John Middleton’s Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara sees Belgian paternalism as founded as formed on the belief that assuring Africans a relative degree of well-being would obviate any demands they might otherwise make for meaningful political participation. Until the 1950s, the Belgians systematically curbed any form of post-secondary education for Africans. “Paternalism” was based on the doctrine that Belgium alone knew what was good for Africans and was ready to offer it if Africans remained “quite.”
Belgian colonialism left back nothing but chaos in Africa. In Rwanda, Belgium skillfully played the ethnic card to its advantage. It used the Tutsis against the Hutus and then the Hutus against the Tutsis. The hatred that was planted came to the surface in 1994 with the Rwandan genocide that claimed 800.000 lives. In the Congo, Belgium openly supported the secession of Katanga and took the life of Lumumba in order to retain control of Congo’s wealth.
On top of this exploitation, there existed “not one negro lawyer in the Congo by 1955. There were fewer than 500 medical doctors for a population of 12 million people as Rodney points out. The Belgians came out of colonialism highly illiterate. “The bulk of Congolese did not even know what nationalism was … because they were not educated enough,” says John Gunther.
As memories of Rwanda fade into the depths of history no one can tell when peace will come to the Congo especially as neocolonialism still lurks in the shadows of the Congo’s wealth. The situation in Congo remains potentially explosive. It remains a big challenge for Africa and the world. The Congo represents what Tony Blair once described of Africa as “a scar on the conscience of the world.”
