Pope Francis warn the West against exploiting DRC people and its minerals

Pope Francis, left, sits with President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo during a welcome ceremony in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jan. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

KINSASHA - The head of the Catholic church-Pope Francis has demanded that Western powers stop looting Africa’s natural resources, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Hands off the mineral resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa!” says Pope Francis on Tuesday to applause in his
opening speech to Congolese government authorities and the diplomatic corps in the garden of Kinshasa’s national palace.

His speech was more of an attack on Western powers who have continued to plunder the resources at the expense of locals. Pope Francis “Stop choking Africa. It is not a mine to be stripped or terrain to be plundered, wealthy countries have exploited the resources of poorer
ones for their own profit.”

The 86-year-old Francis is the first pontiff to visit DRC  since Pope John Paul II did so in 1985 when the country was still known as Zaire.

The head of the catholic church pointed the finger at the role colonial powers such as Belgium played in the exploitation of Congo until the country, which is 80 times the size of Belgium, gained its independence in 1960.

He also said neighbouring countries are playing a similar role today. The 86-year-old didn’t identify Belgium or any neighbouring country by name, but he spared no word of condemnation, saying there was a “forgotten genocide” underway.

“The poison of greed has smeared its diamonds with blood. May the world acknowledge the catastrophic things that were done over the
centuries to the detriment of the local peoples, and not forget this country and this continent.”

The Catholic church runs about 60 percent of health and education services in DRC. It's estimated that half of Congo’s population of 90
million are Roman Catholics.

The six-day trip, which also includes a stop in South Sudan, was originally scheduled for July 2022 but was postponed because of Francis’s knee problems, which were still so serious on Tuesday that he could not stand to greet journalists in the plane heading to Kinshasa and was forced to use a wheelchair on the ground.

GAROWE ONLINE