Named after the host location, the festival features traditional Congolese music and dance, as well as incredible masks and decoration. It is a celebration of Congolese culture and heritage, and it attracts visitors from all over the country and the world. The festival has been held since the 1960s and is considered one of the most important cultural events in the Congo.
So many Xylophones and drums, visually striking masks, and symbolic story-telling dances of creation, ancestors and how to live life, are brought to life in the festival!
History summary
The Kongo Kingdom meets the Portuguese
The Scramble for Africa allows the King of Belgium to ‘own’ all the land
Rubber becomes valuable and the King squeezes the life out of the people
Europe notices and removed the King’s control, though little changes
Lumumba and others gain independence and hope
Mobutu steals power and becomes one of the most corrupt leaders
The end of Mobutu eventually starts the African World War.
The history: Origins of the DRC.
1390: The Kongo Kingdom - the source of the name
Growing through localising power around its capital in what is now north-western Angola, the kingdom established itself.
The name stems from the capital of the kingdom which was also lent to the river and to the 2nd largest jungle in the world!
The Kongo kingdom’s society revolved around ancestor worship and a creator that turned a primordial chaotic and formless world into shape (more accurate than most creation stories!).
1483: the Portuguese arrive
They established trade with the Kongo Kingdom - especially interested in their slave markets, but also their artisans goods of ivory, textiles and figurines.
Within 10 years, the Kongo king (Manikongo) had converted to Christianity (though a version mixed with some traditional beliefs), wrote to the Pope to send an official bishop, and changed his name to a more Christian/European name - Manikongo Afonso I Mvemba a Nzinga.
1542: the death of the king and eventually Kingdom
The Kongo kingdom fell into a succession dispute. With the support of the Portuguese, a new Manikongo was instated, but on the condition that the Portuguese could settle in Luanda and begin the creation of Angola as a colony and thus began the decline of the kingdom and the growth of many groups.
1885: The scramble for Africa
If you have never heard of the Scramble of Africa, you should have. The German chancellor invites the US and 13 European countries to stop fighting each other and just talk. No African’s were invited or present.
Each stated why they should have a claim to different parts of the continent and special areas like the Niger and Congo river couldn’t not be controlled. 100 days later a map was produced.
Suddenly, distinct groups were blended into countries. Straight lines crossed through holy sites. European powers were granted supreme control of areas - including oddly not Belgium but the King Leopold II directly.
King Leopold II and the ‘Free’ state
Before Hitler, King Leopold II was the name of brutality and concentration camps.
The Belgian king named his new state the Congo Free State, he told Europe the focus would be on religious missionary work and then set huge requirements of export quotas on the ‘free’ state.
The king grew dramatically wealthy and by pure chance found himself to ‘own’ the worlds largest rubber producing lands.
Horrors of long chains of command are often seen through history and the same happened here. Huge quotas set by the King led to huge penalties if towns and citizens failed them. The seriousness of failures to meet quotas would require harsh punishment - cutting off hands, killings and full destruction of villages.
Within 30 years, the population of the Congo Free State was half the size it had been due to the rule.
Knowledge of the atrocities spread (oddly from Arthur Conan Doyle, author of Sherlock Holmes et al.) and Belgium decided to buy the Congo from their king. The king never received any justice or punishment. Little changed for those in the country.
1940s: Lumumba - the source of independence
After over 50 years of colonial rule, a democratic election was held and up rose Lumumba, pushing for unity between the country’s various ethnic groups.
Lumumba was born on a farm, educated by a Catholic missionary and got a job at the post office where he learnt 5 languages and became vocal politically, writing for the Liberal party of Belgium at one point too.
Lumumba then helped start a national focused political party, which was unique as it was not focused on an ethnic of regional base. From this, he was invited to a conference held in Ghana focused at the liberation of African people, just after Ghana left the British Empire and became independent.
1960s: DRC becomes independent, Lumumba is Prime Minister
This pan-African focus pushed Lumumba’s activism to a new level and ultimately he became Prime Minister, due to his popularity in the country, with Kasa-Vubu as the President, for his political experience, through a political coalition.
In the Independence Ceremony (which Lumumba initially wasn’t invited to!), Lumumba’s speech covered many topics referencing the cruelty imposed on them (“no Congolese will ever forget that independence was won in struggle”), highlighted the racism black people suffer, outlined a vision of a fairer future with Belgium (“two equal and independent countries”), and a pan-African focus (“we are going to show the world what the Black man can do when he works in freedom”).
The Belgian King at the time almost stormed out, the European press was extremely critical and the American CIA believed that Lumumba was a radical leader!
2 days in and there was a mutiny in the army as a Belgian general stated nothing would change after independence. Eventually it was calmed by Lumumba by dismissing the general, promoting all Congolese soldiers one grade, and replacing the commander-in-chief and the chief of staff.
5 days in and the region of Katanga (an extremely resource-rich state) declared independence and many Europeans moved there, and the Belgian Navy bombed a sea port town. Both of these events brought the UN’s peace corps.
Lumumba then began an international call for support and investment from the UK, the US and Canada. All refused. He then spoke to the Soviet ambassador in Ottawa and secured aid and advisors - without the approval of Kasa-Vubu.
From these events, the Belgian government popularised a belief that Lumumba was communist, anti-white and anti-western, despite him publicly repeating that colonialism and communism are equally awful.
Next, Lumumba toured Africa, repeating the same asks, and found more investment. When he returned, the situation had worsened and hence a state of emergency was called, including powers which limited the press and collective gatherings. Lumumba authorised the army to stop a rebellion in an internal state - but this grew into an ethnic battle and massacre.
Within this time, Kasa-Vubu and Lumumba began to disagree more and more and it ended with them both going on the radio to say the other was illegitimate after the massacre.
In this time Mobutu announced that he would lead a ‘peaceful’ revolution, and initially did work hard to appease the two politicians, but ultimately put Lumumba under house arrest and eventually handed Lumumba to the state of Katanga which was heavily supported by Belgians. There, he was beaten, tortured, then shot by firing squad and then his body was dissolved in acid.
Since 2000, documents and investigations have been published that outline that the CIA and MI6 had plans to poison and to shoot him.
Now, Lumumba is revered - on stamps and coins across Africa, in music (including by Neil Diamond) and in history (Malcom X said he was ‘the greatest black man who ever walked the African continent’).
Mobutu - the source of corruption
Mobutu was a supporter and aid to Lumumba, and became known as a pragmatic and calming influence. During the leadership crisis, he found himself head of the military (largely paid for by the West) and with the Prime Minister and the President ordering him to arrest the other.
Mobutu led two coups in his time, one to capture Lumumba and one to gain sole control of the DRC.
After capturing Lumumba, he transported him to Katanga for their leader Tshombe, who ordered Lumumba’s assassination and later would become the new elected Prime Minister. But, this failed to operate, and Mobutu stepped in via a bloodless coup.
He stated his goals were to build on Lumamba’s beliefs against colonialism, stating all businesses were now owned by the state, and removed parliament and all other political parties. In fact, in one election where only Mobutu stood, he won with 10 million votes to 157 - 30k more votes than registered voters. In another, voting was done by clapping, not votes.
This corrupt regime was supported by France, Belgium and the US as a stand against communism. Moreover, mines continued to produce copper, which was a premium export good. Then in 1972, he was strongly supported by Chairman Mao as China looked to grow its presence across Africa.
In pursuit of highlighting his state, he paid huge amounts to host the Rumble in the Jungle boxing match, where Muhammad Ali beat a young George Foreman in the world’s most watched television broadcast, and was supported by a host of celebrity entertainers.
To stop internal political opponents, he made all his ministers change jobs regularly so they could not gain control, but in doing so made them very inefficient. In 42 years, there were 60 cabinet shuffles.
He renamed the DRC as Zaire, as well as many towns to more African rooted names. He further went on to claim himself to be the Messiah of the nation and international reports were forbidden to name anyone in the Congo but him.
Moreover, it has been estimated that Mobutu stole 60% of the national budget in 1970 and stated it as a norm: "If you want to steal, steal a little in a nice way, but if you steal too much to become rich overnight, you will be caught". His life consisted of Concorde flights to Paris for shopping and building multiple palaces around the country for himself.
In 1990, 290 students were massacred for peaceful protests against Mobutu. This ended the West’s support to Mobutu and led to unpaid soldiers revolting in the capital Kinshasa. This forced him to release some control but he still stayed prominent.
Then in 1996, the First Congo war started, which strained the countries leadership further as genocide in Rwanda led to refugee camps settling in Zaire/DRC where a new leader, Kabila, emerged against Mobutu who was supported by Rwanda and Uganda.
Mobutu, now suffering from cancer, decided to exile to Morocco. He died of prostate cancer in 1997, as Zaire was renamed the DRC and a government was formed.
Kabila - the source of change
For a time, the DRC was optimistic, but Kabila eventually lost the support of his Rwandan and Ugandan allies as:
people of the Congo believed he was a puppet ruler to Uganda and Rwanda
Kabila dismissed all Uganda and Rwandan advisors and military
arguments around regional control of resources escalated
ethnic tensions escalated within and between borders
suggestions of corruption grew once again as political reforms were slow to be implemented
Rwanda then claimed parts of eastern Congo as historically theirs, and flew to the opposite side of the country and claimed control over it - including the diamond centre. They are the red coloured areas below:
Thus, Africa’s World War began.
Kabila’s DRC, supported by Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Rwanda and Uganda supported by Burundi and Sudan
To be clear, this is a large simplification, ignoring rebel groups and battles fought between the teams - notably Sudan and Uganda.
Also known as the Second Congo War, the 5 year war was one of the most deadly wars ever. It is estimated 3.8 - 5.4 million people died in the war, mainly from disease and starvation.
Today, rebel groups such as the M23 still exist, many demanding regional autonomy pointing to failures to resolve the war peacefully in the DRC continues.
🐟🍌 Food
This month I am suggesting a variety of smaller plates as ingredients can be hard to find.
Fufu
A staple across the continent in truth, but very common at Congolese dinners. I suggest Corn-based. Recipe here.
Mpiodi (Horse Mackerel)
So popular in Kinshasa that they call the fish their friends, the mackerel BBQ’ed or oiled fried. Recipe here.
Fried plantain
Hard to find in the UK, but not impossible. Recipe here.
🍿🎬 Movies
Lumumba
The bi-opic of Lumumba’s life. My top recommendation.
When we were kings [Free on Amazon]
A real documentary of the fight that was organised in Mobutu’s Zaire, between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
And for the children’s / young at heart pick: George of the Jungle. It isn’t strictly set in the DRC (instead vaguely ‘Central Africa’), instead of an African Elephant there is an Indian one, and it was filmed in Hawaii… but it is a fun silly film against some of the harder tones of the films.
If you think someone you know may be interested in these fun evening plans, please do share or forward the email!