THE RNS: ESSENCE AND COMMITMENT
"Poverty and misery are a curse only where
the genius of the human mind is not put to work."©
Alafuele M. Kalala, D.Sc.
BACKGROUND
In October 1996, when I assembled a group of Zairian
activists in the Washington, D.C. area to finalize the formation
of the Rally for a New Society (RNS) after months of extensive
consultations, the odds seemed to be against us. Now six months
later, our commitment has proven its worth: Zairians are capable
of organizing themselves in a highly credible manner to have an
impact and a say in the future of their country’s affairs. The
members of the RNS stand today proud of what they have achieved
so far, and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate
them on their commitment.
Long before the war had broken in the east of Zaire
and before the beginning of the effort by the Alliance of the
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL) to
topple Mr. Mobutu and his regime, I had undertaken extensive consultations
with members of the Zairian community within Zaire and in the
diaspora to review the overall Zairian crisis and to assess how
best to cope with it. After examination of the different aspects
of the crisis, a consensus emerged to create a coalition movement,
an avant-guard movement, that could assemble into a disciplined,
coherent, and credible force the sons and daughters of Zaire who
intend to provide the Zairian society with a dynamic, responsible,
and respectable leadership: a leadership with a clear vision for
the future, accountable to the people, and dedicated to leaving
to future generations a legacy of continued progress.
Thus, RNS was born on October 23, 1996, and it is
working with a great deal of resolve to provide the Zairian society
with an alternative leadership that, contrary to the current self-serving
and power hungry elite, is focused on the interest of the people
and on the future of the country rather than on its own interests
and enjoyment. RNS’ members are those sons and daughters of Zaire
who believe that, when a nation like ours is in shambles and finds
itself threatened with complete dissolution, the worst and the
most unthinkable is for that nation¹s sons and daughters
not to try their best. RNS’ members have taken stock of the destruction
of their country and want simply to have the opportunity to build
a vibrant and dynamic society out of the ashes of their land and
out of the sufferings of their people. RNS’ members aim to face
forthwith the biggest challenge of their time: to stop the continuing
degeneration of their society; to give renewed hope to their fellow
countrymen; and to build a State of law in which they can fulfill
all their potential and maximize, to the benefit of their society,
their talents and aptitudes. RNS’ members want to provide future
generations of Zairians with a legacy of continued prosperity
of which they can be proud. Needless to say no earthly glory is
worth more than the destiny of a people. The Rally for a New Society
(RNS) has five main objectives which are at the heart of its efforts:
OBJECTIVES
1. Groom a new, responsible, dynamic, and responsive
leadership at all levels of the Zairian society.
2. Create a democratic and law-abiding society.
3. Establish the foundations for the development
of a modern economy and for unleashing the potential of individual
and private initiatives.
4. Restore the social and cultural fabric of the
Zairian society.
5. Create the framework for a sustainable endogenous
scientific and cultural enterprise.
COMMITMENT
Basically, the Rally for a New Society is committed
to changing the nature of Zairian politics and the perception
that the Zairians have of political activists. RNS wants to create
a climate where people with good leadership abilities go into
politics to shape the nature and the future of their society,
to serve the interests of the people and of their constituencies
and not merely to find an easy way to filling their pockets.
To achieve this, the new Zairian has to get deeply
involved in the selection and the grooming of its leaders who
will then have no other choice but to be accountable. The new
Zairian society will have to allow for real competition for power
to take place constantly and for the private sector to be the
appropriate venue for those who want to legitimately and honorably
accumulate wealth. This is not only possible and feasible; it
is a must if we want to win the challenge of the future: building
a prosperous and dynamic society in which future generations will
be proud of and happy to live. Indeed, a legitimate leadership
is always a natural emanation of a group, and it is only from
its incarnation of the group’s aspirations and its fulfillment
of these that it derives its legitimacy.
The history of a people is, after all, always its
responsibility to itself and it therefore is always within itself
-and nowhere else- that it makes the choices that determine its
destiny: survival, progress, or degeneracy. The Rally for a New
Society is dedicated to serving as a powerful path for this collective
journey. And the battle for the future will be won -and it has
to be won today and not tomorrow- only if we -all Zairians- rally
behind the five RNS principles for a successful transition in
Zaire which I outlined on April 08, 1997 in my testimony in front
of the House Subcommittee on Africa of the US Congress and which
were published in the editorial page of the Washington Times on
Saturday, April 26, 1997 and later on in a front-page article
in "Le Potentiel" in Zaire. These principles are as follows:
PRINCIPLES
1. Respect for human rights: No government shall
warrant our consideration, that does not show the necessary respect
for human rights and human dignity. Indeed, nothing is worth doing
if it is not done with full consideration and respect for human
dignity.
2. Freedom of Expression: A government that, under
any pretext whatsoever, sets about stifling the freedom of expression
shall be outcast. For anyone in position of power who acts in
full conformity with the interests of the people that he or she
represents, freedom of expression shall bear no threat. More often
that not, the reason of the State turns out to be the prosaic
reason of a few in power.
3. Multiparty-democracy: To organize is the ultimate
political act; and the freedom of association to maximize one’s
natural propensity to collaborate with like-minded people to better
serve one’s interests shall be regarded by all as the most basic
of human and citizens rights.
4. The natural emergence of a new leadership at
all the levels of the society: One of the odd characteristics
of the Zairian society today, and which can extend or reproduce
itself in the future if appropriate measures are not taken now,
is that the Zairian political class has remained frozen for the
last four decades or so. Needless to say that no society can develop
and progress if it does not renew its political class.
5. Rational use of the country resources, to the
benefit of the people, within the framework of a market-oriented
economy: Poverty and misery are a curse only where the genius
of the human mind is not put to work. The State has its mind that
may not necessarily be as creative as the mind of an individual,
and the immensity of the State and its impersonality do not allow
for it to know the real needs of individuals as much as individuals
themselves do. After the catastrophe that has been Mr. Mobutu’s
powerful State, the last thing that Zairians may need is another
powerful State that will dictate to them and choose for them.
These principles must be respected by all the parties
involved in the Zairian political landscape, the traditional opposition,
the Alliance forces, and the international community, not only
for a peaceful transition to occur in Zaire, but most importantly
in order to put Zaire back on its feet and on the path to a bright
future. Anything else will be tantamount to a betrayal of the
aspirations and the deep yearnings of the good people of Zaire.
Dr. Alalfuele M. Kalala
President, RNS
