President Joseph Kabila, who will not run for his own succession in the presidential, legislative and provincial elections on December 23, has some idea of what he will be. The strong man of Kinshasa sees himself as a future farmer, respectful of nature and in love with the environment.
Interviewed by Colette Braeckman of Belgium Evening, the most Congolese of Belgian journalists, Kabila said he will retire to his farms. “My farms, in Kingakati or Katanga, are the result of years of work, I built little by little … This is also a lesson I would like to give to the Congolese: they must be the first investors in their country. That instead of creating 600 political parties they create 600 companies. It is a patriotic duty. “.
Coming to power in 2001, Joseph Kabila will not be a candidate and does not hear, he insists, annoying his successor. An insurance that falls after 18 years of rule and that sounds like a political testament.
The particularity of these elections lies in the willingness of the Congolese State to finance them itself and, in passing, to dispense with observers from the European Union and the United States. The head of state tempers: “there will be more than 40,000 national observers, who have already been trained for this purpose, and also the witnesses of the political parties. In addition, there will be observers from the region, the SADC (Southern African Development Community), the African Union, the Community of Central African States (CCEAC), the United Nations International Francophonie … “.
At 48, Kabila moves away from power but refuses to talk about retirement. “Retirement, no, I said the reservation. In case of need, we can always appeal to us, to serve the nation. At the word.
