroyed internal rebellions, unified the nation resulting in stability and prosperity of the Congo. It seemed as if the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its people were finally turning around for the better, until it was made evident that Mobutu was using the country’s new prosperity for his own personal gain and dictatorship, which lasted 32 years. In 1994 genocide in the neighboring African country of Rwanda hastened Mobutu’s downfall and helped plunged the Democratic of the Congo into the deadest conflict in African history.
The Rwandan...