Swamp
Confessions of an Academic Pseudo-Giraffe
20.10.06
Bemba
The second round of the presidential elections in the DRC (formerly Zaire; prior to that the Belgian Congo; prior to that the Heart of Darkness) should be held soon. The first round was in July. Now incumbent Joseph Kabila is battling it out with a guy called Jean-Pierre Bemba.
I was chatting with John the other day about the Congo: about the country’s past, its huge natural resources, its lack of infrastructure, its numerous militant groups, and so forth. John is much more knowledgeable about such things than, I assume, the average Ugandan cleaner-gardener would be. His home village, in fact, is not far from the Congolese border.
So there was some talk about the elections, and John was trying to remember the opposition candidate’s name.
You mean Bemba?
Yes, that’s it, Bemba. The man who used to live in this house.
In this house? Bemba?
Yes, Bemba.
The man who might soon be elected president of the Congo has lived in our house?
Yes. Bemba. For about six months.
It turned out that some time in the last millennium (who cares about the exact dates?) Bemba had lived in Kampala for a while and stayed in our house, using the very bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen that we now use. After about half a year, hostilities had broken out between Uganda and Rwanda, and Bemba, who came from the general direction of Rwanda, was asked to leave. So he packed his bags and vanished. Fast forward fifteen years or so, and he is running for president in the country that could be one of the richest in the world (if only and so forth).
Remember talk show host Conan O’Brien’s recent obsession on Finland and especially the fact that he looks like Tarja Halonen? He repeatedly said he had no idea what Halonen stood for, and whether she is a good president – he just enjoyed looking like a foreign head of state. He even came to Finland with his crew and got fifteen minutes of Tarja’s time. I feel something similar. Despite his challenger status and the fact that I don’t know anything about him, I hope Bemba wins the elections, since I think I would enjoy having lived in the same house as a foreign head of state. 08:41
I was chatting with John the other day about the Congo: about the country’s past, its huge natural resources, its lack of infrastructure, its numerous militant groups, and so forth. John is much more knowledgeable about such things than, I assume, the average Ugandan cleaner-gardener would be. His home village, in fact, is not far from the Congolese border.
So there was some talk about the elections, and John was trying to remember the opposition candidate’s name.
You mean Bemba?
Yes, that’s it, Bemba. The man who used to live in this house.
In this house? Bemba?
Yes, Bemba.
The man who might soon be elected president of the Congo has lived in our house?
Yes. Bemba. For about six months.
It turned out that some time in the last millennium (who cares about the exact dates?) Bemba had lived in Kampala for a while and stayed in our house, using the very bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen that we now use. After about half a year, hostilities had broken out between Uganda and Rwanda, and Bemba, who came from the general direction of Rwanda, was asked to leave. So he packed his bags and vanished. Fast forward fifteen years or so, and he is running for president in the country that could be one of the richest in the world (if only and so forth).
Remember talk show host Conan O’Brien’s recent obsession on Finland and especially the fact that he looks like Tarja Halonen? He repeatedly said he had no idea what Halonen stood for, and whether she is a good president – he just enjoyed looking like a foreign head of state. He even came to Finland with his crew and got fifteen minutes of Tarja’s time. I feel something similar. Despite his challenger status and the fact that I don’t know anything about him, I hope Bemba wins the elections, since I think I would enjoy having lived in the same house as a foreign head of state. 08:41
