The conflict in the democratic republic of Congo : causes, effects and plausible solutions (1996-2009)

Abstract

The thesis looked at Conflict in the Democratic Republic Congo: Causes, Effects and Plausible Solutions (1996-2009). The DRC is a country of extraordinary natural wealth but this wealth has never been used for the benefit of the Congolese population. Instead, the country is currently emerging from one of the world's worst conflicts, which has resulted in the deaths of up to 3.5 million people. This conflict has been fuelled mainly by competition for natural resources, which has been used to fund numerous rebel groups.The conflict centered in the east of the country, it involved a range of militant groups; local militias, Congolese and Rwandan rebels and the Congolese army, that use control over the country's rich mineral deposits as a source of financing. Qualitative Research Methodology was the choice of method. Data was collected from primary and secondary sources. A sample of one hundred participants was used to respond to open-ended questions and four interviewee. It is evident that natural resources played a key role in prolonging the civil conflict and also being the cause of it because resources have been a source of finance to rebel groups to purchase necessary tools that were used during conflict. The country has been targeted by external interference that has divided the country in an effort to benefit from natural resources through aiding or bribing a certain powerful group in order to pursue their interests, and this has built a lot of grievances and anger in the lower group because they don't benefit from their resources and that leads to a startup of conflict. There is a need for political will among our leaders to bring better living conditions for Africans in the country.