A Q&A with Jean Felix Mwema Ngandu—Congolese civic activist

Jean Felix Mwema Ngandu—prominent civic activist in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In my action and adventure novel, a brilliant ex-child soldier goes on to build a drone empire and bring peace and prosperity to a country badly in need of both—the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

I got into Lemba Adula’s head through his techie side as well as our shared penchant for do-gooderism.

For his war memoir in 2050, Lemba calls up memories from his life 25 years earlier as a rifleman, drone operator, and sea-going pirate. He and his twin sister, 15, fled from their riverside village to the capital city of Kinshasa out of fear that the “Congolese Purification Army” would force them to kill their parents.

But what about today’s realities? Congolese without Lemba's wealth are already making some difference even if the DRC is still a long way from nirvana. Among them is Jean Felix Mwema Ngandu, who helped fact-check my book while offering a Congolese perspective. A past Mandela Washington Fellow, he has started the Buswe Institute to promote democracy and responsive government.

Jean Felix also co-founded CSD: Community Service Day. Once a month, thousands of Congolese engage in community activities, ranging from trash pickup to taking care of the sick. He says CSD has drawn more volunteers than any other effort in the DRC.

By way of disclosure, I’ll be paying Jean Felix to help promote my book. Of course, he has exquisite literary tastes. But he also likes the fact that the novel takes the bloodshed in the Eastern part of the DRC and moves it to the Kinshasa area, circa 2025. So Gun serves as a warning of sorts for people so far untouched by the fighting. Watch a German broadcaster’s chilling video.

Speaking for myself, I believe that American military invention in the East would be the last thing the DRC needs. But we should expand the aid intended to get at the root causes of the conflicts, while recognizing that—just as Jean Felix says—this is more of a Band Aid than a full, sustainable solution. Ahead he tells what else we should do. Alas, some corrupt and ineffectual U.N. peacekeepers have added to the problems, and countless local people want the U.N. to leave. Rapist peacekeepers have even impregnated Congolese women.

In addition to offering a frank take on the U.S. role in Africa, Jean Felix discusses other aspects of the DRC’s regional geo-politics, bio details, and his valuable civic and community organizing activities, one way to help promote stability in Congolese society.

Before getting on with the Q&A, I’ll also recognize the help of Junior Boweya, the original fact-checker, whose work Jean Felix vetted. The two didn’t know each other but ended up agreeing on most every detail. Way to go, Junior! He is a software localization specialist, translator, and businessman in Kinshasa.

And now the Q&A with Jean Felix, conducted on email. He enjoys a good Net connection in Kinshasa and will be available for email media interviews with others. Of course, he’ll mention my novel but will focus more on other DRC-related topics. Let the book simply serve as a handy news peg to help tell the true story of the Congo—both the horrors of the Eastern wars and the bright spots such as the civic activism scene and future possibilities, economic and otherwise. Imagine, for example, a DRC reinvented to rely less on commodities and more on manufacturing, especially for local and regional consumption.

Q. Why should Americans care about the DRC? Just what does it mean to them economically and in terms of security and environmental issues?

A. The regular conversation about the US-to-DRC relationship often is approached from a humanitarian perspective only. Of course, a lot of attention should go to the impacts from multiple wars, continuous civil unrest, and governance issues that stifle growth and human development in the Congo. The DRC is endowed with natural resources and favorable climate conditions, yet cannot feed itself. The majority of its population (over 71%) live below the poverty line, and the country continuously ranks among the lowest countries on the Human Development Index (HDI). All this should be a major concern for the Congolese and for everyone interested in the collective advancement for all.

But we must look beyond just the humanitarian perspective. While American citizens may be aware of taxpayers contribution in the form of international aid going towards developing countries such as the Congo, I have found that very few Americans equally know about the economic gains that return to the US from the said developing countries. In the DRC for example, a few major American companies are directly involved in the extractive industry within the mining sector and also in banking with actors such as Citigroup and other areas. Economic data show that the economic value of what comes out of the Congo to the US by far outweighs the value of aid that goes from the US to the Congo. This conversation is far less visible and deserves attention as well. I think that adding this often-missing piece to the conversation is a good way to allow Americans and the Congolese to think more clearly about why they should care.

From an environmental perspective, the Congo holds our planet’s second largest rain-forest ecosystem after the Amazon forest in Latin America. This is very important when we consider how the Congo is playing a pivotal role in slowing global climate change by absorbing levels of greenhouse gases. However, due to poverty and lower development, Congolese people rely more and more on the forests for farm land, and they are also cutting down trees to make charcoals to prepare food. Access to electricity and other forms of energy is severely limited throughout the country. It goes without saying that DRC’s development and access to energy has a direct link to the stability and to the protection of our world’s ecosystem. Solving the environmental challenge that our world is facing should be a primary concern for everyone, and DRC’s forests hold an important answer to this problem.

We can spend days talking about the economic potential of the DRC.

In regards to security, we can say that the Congo is literally at the heart of security in the world. The Congo's mineral resources can plunge the world into chaos or save it. The Congo has the largest strategic reserves in the world of all the materials needed in technological advances and even in the manufacture of weapons.

Q. What advice would you have for Joe Biden and Congress in regard to the DRC and Africa in general? Biggest mistakes the United States is making? Anything we've been doing right, despite the recent presence of a racist like Trump in the White House? How can the U.S. most help the DRC?

One of the mistakes that many developed countries continue to make is to pursue engagements on the African continent either from an aid, charity, or handout perspective or from a business side tied to the extractive industry only. While Africa has changed a lot over the past few decades, its development partners have not been as agile as we would have hoped in adapting policies and practices to suit what African countries really need and want. Foreign aid from the US is a decent Band Aid solution in the short term, but aid alone cannot develop a country in the long term. What is most beneficial for the DRC in the long run is to have partners who engage in sustainable solutions that can build the institutions, human capital and market opportunities capable of facilitating a transition out of poverty for the majority of the population. What DRC really needs is to expand beyond a commodity orientation in order to have sustainable growth and a better future. I am sure there are plenty of ways the US can assist as a partner.

Q. What are the biggest political and economic challenges in the DRC? How much corruption is there vs. inefficiency? What are the cures? On the positive, what are examples of the DRC's potential—-economically and in other ways, cultural included? Past accomplishments? Masks from the Congo, based on what I read, helped inspire Picasso. Why such a resource-rich country with so many in poverty? How much of this can be traced back to King Leopold's greed and barbarities? Others responsible?

A. The political and economic challenges in the DRC are many. When you combine a strong culture of elite capture, the rent-seeking behaviors within the public sector, and the weakening of local capacities and institutions, the results deliver a state operating under contexts where corruption and inefficiencies are intertwined. But it is important to not become too pessimistic because there are also positive efforts which are worth mentioning. We should learn both from the success and challenges in order to cast a clearer vision for a future in the medium and long term.

For a long time DRC was characterized by public deficit and hyperinflation reaching as high as an annual average of 1300% from 1990 to 2001. During the peak of the civil war in 1994, hyperinflation had reached 9800%. It is impressive that in only one decade, DRC was able to correct its macroeconomic policies, thus reducing these extreme rate of hyperinflation to 13% inflation from 2002 to 2014. For the first time, DRC had managed to get its macroeconomic framework right. During this period, the country started to implement sound fiscal policies to support growth. National budget allocation for health, education and agriculture which have been in the lowest tiers since the 60s were increased, the country leveraged on technology to digitally identify public sector workers who no longer were paid in cash but rather via electronic bank transfers regularly at the end of the month. This process alone had identified a great deal of ghost workers within the public sector, uncovered ingrained corruptive practices that leaked public resources to the hand of a few people and saved millions of dollars to the public sector. The country also started to invest in the transportation and agriculture sector in order to diversify the economy. As a result, DRC had gone from hyperinflation to reaching annual average of 7.8% growth in 2010, which was well above the average growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is important to tell this side of the story also in order to present a set of balanced prospective on the DRC. What DRC as a country ridden by wars and other challenges was able to achieve in only one decade was impressive and an indication of what sound policies and leadership can do.

However, this growth which was largely driven by commodities did not create enough jobs, and inequalities also grew during this period since economic growth does not necessarily mean economic inclusion. A way forward is for the DRC to truly diversify its economy. An investment in the agriculture and service sector has the potential to create on and off farms jobs and directly impacts livelihoods. A way forward would also be for the DRC to learn how to manage its own successes in a way that can allow sound policies to survive regime changes and to be improved upon.

Q. What are the biggest misunderstandings that Americans and others have about the DRC? Are you familiar with the Conrad classic Heart of Darkness? Do you think the racism there and in other literary works has complicated matters over the years? How? How aware were people in the DRC of Trump's racism? Has Biden's election helped put Congolese people at ease, or are they worried about the rise of another Trump? How did people in the DRC feel about the Trumpists' January 6 assault on the Capitol?

A. In my view, the portrayal of Africans and Congolese more specifically as exemplified by Conrad in Heart of Darkness has been discussed enough by many people. The racism transpires through his work with ease, and the message that Congolese were not equal and full human beings also is clear. The influence this book has had in telling African stories in the West and in complicating relational dynamics between the West and Africa cannot be understated. The relevant question for our time would be to know why do people today continue to inform themselves from his book? Why do people today continue to uphold ideas and even policies rooted in the dehumanization of others?

The DRC is a country with over 80 million people so I think there will be a variety of opinions when it comes to 46th President of the US. My perspective on this is not at all representative of the larger population. However, I think that there was an initial shock, confusion and disgrace that characterized the last four years. America announced itself as beacon of light, defender of democracy, rule of law, fairness, justice and accountability. What happened in the US, a country rooted in the rule and law, checks and balances, was difficult to watch but also exemplary of how nation-building is a complicated process for developing countries such as the DRC. If the US despite all of its safeguards could be shaken by one leadership, this telling of how democracy can progress is complex.

Q. Geographically, the DRC is a huge country. Do people in Kinshasa grasp the full extent of the mineral-related bloodshed happening thousands miles away in the Eastern part? Tell us what's going on there.

A. The DRC may be a vast country, but people are very aware of what is happening in the East, the recent atrocities and the regular unrest and security challenges that plague many local territories of the East. What is happening there has been largely covered in the news, but most recently it has been a push from the US for the DRC to recognize and label the local militia ADF as a terrorist group.

There is a feeling that the crisis is not lived in the same way in the whole country. It is possible to have that impression that the war is in another country due to the distance maybe.

Q. In what ways could the current government be more democratic and accountable? How much hope for improvement?

A. Very tricky question. To me the direction is not very clear with the current government. Maybe I am just being very pessimistic. I am not expecting very much.

We can argue that people have been free to speak—at the same time some people have been arrested and jailed for insulting the president, etc.

I have a feeling that the current government is sending mixed signals. One asks oneself about the democratic advances truly desired.

I am afraid I cannot be very optimistic.

Q. How extensive and in what forms is the Chinese political and economic influence in the DRC? Should Americans be worried?

A. Like many countries in Africa, DRC’s economy is driven by the export of raw materials from the extractive sector. China is a country with a growing appetite for raw materials and consequently has formed several economic partnerships throughout the African continent. The US and China have followed different approaches when it comes to Africa. In the DRC, the US focus has been towards the strengthening of democratic institutions, the support of human rights and aid assistance for health, education.

China’s approach on the other hand has been different in Africa in how the country stays out and away from meddling with internal domestic affairs, but instead seeks to establish grounds for mutual benefits by delivering what African countries want in exchange for mining access. While traditional donors and partners have shied away from public infrastructure, China is boldly willing to build roads, hospitals, bridges, electrical damns for electricity, and this flexibility has made Chinese foreign direct investment very attractive to many countries in Africa. The fact that China also succeeded in lifting millions of its population out of poverty in the past decades presents a traceable path to many people in Africa who prefer to see evidence of roads constructions instead of promises for aid.

Infrastructure for development is not impossible to deliver; African countries such as the DRC are not the first ones to seek such an arrangement. For example, Spain recently received 10 billion USD of aid from the European Union. This funding was used to build roads, to invest in infrastructures to develop Southern Spain into a service economy.

Ireland, which is one of the fastest current growing economies in Europe, received 3 billion USD in aid from the European Union. Ireland used this aid to build an information super highway and the infrastructure which allowed them to participate in the information technology revolution that created new jobs in their economy. The challenge here is that while the EU can easily transfer aid to build roads, to support public infrastructures or to build a new sector of the economy to create jobs like in Ireland, developed countries are not willing to do the same when it comes to African countries. For many developed countries in Europe and the US, the engagement with African countries is not opened to aid for roads or for infrastructure. DRC is a country two times the size of Western Europe but until recently only had 2,250 km of paved roads. No country can develop in the dark by lacking electricity, DRC cannot develop without roads and public infrastructure. Americans should not be worried but rather they should adapt their policies to align with what Congoleses want and what they are asking for to reach a vision for sustainable growth in the long run. China is a latecomer to foreign direct investment scene but has been able to gain grounds rapidly in Africa because they understand this. There is certainly room for America to catch up should it want to.

Q. How much has Covid affected life in the DRC? Have precautions worked? Are people wearing masks? Much talk of vaccinations? Could the US and others do more in this regard?

This pandemic has terribly affected the whole world and the DRC as well. I can’t really say if the precautions worked or not. I guess they have worked if you look at how Africans are not that much affected directly by the disease rather by the restrictions due to the disease. It’s more of a economic crisis than a medical crisis in Africa. It’s a bit difficult to understand.

Yes, people wear masks but certainly not like elsewhere for various reasons. Some public places require masks to be worn, but this is not everywhere. In rural areas, people hardly wear masks and these areas are hardly affected by the pandemic but are feeling the effects of the restrictions it has caused.

With Buswe Institute and the Community Service Day, we raised awareness among the populations and even offered masks according to our possibilities.

Yes, a lot of people talk about vaccination but to say that they do not want to be vaccinated. Many voices believe that this is a way to reduce the world's population and even kill Africans. There has been a lot of manipulation on the subject and fear has taken over. And the communication I will say locally hasn't helped much either.

Can the US and others help? I believe so by facilitating access to the vaccine in particular. I don't know if that is the best solution, but if it is, our countries have to get the vaccine. We really need to get back to the normal or at least to the new normal.

Q. Tell me about yourself beyond your listing on LinkedIn. Your age? Family of your own? Hobbies or other forms of recreation? Tribe and location? Any distinguishing characteristics of that tribe? Tell me about your parents. Occupations? Did your mother and father have anything to do with your interest in political and developmental matters? Exactly where is your family from? Any social or economic issues of special interest where they live?

I am 35 years old, I was born in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and I am engaged.

My parents are Baluba (Baluba-Katanga (Balubakat) both from Haut-Lomami province in the north of the ancient Katanga province. Haut-Lomami province is one of the four provinces resulting from the division from Katanga.

My father, the son of a primary school teacher, had the chance to go to the Petit Séminaire and then to the University of Lubumbashi in the South of Katanga where he studied International Relations (later Law). Having completed his studies, he went to live in Kamina to prepare for the 1982 elections. While organizing his base, he taught in secondary school. He was elected as Commissaire du Peuple; today we call then Député National “Member of Parliament.” It is also in Kamina that he met my mother.

My father was a National and Provincial Minister and held several other political positions. He is a career politician.

My mother, the daughter of an official among the priests, had gone to school with the nuns in Kamina. After graduation she became a primary school teacher. She taught a few years before marrying my father. For a long time she was housewife and then a businesswoman, but she entered politics a few years ago.

Both my mother and father are involved in development issues. Yes, my parents must have influenced my political engagement and my passion for community development. I have a lot of both, I think. I grew up in a political environment that made me understand certain things very early.

My father always taught me to be “upright and useful like the Palm tree.” My mother always told me that you are only really useful when you are useful to others. I have only been trying to live these words.

Q. I'd like to know about your adventures outside Kinshasa and what insights you gained from your trip. Quite a story about the train engineer who refused to stop and instead told travelers just to jump aboard with their baggage. Example of the need to help people learn to do things differently?

I have had the chance to travel across the country. Traveling in the Congo gave me a better understanding of the different realities. Congo is so big that it is like several countries at the same time. People are different, have different realities, and just live differently.

Travel is a real school. I lived mainly in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi but I was lucky enough to go almost everywhere in Congo. To travel is to have access to a very large book. It’s a form of wealth. I am privileged because I have also traveled a lot outside my country. I am very lucky. Heaven has been really favorable to me and thank you to my parents as well.

I will not say that the engineer refused to stop, he had no right to stop in that village. At the time of this particular trip it was only a small station and the trains didn't stop there. We would have to go 70 km then maybe find ways to get back to the village. So our only way not to have to go that far was to jump off the train. By slowing down to get off the train the conductor may have been putting our lives in danger but had actually helped us. It's weird, but that was it.

This journey, as difficult as it was, remains a very good experience. An experience I will never forget.

I think through the travels I have learned a lot. I am a mixture of several experiences wanted and unwanted.

Q. Tell us about Community Service Day? What is it? Largest volunteer group in the DRC? How many volunteers? Were you the main founder? What gave you the idea? What kinds of chores people do during CSD? How often is the day? What's the motto in English? "My community, my accountability?" Has the Kinshasa government been supportive?

Community Service Day is an organization founded in 2016 which brings together Congolese man and women without distinction mostly young volunteers. It was launched as an initiative of alumni of the US State Department [Fellowship program]. The objective of Community Service Day is to bring Congolese in general, young people in particular, to contribute to the improvement of living conditions in their communities. The community service day was also created to spread the culture of volunteerism, service and self-giving in the Congolese community through actions of community interest.

We meet on the last Saturday of each month for various community actions; to support a noble cause, assist vulnérables, in short, respond to community problems and on a voluntary basis.

I am the main founder, yes. The idea started with me. I was the bearer of the vision. I shared it with a friend, Alain Chirwisa Alesh, who is also a former fellow of the United States Department of State, and it was he and I who had defined the contours of Community Service Day and decided to associate other former fellows. The CSD has become the largest organization of volunteers in the DRC in regards of the number of volunteers. We have thousands of young people who are members and who every month participate in the activities of the CSD and almost in all the big cities of the DRC.

I was a member of Volunteer in Mission in Zimbabwe when I was a Masters student there and also when I was in the USA I had to participate in community service days. These different experiences as well as what I was already doing in the country allowed me to think about creating a structure that would allow the Congolese to participate in the construction of our country through Community Service Days. I am convinced that we can achieve a lot. Thanks to the CSD, we have been able to rehabilitate schools, pay for the education of hundreds of children and much more. The CSD has always been a way for me to empower communities to solve our problems. I consider the building of a country to be the business of all citizens. Hence, a way had to be found to get the Congolese involved. When we say “My Community, My Responsibility” is precisely to say that future of my community depends on how much I am engaged. We say that we are the most beautiful face of the Congo because we want to present a positive image of our country inside and even outside.

Honestly, we have not received enough support from the government, but I have to say that the government has never stopped us from doing our work. We have almost always obtained from the administration the necessary authorizations to organize our days. And some activities have received support from the Kinshasa city sanitation authority. When it was necessary to plant trees to create small parks we had received trees and even equipment.

Q. What's the Buswe Institute? What does it do? Who's behind it? Funding source? How does it promote democracy? Is it training future leaders? In what specific skills?

Established in April 2017, Buswe Institute is created to become a private, non-profit Congolese think tank dedicated to independent research and innovative policies, an institute dedicated to engaging young people and building their capacities in the areas of ethical leadership, management and public governance, volunteering, civic and political engagement and development. A school of civic and community education and democracy.

We also want to devote ourselves to the design and delivery of independent innovative policies to governmental and non-governmental institutions and also become an institute dedicated to parliamentary research.

Our mission is to participate effectively in the establishment of a flourishing Congolese society, where the citizen is at the center of positive changes in his community: promote education and culture, strengthen social justice, democratic values ​​of good governance and ethics, and promote the values ​​of entrepreneurship, participate in building resilient communities. Work to build the capacities of communities for a development that would start from the base.

The main activity of Buswe Institute to date is the training of young future leaders. We have different programs and the most successful to date is the Buswe Leadership Camp through which we have been able to train more than 1000 young people on issues of Leadership, Community Engagement, Human Rights, Gender and Social Justice. We have organized a total of 11 leadership camps in several cities of the DRC. Other programs focus on strengthening the political participation of young people through civic and electoral education. Since 2017, we have been able to have a direct impact on several thousand young Congolese.

I am the founder of Buswe Institute and we have no one behind it. The biggest difficulty is financial; to date we are financing our activities alone; we had to do fundraising activities like selling t-shirts to fund our activities. We have also received occasional support from individuals who find what we do important. But finances are a real headache. To participate to the Leadership camp, for example, young people pay a participation fee (this money allows us to cover the costs related to the camps). Not everyone is able to pay so we often live spots to those who cannot afford but are really interested in learning. Young people with disabilities are often given free spots.

Buswe Institute received a micro funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency through the National Democratic Institute in 2018. It was as part of a program to support young people in five provinces of the DRC who were candidates for legislative elections (national and provincial). We were able to support more than 60 young candidates and some of them were elected. We had received $ 9000 which we managed correctly and we had largely exceeded the target intended by the project.

All our programs are aimed at improving the participation of young people in the social and political life of our country. We have an assumed ambition to train the future (political) leaders of our country. We are planning to launch a youth political academy.

Q. Given your own demonstrated leadership skills, are you considering running for political office? What kind? And when might this happen? What is your ultimate political goal?

This is a question I get all the time now. In 2019, a rumor that presented me as the candidate for governor of the city of Kinshasa had gone viral. I had never seen such support and I admit that I was even overcome with fear. At the same time, this episode made me realize that there are expectations and that a lot of people would see me in politics.

Honestly, I can only think about it. It's already crossed my mind and the 2019 episode kind of forced me to consider it. I don't know yet when and even if it will happen but I believe it will happen eventually. I have a feeling that is something I will not be able to avoid for very long.

The most important thing for me is to be able to contribute to change. Positions are not my priority. It’s not about me but about building momentum with better political leaders for the future and truly politically engaged citizens. The reason for all my work with Buswe Institute.

Q. Tell us about the Mandela Washington Fellowship. How did it help you? Who have been among the other distinguished recipients?

The Young African Leaders Initiative (Mandela Washington Fellowship) is a program launched by President Obama in 2010 to build the capacities of emerging young leaders from Africa south of the Sahara. Young people go through a very competitive selection process. The best candidates are selected on the basis of their impact in the fields of: civic leadership, public management and business and entrepreneurship. They are placed in universities in the USA to improve their knowledge. Some of them even have access to a period of internship in American organizations. In 2015, we were a total of 500 young people and 12 from the DRC.

The Mandela Washington Fellowship has been a life-changing experience in a dramatic way, I have learned so much. Thanks to this program I was able to go to Howard University, and I was also able to meet young leaders from other African countries who are bringing change in different ways in their own countries. This experience allowed me to build an important network in Africa and even in the USA.

I don't know if there is still a single country in Africa where I don't know anyone. A lot of what I do today has been directly influenced by the program.

Buswe Leadership Camp is a bit of a Yali in miniature. I hope it can grow even more like the Mandela Washington Fellowship. I hang out every day with amazing young people who won't all have the chance that I had to go to America to learn, but they are lucky to have me and others here to help them develop their skills. Which we are doing quite well already. We receive a lot of testimonials from young people who have gone through this program and we are proud of it.

Q. If anyone wants to help your civic work, financially or otherwise, how can they get in touch with you?

Not sure if this is the best way to get in touch with us but they can contact us by email at busweinstitute@gmail.com, jeanfelixmwema@gmail.com or by phone at +243812974329.

Our organization is regularly registered in the DRC and we have an active bank account.