This is Congo (2017) Movie Script
1
This programme contains scenes which
some viewers may find upsetting
SINGING IN OWN LANGUAGE
SHEEP BLEA THEY CHATTER TO EACH OTHER
BABY CRIES
EXPLOSION
LOUD GUNSHOTS
GUNSHOTS BECOME MORE FREQUEN CONTINUOUS GUNSHOTS
VOLCANO RUMBLES
SHOUTING AND SCREAMS
TRANSLATION: The name Kasongo
is not my name.
Kasongo is an alias.
What I can tell you is that I am
a high-ranking officer,
in the Congolese army.
TRANSLATION: As long as the
Congolese leaders...
..do not have a patriotic sense...
..Congo will stagnate in
misery forever.
NEWS REPORT: It's election time in
one of Africa's most chaotic
countries and no-one in Congo
is expecting a smooth ride.
GUNSHOTS
POLICE SIRENS
Our country has almost
no system of governance.
Our national army is disorganised
and poorly paid.
Because of this, sergeants will
sometimes leave the army
to join rebel groups.
The government eventually negotiates
with these rebels
and then fits them back
into the army,
often with a higher ranking position
than they had before.
The rebels who started this current
war call themselves the M23.
Makenga is the acting leader,
but he used to be a colonel
in our national army.
I have joined rebel groups three
times and our hope was always
that it would bring stabilisation
to Congo on all levels,
on a social level,
on an economic level, but no.
The fighting continues.
HE SCREAMS
EXCITED CHATTER
THEY SING IN OWN LANGUAGE
NEWSREEL: The Congo, in the heart of
Equatorial Africa,
is three times larger than Texas.
The Congo is a giant country.
It has several mountains, waterways
and a lot of minerals,
especially here in the East.
I think America remembers the
souvenir that Congo gave them.
It was with our uranium that they
bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima,
which made them the superpower.
When it comes to our mineral wealth,
Congo is a bit of a
geological scandal.
Understand that the population does
not benefit at all
from the product of our wealth.
Where does the money go?
It gets diverted into the pockets of
corrupt leaders, big men,
big organisations and even foreign
powers that profit,
while the Congo doesn't.
The victims are the
Congolese themselves.
SINGING IN OWN LANGUAGE
DRUMMING
MUSIC: Kampeni, by Bahati Bukuku.
Goma is the centre of the North and
South Kivu provinces.
It is a strategic town in the
region.
Goma is the economic heartland.
There are more than a million people
here.
This is where all the natural
resources are brought in,
this is where
they are exported from.
Goma sits on Lake Kivu and is on the
border of Rwanda.
It is also close to the border of
Uganda.
The rebels have now steadily been
making their way
from their base near the border with
Uganda
towards Goma, the main city here.
There are more than 450 tribes here
in Congo and all of them are
represented here.
This is a hugely mineral-rich part
of the country.
It is also very, very far from
Kinshasa, the capital,
so government doesn't really reach
here properly.
The main power is the power of the
gun,
and whoever controls that
controls also potentially
very lucrative deals.
This instability has brought others,
as well.
Just outside Goma is a dense forest.
This forest makes a good hideout for
anyone
who wants to start a rebellion.
Here, you can conquer a plot of
land,
collect villagers from the area
under your control
and have them exploit minerals and
sell them for you.
Then you can buy guns, weapons and
you can buy food.
Other than the M23 rebels, there are
more than 50 armed groups out there.
If today, I decide to go into
the forest and start a rebellion,
I will have people to follow me.
All these rebel groups are confusing
to even the Congolese.
They all have different acronyms
that claim to stand for freedom,
liberation or democracy,
but they only succeed in terrorising
the population.
Everything that is happening in this
war has been done before.
The M23 are threatening to take Goma
unless the government gives them key
positions in this region.
It is no coincidence that these
rebellions occur near our borders.
A Human Rights Watch report draws
a link between Rwanda and M23.
Two neighbouring countries,
Rwanda and Uganda,
have been accused of backing M23.
Rwanda firmly denies any
involvement.
There is no evidence, there are no
facts.
Because it is not happening.
EXPLOSIONS, GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING
Just about five minutes ago,
M23 rebels walked through
the streets of Goma
without anyone stopping them.
They have definitely had
outside help.
Government troops retreated and UN
peacekeepers stood by, watching.
The Congolese national army has seen
a catastrophic collapse in morale
over the last few days in
particular.
The head of the land forces was
fired
for allegedly covertly backing
the rebels.
A series of talks have been taking
place
over the past week in an attempt to
resolve the crisis.
Their trucks packed with ammunition
and soldiers,
M23 rebels left the city
they had conquered 12 days ago.
to listen to and address the rebels'
grievances.
Everything will be OK if they agree
to the demands.
If President Kabila or anybody else
provokes us, we will be back.
People have lost trust in their
government,
and the United Nations' ability to
protect them.
In regards to the international
community...
..a stranger would never find you
a solution in your own country.
But, since our independence,
we have never been given a chance to
govern ourselves
without interference
from the outside.
June 30, 1960, independence
comes to the Belgian Congo.
King Baudouin himself flies
to the capital city of Leopoldville
to break the bonds
that have linked his country
and its African colony for 75 years.
Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of
Congo, was a nationalist.
But the Americans thought he had
Communist tendencies.
The Russians had backed Lumumba,
given military and other aid,
as East vied with West
to gain influence in the Congo.
For the Americans,
during the Cold War,
they had to find a man to get rid of
Lumumba.
And that is how they thought of
Mobutu.
In the Army, he was known as the
most brilliant.
Colonel Mobutu forced the Russians
to close their embassy,
leave the Congo.
Mobutu was used by the CIA.
He saw the capitalists to the
detriment of communism.
A new chapter begins in the dark and
tragic history of the Congo with
the return to Leopoldville of the
deposed premier Lumumba,
following his capture by crack
commandos
of strongman Colonel Mobutu.
Here you see him on his third
arrest.
One from which he went to a
mysterious death.
With the support of the Americans,
Mobutu imposed a dictatorship
for 32 years.
I grew up during that time.
When he came into power,
in the beginning, I must say he was
good.
The economy of the country was
strong, very strong.
The Congo produced
many university graduates,
and the world respected
many of these Congolese.
At least in those years, Congo
was still moving forward a bit.
Then, all of a sudden,
he re-baptised the Congo
with the name of Zaire.
Almost everything changed.
While he remained a vital ally to
the West,
he expelled all the foreign
investors that were here.
When they left,
all the factories,
all the big plantations were
acquired by Mobutu's colleagues,
but they did not know how to run
them.
There were no executives.
Businessmen were replaced
by inadequate people.
Money was embezzled and
where there's corruption,
development can't exist.
Mobutu looted his country's diamond
and copper mines.
He pocketed international aid.
Even offices were housed in this
slum.
Just a few kilometres away from
President Mobutu's
opulent lakeside villa.
That same system of corruption has
become a Congolese tradition.
And it is even worse today.
We are living the consequence.
More obstacles to peace in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Government police are hearing
complaints
of pillage or worse by M23.
When M23 was formed,
its core demand was to be
reintegrated
into the Congolese Army,
with better pay and ranks.
Now, it is talking about setting up
its own government,
with its own collection of taxes.
The UN mission could do little to
stop M23 rebels
when they swept into the city of
Goma.
The UN's response?
A new batch of troops with a wider
offensive mandate.
It could take months for
an intervention force to be in place
here.
During that time, M23 could make
another attempt to take Goma.
EXPLOSION
EXPLOSION AND GUNFIRE
The fact that Rwanda supports all
these rebellions
with their close ally, Uganda, no
secret.
For us, it is known.
For the past 20 years, Rwanda has
fought to control this region.
They have massacred many Congolese.
So, all the killings they have done,
really turned the Congolese against
the Rwandans.
But, especially against
the Tutsi tribe.
All this began when the colonisers
entered the region,
and created a tribal hierarchy.
In Rwanda, with the support of the
Belgians,
the Tutsi really crushed
the Hutu for almost 40 years.
This created an ethnic tension
that would eventually erupt.
In Rwanda, after the genocide,
Tutsi rebel leader, Paul Kagame,
who received military training
in America, took power.
Fearing revenge killings,
the majority of the Hutu tribe fled
across the border into Congo.
Civil War in Rwanda drove more than
a million people across the border
into Zaire.
It is the biggest exodus Africa has
ever seen.
Hutu genocidaires hid among these
refugees
and started plotting their
return to power.
This is part of the reason
Rwanda began covert involvement in
the Congo.
But it seems they have other
ambitions as well.
The Rwandan genocide marked
the beginning of the cycle of war
that has plagued Congo for two
decades.
Rwanda always says they are not
involved, but they are.
Myself, I am a witness.
I know what I'm talking about.
All three rebel groups I joined
were supported by Rwanda.
This Thursday, M23 shells hit the
outskirts of Goma,
killing a woman and a child, and a
rocket struck the nearby village,
killing two and injuring the others.
There is growing anger about the
deaths of civilians
over the last few weeks,
and criticism that peacekeepers
didn't prevent the killings.
Meanwhile, hundreds of angry
residents took to the streets
and were calling for President
Kabila to step down.
They accuse him of incompetence,
in flushing out the rebels who
continue to destabilise the region.
Throughout history,
tribalism has been used.
Just as religion is often used by
people in power,
to manipulate the population.
This creates tension that can erupt
at any moment,
because the Congolese are living
a life of frustration.
If our government does not impose
itself to end this narrative,
then we are just constructing our
state upon a fire.
Tomorrow it will burn again.
We are Congolese.
This is our country.
BANGING
SHOTS AND YELLING
Down here is the shot.
He heard the shot.
Yeah, noted.
The soldiers of the Democratic
Republic of Congo have made
a decisive gain in their battle with
fighters in the M23 rebel movement.
The M23 say they now want
the fighting to stop.
The superior firepower of the
Congolese army,
heavily supported by the UN,
has backed the rebels into a corner.
Congolese soldiers say that some of
the dissidents
who gave themselves up
are from Uganda and Rwanda.
But the rebels' recent strings of
defeats
suggests any foreign support
had stopped.
The M23 rebel group in
the Democratic Republic of Congo
has called an end
to its 20-month insurgency.
The rebels surrendered overnight and
those that remained
fled across the
border into Rwanda or Uganda.
Rebel military leader
Sultani Makenga is believed
to have escaped into Uganda.
Mamadou! Mamadou! Mamadou!
Mamadou!
Merci.
GUNSHOTS
SOBBING
GUNSHOTS
I liked him very much.
I am very saddened by his death.
He never retreated on a battlefield.
He had a strong sense of patriotism.
That's how he built this popularity
with the people.
Even though he was
a very distinguished boy,
he was also very young
and he wanted to be a star.
Frankly, this was really a weakness.
A very big weakness.
It was not the enemy who killed
Mamadou.
It was his colleagues.
There was an element of jealousy.
So they stopped him dead in his
tracks.
This programme contains scenes which
some viewers may find upsetting
SINGING IN OWN LANGUAGE
SHEEP BLEA THEY CHATTER TO EACH OTHER
BABY CRIES
EXPLOSION
LOUD GUNSHOTS
GUNSHOTS BECOME MORE FREQUEN CONTINUOUS GUNSHOTS
VOLCANO RUMBLES
SHOUTING AND SCREAMS
TRANSLATION: The name Kasongo
is not my name.
Kasongo is an alias.
What I can tell you is that I am
a high-ranking officer,
in the Congolese army.
TRANSLATION: As long as the
Congolese leaders...
..do not have a patriotic sense...
..Congo will stagnate in
misery forever.
NEWS REPORT: It's election time in
one of Africa's most chaotic
countries and no-one in Congo
is expecting a smooth ride.
GUNSHOTS
POLICE SIRENS
Our country has almost
no system of governance.
Our national army is disorganised
and poorly paid.
Because of this, sergeants will
sometimes leave the army
to join rebel groups.
The government eventually negotiates
with these rebels
and then fits them back
into the army,
often with a higher ranking position
than they had before.
The rebels who started this current
war call themselves the M23.
Makenga is the acting leader,
but he used to be a colonel
in our national army.
I have joined rebel groups three
times and our hope was always
that it would bring stabilisation
to Congo on all levels,
on a social level,
on an economic level, but no.
The fighting continues.
HE SCREAMS
EXCITED CHATTER
THEY SING IN OWN LANGUAGE
NEWSREEL: The Congo, in the heart of
Equatorial Africa,
is three times larger than Texas.
The Congo is a giant country.
It has several mountains, waterways
and a lot of minerals,
especially here in the East.
I think America remembers the
souvenir that Congo gave them.
It was with our uranium that they
bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima,
which made them the superpower.
When it comes to our mineral wealth,
Congo is a bit of a
geological scandal.
Understand that the population does
not benefit at all
from the product of our wealth.
Where does the money go?
It gets diverted into the pockets of
corrupt leaders, big men,
big organisations and even foreign
powers that profit,
while the Congo doesn't.
The victims are the
Congolese themselves.
SINGING IN OWN LANGUAGE
DRUMMING
MUSIC: Kampeni, by Bahati Bukuku.
Goma is the centre of the North and
South Kivu provinces.
It is a strategic town in the
region.
Goma is the economic heartland.
There are more than a million people
here.
This is where all the natural
resources are brought in,
this is where
they are exported from.
Goma sits on Lake Kivu and is on the
border of Rwanda.
It is also close to the border of
Uganda.
The rebels have now steadily been
making their way
from their base near the border with
Uganda
towards Goma, the main city here.
There are more than 450 tribes here
in Congo and all of them are
represented here.
This is a hugely mineral-rich part
of the country.
It is also very, very far from
Kinshasa, the capital,
so government doesn't really reach
here properly.
The main power is the power of the
gun,
and whoever controls that
controls also potentially
very lucrative deals.
This instability has brought others,
as well.
Just outside Goma is a dense forest.
This forest makes a good hideout for
anyone
who wants to start a rebellion.
Here, you can conquer a plot of
land,
collect villagers from the area
under your control
and have them exploit minerals and
sell them for you.
Then you can buy guns, weapons and
you can buy food.
Other than the M23 rebels, there are
more than 50 armed groups out there.
If today, I decide to go into
the forest and start a rebellion,
I will have people to follow me.
All these rebel groups are confusing
to even the Congolese.
They all have different acronyms
that claim to stand for freedom,
liberation or democracy,
but they only succeed in terrorising
the population.
Everything that is happening in this
war has been done before.
The M23 are threatening to take Goma
unless the government gives them key
positions in this region.
It is no coincidence that these
rebellions occur near our borders.
A Human Rights Watch report draws
a link between Rwanda and M23.
Two neighbouring countries,
Rwanda and Uganda,
have been accused of backing M23.
Rwanda firmly denies any
involvement.
There is no evidence, there are no
facts.
Because it is not happening.
EXPLOSIONS, GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING
Just about five minutes ago,
M23 rebels walked through
the streets of Goma
without anyone stopping them.
They have definitely had
outside help.
Government troops retreated and UN
peacekeepers stood by, watching.
The Congolese national army has seen
a catastrophic collapse in morale
over the last few days in
particular.
The head of the land forces was
fired
for allegedly covertly backing
the rebels.
A series of talks have been taking
place
over the past week in an attempt to
resolve the crisis.
Their trucks packed with ammunition
and soldiers,
M23 rebels left the city
they had conquered 12 days ago.
to listen to and address the rebels'
grievances.
Everything will be OK if they agree
to the demands.
If President Kabila or anybody else
provokes us, we will be back.
People have lost trust in their
government,
and the United Nations' ability to
protect them.
In regards to the international
community...
..a stranger would never find you
a solution in your own country.
But, since our independence,
we have never been given a chance to
govern ourselves
without interference
from the outside.
June 30, 1960, independence
comes to the Belgian Congo.
King Baudouin himself flies
to the capital city of Leopoldville
to break the bonds
that have linked his country
and its African colony for 75 years.
Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of
Congo, was a nationalist.
But the Americans thought he had
Communist tendencies.
The Russians had backed Lumumba,
given military and other aid,
as East vied with West
to gain influence in the Congo.
For the Americans,
during the Cold War,
they had to find a man to get rid of
Lumumba.
And that is how they thought of
Mobutu.
In the Army, he was known as the
most brilliant.
Colonel Mobutu forced the Russians
to close their embassy,
leave the Congo.
Mobutu was used by the CIA.
He saw the capitalists to the
detriment of communism.
A new chapter begins in the dark and
tragic history of the Congo with
the return to Leopoldville of the
deposed premier Lumumba,
following his capture by crack
commandos
of strongman Colonel Mobutu.
Here you see him on his third
arrest.
One from which he went to a
mysterious death.
With the support of the Americans,
Mobutu imposed a dictatorship
for 32 years.
I grew up during that time.
When he came into power,
in the beginning, I must say he was
good.
The economy of the country was
strong, very strong.
The Congo produced
many university graduates,
and the world respected
many of these Congolese.
At least in those years, Congo
was still moving forward a bit.
Then, all of a sudden,
he re-baptised the Congo
with the name of Zaire.
Almost everything changed.
While he remained a vital ally to
the West,
he expelled all the foreign
investors that were here.
When they left,
all the factories,
all the big plantations were
acquired by Mobutu's colleagues,
but they did not know how to run
them.
There were no executives.
Businessmen were replaced
by inadequate people.
Money was embezzled and
where there's corruption,
development can't exist.
Mobutu looted his country's diamond
and copper mines.
He pocketed international aid.
Even offices were housed in this
slum.
Just a few kilometres away from
President Mobutu's
opulent lakeside villa.
That same system of corruption has
become a Congolese tradition.
And it is even worse today.
We are living the consequence.
More obstacles to peace in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Government police are hearing
complaints
of pillage or worse by M23.
When M23 was formed,
its core demand was to be
reintegrated
into the Congolese Army,
with better pay and ranks.
Now, it is talking about setting up
its own government,
with its own collection of taxes.
The UN mission could do little to
stop M23 rebels
when they swept into the city of
Goma.
The UN's response?
A new batch of troops with a wider
offensive mandate.
It could take months for
an intervention force to be in place
here.
During that time, M23 could make
another attempt to take Goma.
EXPLOSION
EXPLOSION AND GUNFIRE
The fact that Rwanda supports all
these rebellions
with their close ally, Uganda, no
secret.
For us, it is known.
For the past 20 years, Rwanda has
fought to control this region.
They have massacred many Congolese.
So, all the killings they have done,
really turned the Congolese against
the Rwandans.
But, especially against
the Tutsi tribe.
All this began when the colonisers
entered the region,
and created a tribal hierarchy.
In Rwanda, with the support of the
Belgians,
the Tutsi really crushed
the Hutu for almost 40 years.
This created an ethnic tension
that would eventually erupt.
In Rwanda, after the genocide,
Tutsi rebel leader, Paul Kagame,
who received military training
in America, took power.
Fearing revenge killings,
the majority of the Hutu tribe fled
across the border into Congo.
Civil War in Rwanda drove more than
a million people across the border
into Zaire.
It is the biggest exodus Africa has
ever seen.
Hutu genocidaires hid among these
refugees
and started plotting their
return to power.
This is part of the reason
Rwanda began covert involvement in
the Congo.
But it seems they have other
ambitions as well.
The Rwandan genocide marked
the beginning of the cycle of war
that has plagued Congo for two
decades.
Rwanda always says they are not
involved, but they are.
Myself, I am a witness.
I know what I'm talking about.
All three rebel groups I joined
were supported by Rwanda.
This Thursday, M23 shells hit the
outskirts of Goma,
killing a woman and a child, and a
rocket struck the nearby village,
killing two and injuring the others.
There is growing anger about the
deaths of civilians
over the last few weeks,
and criticism that peacekeepers
didn't prevent the killings.
Meanwhile, hundreds of angry
residents took to the streets
and were calling for President
Kabila to step down.
They accuse him of incompetence,
in flushing out the rebels who
continue to destabilise the region.
Throughout history,
tribalism has been used.
Just as religion is often used by
people in power,
to manipulate the population.
This creates tension that can erupt
at any moment,
because the Congolese are living
a life of frustration.
If our government does not impose
itself to end this narrative,
then we are just constructing our
state upon a fire.
Tomorrow it will burn again.
We are Congolese.
This is our country.
BANGING
SHOTS AND YELLING
Down here is the shot.
He heard the shot.
Yeah, noted.
The soldiers of the Democratic
Republic of Congo have made
a decisive gain in their battle with
fighters in the M23 rebel movement.
The M23 say they now want
the fighting to stop.
The superior firepower of the
Congolese army,
heavily supported by the UN,
has backed the rebels into a corner.
Congolese soldiers say that some of
the dissidents
who gave themselves up
are from Uganda and Rwanda.
But the rebels' recent strings of
defeats
suggests any foreign support
had stopped.
The M23 rebel group in
the Democratic Republic of Congo
has called an end
to its 20-month insurgency.
The rebels surrendered overnight and
those that remained
fled across the
border into Rwanda or Uganda.
Rebel military leader
Sultani Makenga is believed
to have escaped into Uganda.
Mamadou! Mamadou! Mamadou!
Mamadou!
Merci.
GUNSHOTS
SOBBING
GUNSHOTS
I liked him very much.
I am very saddened by his death.
He never retreated on a battlefield.
He had a strong sense of patriotism.
That's how he built this popularity
with the people.
Even though he was
a very distinguished boy,
he was also very young
and he wanted to be a star.
Frankly, this was really a weakness.
A very big weakness.
It was not the enemy who killed
Mamadou.
It was his colleagues.
There was an element of jealousy.
So they stopped him dead in his
tracks.