Alternative or Takeover?: DRC’S LUCHA hones its strategy

CLAUDE KINYUNYI

Several generations after the rise of social movements committed to citizen struggle and the promotion of democracy in Africa, we seem to be at a crossroads reflecting on the fulfillment and shortcomings of our main goals.

Do we see positive social change in the day-to-day lives of our people, constitutions outlining a true culture of democracy? Social movements, once reticent about taking political power, are now tempted to join formal electoral politics to press for change. The experiences of LUCHA, DRC’s largest mass based nonviolent struggle, helps us explore these strategic questions.

LUCHA is a non-violent, non-partisan citizens' movement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It boasts a horizontal leadership committed to the struggle for the promotion of social justice, democracy, and good governance. Formed in 2012, it has fueled  the democratic struggle of the last decade in the DRC. This led to the first political alternation and respect for the constitution against the wishes of the former leadership, which sought to modify it in order to remain in power.

LUCHA’s strategic nonpartisan posture has helped the movement unite all political forces in the same struggle for democracy and political change. This has inspired confidence in such groups to follow LUCHA's political positions. Knowing LUCHA as a non-partisan social movement with no “political agenda,” social, political, and religious stakeholders believed in LUCHA and endorsed its initiatives. The demonstration of this ability to federate political and social forces was witnessed in Geneva, where LUCHA helped unite more than 20 political candidates in the presidential elections around a single candidate. LUCHA believes that the problem of our African nations is not linked to individuals, but to the political system characterized by corruption, unconsciousness, and other ills. To integrate into this system, which is like a whirlpool, is to be at the mercy of the same evils that gnaw at it.

LUCHA's absence of charismatic national leaders has enabled it to overcome certain challenges and strategies, especially the political poaching of influential members, assassinations, and control of the movement's strategies.

The fact that LUCHA is an informal, unregistered movement, rather than a political party or traditional organization, has enabled it to bypass certain laws developed by those in power to suffocate all opposition.

After gaining political notoriety and confidence from Congolese, several members of LUCHA thought that it was time to integrate electoral strategies in order to apply the movement’s values and vision of change. Many sought to transform LUCHA into a political party. Others warned of the danger that the movement's identity would suffer. Since this is a movement known for its non-partisanship and neutrality on political positioning, surrounded by an otherwise partisan political context characterized by corruption, clientelism, and other forms of anti-values, LUCHA remained mostly disengaged from electioneering. This decision earned LUCHA repute as the guardians of democracy. Members wishing to join mainstream politics were allowed to do so according to the political parties of their choice, without presenting themselves as LUCHA militants.

From these experiences, we ascertain that in a context of dictatorship and repression, the informal, horizontally structured, non-partisan social movement has a better chance of driving political change and mobilizing actors and the people on common agendas than opportunistic electioneering.

Formal political engagement in a context of dictatorship exposes actors to government rules and policies, insecurity, and political targeting. Perhaps in a system where certain rules of democracy are observed, it is possible to engage and change the system from within. The youth movement in Spain, for example, has committed itself to starting from the very beginning: elections at every level from the municipality upwards. A contextual analysis can guide the decision to engage in electoral politics or not.

CLAUDE KINYUNYI is a member of LUCHA.