One in seven people living in the Congo needs humanitarian assistance. More than two thirds of the population live on less than two euros a day and up to five million people are reported to have lost their lives in an endless conflict in which dozens of armed groups fight for control of regions with abundant natural resources in a country which is four times the size of France. Six months ago, the Congolese people went to the polls. Félix Tshisekedi succeeded Joseph Kabila; although these results were contested by civil society and the other candidates, they didn’t lead to an outbreak of violence as in previous elections.

The people have shown their determination

“On the contrary, despite predictable irregularities and the fact that opposition provinces couldn’t vote (sometimes under the pretext of Ebola), the people showed their determination to be heard” says Mathilde Boussion, a freelance journalist who covered the elections for the Associated Press with the photographer Jérôme Delay. He observes that after “years of conflict and brutal repression, the Congolese didn’t take to the streets.” They were more focused on their former president leaving than they were worried about the person who would replace him, according to Maria Malagardis, a journalist for Libération. They gave the elected president, Felix Tshisekedi, a chance. Formerly an opposition figure, now reconciled with the former president, “what opportunity does he really have to change the country?” asks Sonia Rolley, a journalist for RFI.

Who benefits from continuing chaos? 

The country’s institutions are all still held by Kabila, who controls “Congress, the army, the justice system, the police and more” says Dr Denis Mukwege. For years, the Nobel Peace Prize winner has condemned the involvement and the possible complicity of the state in the crimes perpetrated in the DRC. “Tshisekedi is a bit player. We cannot rebuild peace when criminals are still in power. In 2010, the UN released a report which acknowledged that 617 war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in the Congo. We know who was responsible for them but, ten years later, nobody has been prosecuted. What was the point of writing a report, only for it to be put in a drawer? Who benefits from continuing chaos in the DRC?”

The UN has failed in its mission to protect 

“The UN came but didn’t solve the problem,” says Pierre Buyoya, the former President of Burundi. It has failed in its mission to protect. Maria Malagardis describes the situation in Goma in North Kivu: “today, it’s overrun with humanitarian workers and western SUVs which fill the streets, as in colonial times.” The former deputy secretary of peacekeeping operations until 2008, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, agrees. “The UN has lost its political credibility. It is seen as a colonial power which we can’t do without because of a risk of the entire region being engulfed, but it no longer has room for manoeuvre. I was naive to believe that we could help to rebuild a true democratic state without tackling the existing regime.” For the diplomat, the country’s people and local institutions will put an end to the crisis; they’re “the most realistic voices”. “Who knows what will happen tomorrow in the Congo?” Mathilde Boussion concludes. “Some have economic and financial interests in maintaining chaos but what role will these people have in the new government?”