Jessica Mwiza

Many end up defending the very structure that continues to weaken, fracture, destroy them.

Such entities would resemble, in many respects, the political formations that existed before colonial destruction. They would be more governable and more defensible. Yet this proposal is dismissed as “Balkanization,” often framed as a foreign (Rwandan, “Tutsi”) scheme.

Tragically, many Congolese have been conditioned to reject the only structural solution that could one day allow genuine freedom: reorganizing this immense territory into smaller political units that reflect the region’s peoples, cultures, and languages.

The DRC - from its brutal creation to its incomplete decolonization - functions as a performance for investors devoid of moral constraint. It is a stark example of how racialized capitalism operates in practice.

The crisis in eastern Congo, therefore, is not a “tribal” or “ethnic” war. It is a form of racialized and neo‑colonial domination operating through fragmentation. Tshisekedi’s presidency governs within that system rather than overturning it.

Rather than dismantling colonial racial categories, the system continues to function through them. Division remains administratively and politically useful, even central.

(and honestly, it will be much more difficult for Congo than for Rwanda because the DRC is a fake country made from the destruction of former kingdoms and the definitive separation of their people into new nations).

At the same time, identity fractures in the East are politically activated rather than healed (only Rwanda is committed to healing). Citizenship debates, land disputes, and militia politics operate within a state that has never built inclusive national belonging …

It negotiates contracts, seeks foreign investment, and promises "modernization". Yet the fundamental outward flow of wealth remains intact. This time, Tshisekedi has chosen that Congolese citizens will receive even less. And so Rwanda must be accused more loudly, in order to deflect responsibility.

Fanon described the postcolonial “national bourgeoisie” as a class that does not transform the colonial economy but instead becomes an intermediary within it. Under Tshisekedi, the Congolese state has not broken from the extractive model.

The region is deliberately and inaccurately portrayed as chaotic, ethnic, and tribal, while the outward flow of resources remains uninterrupted. Instability is localized; profit is global.

Meanwhile, Congo sits atop minerals that are indispensable to the global economy: cobalt, coltan, gold. Armed groups clash, civilians are displaced, yet supply chains continue to function.

Some groups are treated as inherently rooted; others as permanently suspect. This logic was engineered under colonial rule by Europeans, and it is now deployed globally - by both white and non‑white actors - to capture power and wealth.

When entire communities are labeled either “autochthonous” or “foreign,” when citizenship becomes conditional, and when land rights hinge on ancestral legitimacy narratives, this is never simply “ethnic diversity”. It is racialized hierarchy.

and belonging was RACIALIZED — distinguishing “natives” from “migrants,” and politicizing territory. This bureaucratic racial ordering continues to shape conflict today.

To be very clear: North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri (and the rest of the country) are not theaters of “tribal hatred” or “ethnic wars.” They are colonial frontier zones. Under Belgian rule, land was reorganized, fluid identities were FROZEN into rigid administrative categories,

The structures of extraction, division, and external dependency never disappeared. Under Félix Tshisekedi, that structure has only become more predatory: serving the narrow interests of one clan - his family - and an expanding circle of external masters. Congo was neither decolonized nor liberated.

The Myth of Tribal Conflict in Eastern Congo - and the reality of Neo-Colonial Domination

Last semester, I was teaching Fanon and reflecting on his explicit warning that independence is not the same as liberation. Today, the DRC stands as a striking illustration of exactly what he meant. 🧵👇🏽

incapable et ignorant, fanatique des églises évangélistes les plus obscurantistes.
Des fois les histoires de places tournantes, il s’agirait d’oublier. 2/2

Le maquisard d’une sombre cause; ami et allié du Hutu Power de 1994 et du Bantu Power d’aujourd’hui. Président d’un pays où l’on disparaît, où l’on meurt toujours pour une forme de nez, une taille, un teint. Colonisé mental,1/2

This type of discourse really prevents us from properly addressing our own problems and protecting ourselves. I will write more about this tomorrow because it is a serious issue. If the framework of thought is wrong, then our analyses and solutions will be wrong, too!

We can thank political scientists and their obsession with maintaining racialized capitalism for this error, including researchers from the Global South.

Describing the social structures of the #DRC or our entire region as "tribes" or ethnic groups is inaccurate. Therefore, it is also inaccurate to speak of "ethnic or tribal conflicts" or any variation of these terms. 👇🏽

but because the population itself was considered criminal. The Banyamulenge were accused of being allied with the M23 long before the group’s resurgence. These accusations were followed by mass imprisonments based solely on physical appearance."

Targeted campaign: Sixteen months of drone strikes on Minembwe The people of Minembwe have been subjected to regular mortar and kamikaze drone attacks for the past 16 months. These attacks intensified between January and February after...

"The people of Minembwe are systematically criminalized on the basis of their Tutsi ethnicity. Nearly 7,000 soldiers and more than 5,000 Wazalendo and FDLR fighters were deployed to control small localities—not because of any genuine security threat… www.newtimes.co.rw/article/3324...

💚

This semester, I created a syllabus based entirely on Du Bois’s scholarship. I made this choice for my students, but also for myself, as our ability to understand and combat contemporary ideologies is largely due to his legacy 🙏🏽🙏🏽

They claimed that the Tutsi were violent and that they were foreigners "conquering Rwanda." They said that the Hutu were just protecting themselves. And it worked. The mainstream media followed, allowing them to continue exterminating all Tutsi people.

🔹 For example, I reminded them that during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the Rwandan genocidal government was participating in UN Security Council meetings. Alongside France, they were shaping THEIR false narrative of what was happening on the ground.

➡️ We really need to stop accusing and venting against the UN and its decorum (the "experts" are part of it. We need to start talking about political problems and naming real leaders, real entities.]