COUNTRY PROFILE

A vast country with immense economic resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) is in the midst of a civil war, which has pitted the late president Laurent Kabila's forces, supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe, against rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda. In 1972, the President declared only six organized religions were permitted to operate and own property, but economic and social disasters forced a dramatic reversal, so that by 1980 there was considerable religious freedom once more, with a resumption of Christian control of many schools and institutions that had been seized and plundered by the state. Despite the harsh civil war, DR Congo boasts 96 percent of its population is Christian. Churches are overflowing, and in many areas weekly all-night prayer meetings for the nation are being held. The Christian Church still remains the only viable national social structure for rebuilding the nation. 

OVERVIEW

In 1960 Belgium hastily granted independence to the ill-prepared people of DR Congo, which led to eight years of violence, anarchy and secessionist wars. After independence, DR Congo immediately faced an army mutiny and an attempt at secession by its mineral-rich province of Katanga. A year later, its prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, was seized and killed by troops loyal to army chief Joseph Mobutu. In 1965 Mobutu seized power, later renaming the country Zaire and himself Mobutu Sese Seko. He turned Zaire into a springboard for operations against Soviet-backed Angola and thereby ensured US backing. But he also made Zaire synonymous with corruption. After the Cold War, Zaire ceased to be of interest to the US. Thus, when in 1997 neighboring Rwanda invaded it to flush out extremist Hutu militias, it gave a boost to the anti-Mobutu rebels, who quickly captured the capital, Kinshasa, installed Laurent Kabila as president and renamed the country DR Congo. Nonetheless, DR Congo's troubles continued. A rift between Kabila and his former allies sparked a new rebellion, backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe took Kabila's side, turning the country into a vast battleground. Kabila was assassinated in January 2001. 

FACTS

Population: 52 million 
Capital: Kinshasa 
Major languages: English, French, Lingala, Kingwana, Kikongo, Tshiluba 
Major religions: Christianity, Islam
Form of government: Republic 
Monetary unit: 1 Congolese franc = 100 centimes
Main exports: Diamonds, copper, coffee, cobalt, crude oil 
Internet domain: .cd
Time zone: GMT+1
International dialing code: +243 

LEADERS

 
President:
Joseph Kabila 

Joseph Kabila became president in January 2001 at the age of 31, after a bodyguard fatally wounded his father, Laurent, a few days earlier. Described as quiet and lacking his father's charisma, he accompanied his father's rebel army towards Kinshasa in 1997 and, as a result, was rewarded with the title of major-general, and a post at the head of the armed forces. Born to a Tutsi woman while his father was in exile, he communicates more easily in the English and Swahili spoken in much of East Africa than in the French and Lingala spoken in most of DR Congo. 

Interior Minister: Gaetan Kakudji; Foreign Minister: Leonard Okitundu; Minister-Delegate for Defense: Godefroid Tcham'lesso; Finance and Budget Minister: Jean Kalondaya. 

MEDIA

Media freedom is restricted by decree. Furthermore, journalists face harassment by the authorities, prompting many to exercise self-censorship. Nonetheless, the press continues to criticize government bodies, and some publications serve as mouthpieces for opposition parties, despite the fact that these were suspended shortly after Laurent Kabila became president in 1997. About 15 newspapers appear regularly in the capital, Kinshasa, and even more are published sporadically. In addition, there are eight television channels and about 10 radio stations, five of which broadcast news. Church radio networks are growing, but the state-controlled broadcasting network reaches the largest numbers of citizens. Foreign broadcasts, including those of the BBC, Radio France Internationale and Voice of America, are banned. 

     Television
     Radio-Television Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) - state-controlled terrestrial and satellite TV Television 

     Radio 
     La Voix du Congo - state-controlled, operated by RTNC, broadcasting in French, Swahili, Lingala, 
     Tshiluba and Kikongo 

     News Agencies 
     Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP) - state-controlled 
     Documentation et Informations Africaines (DIA) 
     Roman Catholic news agency 

OBSTACLES TO MINISTRY

• Civil war
• Safety for citizens
• Lawlessness and violence have increased as the economic situation has declined.

SPIRITUAL POWER POINTS

• Nominal Christians
• Despite the high rate of people professing to be Christian, over 30 percent no longer attend church.
• Need for a vision for the lost

Special thanks to Patrick Johnstone's, "Operation World" publisher, ISBN# 0-310-40031-7; and country profiles by BBC