I am a criminologist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
I've traveled the world enough to see the best and the worst of human beings.
The war in Eastern Congo illustrates the worst of human beings: it's all about
stealing, looting, and killing mostly by the dictators of Rwanda and Uganda.
I've called them and other African dictators of the same stripe "little
devils in human shape" and "little devils coated in human
skin". This war , the most stupid of all conflicts, has cost taxpayers around
the world several billions of dollars to maintain the largest and the most
ineffective United Nations force in history and more than 4,000,000 Congolese
have lost their lives so far.
Here are simple ideas that will help save millions of lives and
billions of dollars to taxpayers:
(1) There is an international market for stolen goods from the
Congo, and it's very easy to destroy that market. Just go to point 2 below:
(2) Disturb the supply chain. Legislation has proved to be one
the most ineffective way to stop the flow of stolen goods from the Congo to
international markets. How do you disturb or blockade the supply chain of
stolen goods from Eastern Congo? Go to point 3
(3) The landlocked nations of Rwanda and Uganda that sponsor
those stupid wars in the Congo can only export the stolen goods through the
ports of Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. They will never try
the port of Mogadishu in Somalia: there are thousands of pirates out there!!!
So, what? Go to point 4.
(4) Instead of spending billions of dollars on an ineffective
force that couldn't stop the rebels, The United Nations must work with the
governments of Kenya and Tanzania to make sure that from now on no truck
carrying stolen goods from the Congo enters Kenya or Tanzania. This is very
very easy. There are very good inspection and verification companies in the
world; speak with them! It is very easy to track and certify minerals
from the mines to the buyer. Likewise, we can track a bag of coffee or tea from
a farm to the final consumer. We've done this in Latin America where I spent
two decades. We can tell from which farm a banana bought at Walmart comes from.
This is no rocket science, unless you're a Martian of course! Unfortunately,
there are tons of Martians at the United Nations who still don't get it! A
no-certification = no-entry = no-export model will lead to the end of that
stupid war in Eastern Congo. Another lesson I learned from Latin America is to implement an aerial smuggling interdiction program aimed at preventing suspect planes from landing and taking off from Eastern Congo. You only need radars and a few airplanes to deter criminal activity by air. Go to point 5
(5) In a short period of time, we will witness the fall of those
tyrants, yes, those little devils coated in human skin and the birth of a
Dictatorship-Free Zone (DFZ) in East and Central Africa. This is what millions
of Africans have been yearning for for decades. Now it's time to act.
