Word: congo
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...latest turmoil has its roots in the meltdown of a once hopeful alliance that united four African nations--Uganda, Angola, Rwanda and Burundi--with the promise of establishing a stable, democratic Congo. But the alliance, formed in 1996 to speed the ouster of longtime Congolese leader Mobutu Sese Seko, was split almost instantly by self-interest, greed and ambition. Laurent Kabila, the onetime Congolese rebel installed at the head of the new Congo government, is fighting against three of his ex-allies--Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi--in a desperate war to preserve his rule. The fighting has bled across Congo...
...Here's my business card. Sorry my name is misspelled. A friend made the cards. I have no money." Meet the interim Finance Minister of Congo, Mawampanga Mwana Nanga. He is also the Agriculture Minister. "Every day is a nightmare. The roads go no farther than 60 miles outside the capital. Less than 10% of the country has electricity. People have forgotten how to work together, and too many are corrupt. This country is not a state. It's a mess. Why are we Africans shooting at each other? There is so much work to be done...
...Congo that Kabila inherited was in need of help. The vast river basins and dense rain forests of the Congo, a piece of land the size of the U.S. east of the Mississippi, have never been conquered by asphalt or rail ties. Steamers still ply the Congo River, the only efficient means of transport that survived Mobutu's unbenign neglect...
...What the Congo could be has been obvious since British explorer Lieut. Verney Cameron captivated Belgium's King Leopold in 1876 with tales of riches. The soil is fertile. There are giant stretches of tropical wood, and an estimated $58 billion of mineral wealth is in the ground...
Kabila meant to turn that promise into a future. Between his arrival in office in May 1997 and the outbreak of civil war last August, he changed the name of the country back to Congo (from Zaire). He brought inflation down from 900% to 5%. He attempted to build a professional army. But what Kabila didn't do was broaden his political base beyond his own tribe. And he began using arrests of politicians and journalists as a management tool...