Promised Land by Jean-Pierre Mbelu is a critical analysis of neocolonialism in Kongo-Kinshasa. The author deconstructs mechanisms of predation and proposes paths for the sovereign reclamation of national destiny, land, and resources to break the cycle of dependency and warfare.
Reclaiming our land. Reclaiming our national destiny. This presupposes that we were « the Masters ». It presupposes that we were sovereign. It also suggests that some event occurred for our land and our national destiny to slip away from us or to be confiscated. Why and how would they escape us? Who could have confiscated them? Since when? Who are we to reclaim a national destiny and land that elude us and/or are confiscated? Reclaiming our national destiny and land presupposes that they were once ours. When? What about today?
All these questions refer not only to our history and anthropology. But also and especially to a questioning of the latter. Indeed, the war raging in Kongo-Kinshasa since 1996 is a deceptive war. Indeed, presented as a solution country, Kongo-Kinshasa is certainly not one for its populations in practice. While the resilience of the people can be praised, what matters is finding and implementing the means for the reappropriation of the collective destiny.
Promised Land offers a critical view of the past and present situations in Kongo-Kinshasa in order to sketch the possibilities for emancipation and responsible reappropriation of our destiny as well as our lands and resources.