What The Failed Congo Coup Reveals About Anti-Western Sentiment In Africa

-Analysis-

CAPE TOWN — In the Democratic Republic of Congo, opposition politician Christian Malanga, who most recently lived in the United States, has just paid for an amateurish coup attempt with his life. With just a few dozen comrades-in-arms, he attempted to storm President Felix Tshisekedi‘s seat of government on Sunday night — broadcast live on Facebook.

But the palace was largely empty. The men, armed only with machine guns, shouted their slogans in the empty salons (“Felix, we will get you”), but were overpowered by the Congolese army after two hours. An attack on the house of one of Tshisekedi’s confidants was also unsuccessful; he — like the president — remained unharmed.

Two policemen and four attackers were killed, along with Malanga himself. He was “neutralized” when he resisted arrest, an army spokesman announced on state television. A total of 50 coup plotters were arrested, including three U.S. citizens.

In the face of this “atypical” African coup, here are four key questions to help understand the current context of the region and the geopolitical forces at play:

1. What role did the U.S. play?

The U.S. citizens include Malanga’s business partner Benjamin Zalman-Polun, 36, with whom he was apparently active in mining and cannabis cultivation in Mozambique. Malanga’s son Marcel, 21, who is also a U.S. citizen, is another one of the detainees. The identity of the third American is still unclear.

Rumors quickly spread on social media that the CIA had a hand in the case — an unsurprising reflex despite the lack of evidence, as the Americans supported Congolese separatists in 1961 and thus, at least indirectly, the assassination of the first Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, who is still revered as a national hero in the country today.

The U.S. ambassador in Kinshasa, Lucy Tamlyn, hurriedly announced on X her “concern” at the reports of the involvement of U.S. citizens: “Please be assured that we will cooperate fully with the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo in investigating these crimes and will hold accountable any U.S. citizen implicated in criminal acts.”

2. What role does the conflict in Rwanda play?

The background to the attempted coup is still unclear. But some European politicians are also taking part in the speculation.

Rwanda has been making money from the illegal extraction of raw materials.

For example, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the best-known left-wing populist in France, wrote on X: “Full support for the institutions of the Democratic Republic of Congo and President Tshisekedi, who have defeated an attempted coup by foreign agents linked to Rwanda and its allies.”

The Congolese government accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 militia in eastern Congo in its fight against the country’s army — an accusation that Kigali does not deny. There is public talk of the defense of its own territory against Hutu fighters, whose leaders fled to the Congo after the 1994 genocide.

But there is also evidence that Rwanda has been making money from the illegal extraction of raw materials in the neighboring country for decades. Congo’s current pro-Western President Tshisekdi nevertheless accuses Europe and the United States of exerting too little pressure on Rwanda, which they consider a geopolitical ally.

3. How strong is anti-Western sentiment in the region?

Malanga is an obscure figure in the Congolese diaspora, having been filmed in 2016 plotting to overthrow then President Kabila. However, the Congolese focus on the arrested Americans is not surprising, especially as Malanga has repeatedly had his picture taken with U.S. congressmen, to whom he presented himself as a key figure to get access to sub-Saharan Africa.

The anger in the Congo over the West’s silence is also being fueled by Russian disinformation campaigns.

The anger in the Congo over the West’s silence on Rwanda is also being fueled by disinformation campaigns orchestrated in Russia, which has recently identified resource-rich DRC as one of its most important African targets.

In the past, Anti-French sentiment has been used by the generals in the Sahel states once controlled by Paris try to justify their coups. That does not, of course, exist in the former Belgian colony of DRC. But in March 2023, there were demonstrations ahead of a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron. And in recent months, there have been repeated protests in front of Western embassies. In addition to Belgian flags, U.S. flags have also been burned repeatedly.

4. What other African countries are seeing an anti-Western surge?

The withdrawal in recent years of Western troops from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso is well documented. Just a few days ago, the U.S. announced that it would be withdrawing around 1,000 soldiers from Niger — as the local junta has been demanding since March. This will close the U.S. drone base in the north of the country, an important institution in the fight against the often Islamist-oriented armed groups in the region.

In Chad, too, the expulsion of the 100 U.S. soldiers was recently announced, an election campaign concession by President Mahamat Déby to his people, who had actually also demanded a break with France and its 1,100 soldiers in the country.

Senegal has benefited from Western investment and security cooperation, and is far more stable.

However, Déby did not want to go that far in view of the generous material and diplomatic support from Paris. For fear of instability, his democratic deficits will continue to be nobly overlooked in the future. The United States appeared to be the easier loss to bear.

Senegal, which has benefited from Western investment and security cooperation, is far more stable than these countries. But even here, under the new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, there is now anti-Western sentiment close to the seat of power. Last week, the country questioned the future of the French military base with 350 soldiers — and wants to cooperate more closely with the pro-Russian coup states in the Sahel region in future.

*This article was translated and published with permission by the author.