DR Congo: in Kinshasa, the King of the Belgians begins a very symbolic visit

Published on: 06/07/2022 – 17:40 Belgian King Philippe arrived in Kinshasa on Tuesday afternoon for his first official visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo, against a backdrop of remembrance work and reconciliation between the Belgium and its former colony. An expected official visit. King Philippe of Belgium arrived in DR Congo on Tuesday (June 7th) for his first six-day official visit to the country. The sovereign, his wife Mathilde and the government delegation accompanying them were welcomed at N’Djili international airport, on the outskirts of the capital, by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and his wife Denise, a team noted. from AFP. This royal visit – the first since that in 2010 of Albert II, father of Philippe – has been twice postponed: because of the Covid-19 pandemic, in 2020, then because of the war started by Russia in Ukraine at the beginning of this year. It has a strong symbolic significance, two years after the King, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the independence of the former Belgian Congo, expressed in a letter to Felix Tshisekedi his “deepest regrets” for the “wounds” of colonization, a historic first. The sovereign, who has reigned since 2013, had regretted the “acts of violence and cruelty” committed at the time when his ancestor Leopold II had made the Congo his personal property (1885-1908), before the half-century of presence of the Belgian State in the immense country of Central Africa. “There were regrets, it is the beginning of a new partnership which will go on consolidating”, estimated, Monday evening, in Kinshasa, the Congolese government spokesman, Patrick Muyaya, during a press briefing on the visit. “We do not forget the past, we look to the future”, he added, welcoming the “strengthened relations” with Belgium, when they were “in the past on the verge of rupture” .>> Read also: The DR Congo celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence The relationship was difficult between the two countries during the end of the presidency of the predecessor of Félix Tshisekedi, Joseph Kabila (2001-2018), criticized including by Brussels for having remained in power beyond his second term, in violation of the Constitution. Cooperation had been suspended for a while.”A historic moment””I think that sometimes, in order to be able to build a good future, you have to face the past,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo also told RTBF on Tuesday morning. before his departure from Brussels for Kinshasa, also evoking “the completely historic letter” from King Philippe. Going to DR Congo and carrying “a message as an extension of this letter is a very, very important moment, (…) a historic moment”, he added. The colonial past, with among other things the question of the return of works of art to the former colony, should again be mentioned during this trip by the king who, according to the Belgian royal palace, also wants to give a “new breath” to the partnership with Kinshasa. Health, education, training, forest protection… Philippe and his wife should have an overview of the sectors where development aid is exercised. Belgium is DR Congo’s fourth largest donor after the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. The king’s trip will include three stages: Kinshasa first, including a visit to the national museum on Wednesday and a speech on the esplanade of the National Assembly; Lubumbashi in the mining Southeast, with an intervention on Friday in front of university students; and Bukavu, in the East, a region plagued for nearly three decades by violence from armed groups. The king must visit, on Sunday, in a peripheral district of Bukavu, capital of the province of South Kivu, the clinic of gynecologist Denis Mukwege, co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his action in favor of women victims of rape. This trip by King Philippe comes in the midst of renewed tension between the DR Congo and its neighbor Rwanda, accused by Kinshasa of supporting an old rebellion that reappeared at the end of 2021 and that fierce fighting opposed the Congolese army in the neighboring province of North Kivu at the end of May. Kigali denies, but Félix Tshisekedi assured on Sunday that he had “no doubt” about this support. With AFP