Long Term Causes
The Rwandan Genocide
While the unscrupulous actions of most of the presidents are already extremely harmful by themselves, they are the surface level cause, while the Rwanda’s Genocide is the unseen but huge underlying cause. The Rwandan Genocide which ended in July, 1994, was a genocide in which an ethnic group called the Hutu, tried to kill all of the members of a rivaling group called the Tutsis. After this war, millions of Hutu Rwandans fled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to avoid conflict with surviving Tutsi people (BBC News). This did not stop the, now Tutsi led, Rwandan Government from invading DRC to find the Hutu people. Rebel groups from the DRC were also not happy with the sudden influx of Rwandan refugees. Some rebels stated that the foreigners were “corrupting their land”(VICE). The Congolese rebels helped the Rwandan Government attack the villages in which the Rwandan refugees were living, and brutally massacred them.
After the Congolese rebels, led by Laurent Kabila, and the Rwandan forces succeeded in taking down the Hutus, in what is now known as the First Congo War, they went on to take over the DRC presidency. They exiled the then current President Mobutu, and replaced him with Laurent Kabila. Kabila soon got paranoid that his allies would turn on him for his country’s resources. He forced them out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo which kick started the Second Congo War which included eight surrounding countries around Africa.
After the Congolese rebels, led by Laurent Kabila, and the Rwandan forces succeeded in taking down the Hutus, in what is now known as the First Congo War, they went on to take over the DRC presidency. They exiled the then current President Mobutu, and replaced him with Laurent Kabila. Kabila soon got paranoid that his allies would turn on him for his country’s resources. He forced them out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo which kick started the Second Congo War which included eight surrounding countries around Africa.
The consequences
The majority of the war was fought on Congolese soil and violence directly affected the congolese population. The conflict instigated a surge in displacement for the Congolese people because their homes had become a war zone. In addition, the government reacted by arming locals for “self defense" (BBC News). This had negative consequence because now there are many different armed militias around the DRC, all with different agendas. This is a pivotal point in the timeline because this is when the rebels got handed their power on a silver platter.