"moto na moto abongisa mosala naye"

during mobutu's days in Zaire, the Zairois coined a saying which went like “moto na moto abongisa mosala naye” loosely translated "everyone is doing his own thing". according to a friend from that mineral mine, mobutu the then king pin enjoyed seeing everyone busy putting their hands on the country's resources for their personal gains. that way when "moto na moto abongisa mosala naye" was going on those propping mobutu who would have had the muscle to unseat the king pin just engaged themselves in plundering the resources of their country.



day in day out the Zairois at the helm did their "moto na moto abongisa mosala naye" thing. The people with whom mobutu came to power with did it, those fathered/mothered by the people with whom mobutu came power joined the racket and did it and as they also grew and fathered/mothered their own children these children also did it. a whole two generations grew up contaminated with the spirit of looting and seeing looting as a normal thing to do once one was in employment of the state. and so, day in day out the ordinary zairois increasingly sunk deeper into the mud of poverty while those in power became stinking rich. and the more they sunk into that trap, the more helpless they became. and so, they turned to worshipping their “God anointed president” in order if possible that “God’s anointed president” would spot them and bring them also closer to the table.  




emboldened by his countrymen's inability to question the status quo, mobutu took to looting the country’s resources with reckless confidence. he took ownership of the country’s minerals (gold, diamonds, all) as well as forest resources. and the more he plundered, the more he entrenched himself. and the more he entrenched himself, the more he became intolerant of all forms political organization.



he called himself “kuku wa zabanga” the only cock that should crow on the compound. those in opposition whom he could buy-off, he bought them off. those who resisted being bought off and entertained the thought of unseating kuku wa zabanga, he bundled them up and incarcerated them or simply “disappeared them”. heard of Franco of the famous TP ok jazz? He tasted the beauty of composing music criticizing “kuku wa zabanga” with a term in jail. No wonder in 1984 during mobutu’s sham election he composed a melody praising kuku wa zabanga and calling on his fellow zairois to vote the only candidate (candidat nabiso). that year of course following the sham elections organized by “kuku wa zabanga” the zairois “voted massively” in favor of “candidat nabiso”.



and so zaire continued sinking. the infrastructure crumbled, pestilences increasingly afflicted the zairois. poverty among zairois became poverty and you could see it with your own eyes. mobutu’s 30some years left a dent on the country which will take 100plus years to correct unless there is a divine intervention. a divine intervention which is for the people of zaire and not for the thieving leaders of zaire.



Amen

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