Corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, once legendary, has diminished in recent years, but continues to exceed corruption in most states. The BBC's DRC country profile calls its recent history "one of civil war and corruption." PresidentJoseph Kabila established the Commission of Repression of Economic Crimes upon his ascension to power in 2001.
History
ruled Zaire from 1965 to 1997, looting his country's wealth for personal use to such a degree that critics coined the term "kleptocracy". A relative once explained how the government illicitly collected revenue: "Mobutu would ask one of us to go to the bank and take out a million. We'd go to an intermediary and tell him to get five million. He would go to the bank with Mobutu's authority, and take out ten. Mobutu got one, and we took the other nine." The Congolese explained the lack of support from the government by the humorous article 15: Débrouillez-vous. Mobutu institutionalized corruption to prevent political rivals from challenging his control, leading to an economic collapse in 1996. Mobutu allegedly stole up to US$4 billion while in office. In 2017, Reuters unveiled a scheme involving overpriced biometric passports.
led an insurgence group against Mobutu and quickly assumed power after Mobutu was overthrown. During this time period, Kabila issued a statement making himself president with near absolute power in the government. With people supporting him for overthrowing Mobutu, he was not initially met with much public opposition. However, Kabila's and his government's goals for the regime were said to be unclear and vague. He refused immediate elections in fear of the country returning to Mobutuism, and continued to postpone promised elections. The constitution was not changed, and he and his peers exploited resources for their personal benefit. Laurent Kabila, led a regime that upheld corruption through clientelism by appointing his clients as cabinet members. Under the Kabila regime, the DRC has failed to pull itself out of its “collapsed state” status from when Mobutu was in power. The government has not implemented security and human rights reforms, free media, and the decentralization of power. The economy plummeted, forcing workers to be underpaid and living conditions to deteriorate. Laurent Kabila was killed in 2001 by one of his body guards in an attempted coup d'état. During that time period, The Democratic Republic of Congo received a score of 1.9 out of 10 in the Corruption Perception Index, which reveals high levels of corruption. His son, Joseph Kabila was elected president after Laurent Kabila's death. Joseph Kabila is working with the World Bank to curtail corruption and improve economy. In addition, the Commission of Economic Crimes was implemented in 2001 by President Joseph Kabila. Nonetheless, there are still reports of high ranking officials exploiting resources for their personal benefit and other forms of corruption. In 2006, the constitution changed the president's minimum age from 35 to 30 years old to include Joseph Kabila, who was 33 at the time..
