Constitutional inflation and the crisis of patriotic citizenship in the DRC

The overproduction of constitutional texts in Congo-Zaire is a sign not only of ideological inconstancy and political groping - often coupled with blind mimicry - but also and above all of the crisis of citizenship and authentic patriotism, such that pseudo-patriotic citizens, or better still predatocratic Zairo-Congolese citizens of all stripes and backgrounds, whenever they have the opportunity, proceed much more on the basis of patrimonialist and segregationist logic than of a serious attachment to republican and democratic values and virtues. For this type of socio-political actor, Congo-Zaire is a patrimony, a conquered land or a preserve that they would like to manage without sharing, even if the real problems of the Zairo-Congolese nation remain unresolved. The embezzlement of public funds, the plundering of state assets, the flight of capital abroad and widespread impunity through discriminatory, tailor-made laws and judicial procedures serve as the basis for any comprador governance they establish to the detriment of the popular masses.