Coup Failure in the DR-Congo, Part 2

My first contact with Joseph Malanga, Christian Malanga’s father, was in October, 2014. He heard that we were making a film in the DR-Congo and sent me a note: “I want to be involved.” Joseph was a refugee from the Congo and the president of the African Help Line Society, which no longer exists. He sought financing from various grant makers and emphasized the great poverty and corruption in the DRC, as shown in this youtube which he liked to share. (It was linked to the email he sent me.)

I met Christian “President” Malanga later. I was invited to see him talk with representatives from the Central African Republic about ways to address poverty there. It turned out that it was a scam attempt by those purported CAR reps. But it was clear to me that “President” Malanga was honored by other Africans. How could I not be impressed?

When I heard that he had also been honored at the Vatican, I was persuaded that God was preparing his path.

This photo shows him being knighted in the order of Peter and Paul in 2017.

Others of my American friends working in Africa were aware of him, too. Most importantly, we in Utah knew that “President” Malanga had been baptized a member of OUR faith–the Mormons. God was working a miracle in Africa with one of US.

Of course, I saw miracles frequently. (Or did I just interpret them as miracles?) My Mormonism encouraged faith, and I saw the world around me as constantly unfolding the presence and will of God. Hidden paths converged and we beheld divinely ordained maps.

I assumed that “President” Malanga was a righteous man, or God would not have called him. Right? I wrote to a friend on Sept. 21, 2016: “There is an LDS man, Christian Malanga, who intends to seek the presidency [of the DRC].  It’s a dangerous endeavor, but we shall see. He is currently meeting with the Pope in Rome. Watch God part the red sea.  Miracles await.”

Well, I was wrong about the pope; Malanga met with a bishop. And I was wrong about the miracles.

Why didn’t we spot his deadly pride? Why did we join him in the power games in which he wore military uniforms, capes of Catholic honor, and blue suits with red ties? Why did we participate in the role-playing which ultimately killed him? Were those who knew how huge and fantastic his dreams were complicit in his failed coup?

He wanted to change the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo–again. He was returning Mobutu’s name for it: Zaire, meaning “the river that swallows all rivers.” But now it would be NEW Zaire.

He had a list of promises, and they sounded fantastic:

The New Zaire will become a place for entrepreneurs to thrive. Our new government will incentivize business investment through privatization and a tax plan that encourages investors with tangible long-term opportunities for wealth.

It is time for the men and women of New Zaire to be proud of their military and feel safe at home. It is time for the police to be trained and equipped to deal with civilian matters. We will train and educate. Military enlistment and police enlistment are for hardworking, patriotic, and law-abiding citizens.

We will get rid of political influence in the military, and the New Zaïre military will operate as an apolitical institution that must serve the nation, and not serve the personal or collective interests of a few.

We will build a national, unified and robust army whose main mission is to assert the New Zaïre’s sovereignty. Our armed forces personnel will be highly trained and will receive professional development opportunities .

Our foreign policy is rooted in the belief that relationships between countries should be based on mutually beneficial principles. There should be a solid understanding that their interactions are to be of a purely egalitarian nature.

Our foreign policy advocates tough punitive mechanisms to deter illegal exploitation of New Zaire’s natural resources. The degradation of human dignity and the violation of international laws and agreements must not be allowed to continue.

What’s not to like? (And does any country NOT have these ideals?)

But…

The late Mobutu Sese Seko was being invited back to the Congo. Mobutu, “King of Zaire“, the man who conspired to assassinate the great liberator Patrice Lumumba, the man who celebrated his inauguration in 1965 with public executions, who enriched himself and his family as the country deteriorated into ruin, who built himself the “Versailles of the jungle” and brutalized all opponents–THAT man was symbolically coming back, and so was his flag.

It unfolded awkwardly. The militants got lost before finding the presidential palace. Then, they live-streamed the coup attempt. It went like this:

“President” Malanga and a group of about forty men in military fatigues chant (in English) “New Zaire! New Zaire” and showed the flag. Malanga calls President Tshisekedi by his first name and threatens him: “Felix, we are coming for you!” Malanga motions for his son, Marcel, who is wearing an embroidered American flag on his jacket, and looks scared. He joins his father and covers his face with a black mask.

Marcel’s Instagram profile shows him in football gear, flashing cash in front of a Tesla, boxing a bag, pointing guns, and looking indomitable. It also shows pro-Trump memes.

“Felix, we are coming for you!” yells Christian, adding an expletive and an insult. He leads his men out the door. He is killed quickly.

In Utah, headlines say: “Former Utah Car Salesman Dead after a Failed Coup.”

It’s like they’ve never heard of him.

Since Sunday, I have not been able to get him out of my mind.