CORRUPTION AND GOVERNANCE IN THE DRC DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD (2003–2006)

This report examines the history and state of corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing on the transition period between 2003 and 2006. It traces a legacy of predation from King Leopold II's forced labour regime and Mobutu's state capture to the resource looting by foreign occupying forces and the Kabila administration. The author argues that without learning from this history and strengthening anti-corruption institutions and legal frameworks to meet international standards, the DRC risks returning to a cycle of bad governance and conflict despite the democratic progress made during the 2006 elections.

• The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has a long history of predation and authoritarianism, beginning with King Leopold II of Belgium, who treated the Congo Free State as personal property and implemented a brutal regime of forced labour to profit from ivory and rubber.
• Under the dictatorship of Mobutu, the DRC (then Zaire) experienced systemic state capture. Mobutu used revenues from base metals like cobalt and copper to bribe allies and, in 1973, confiscated small and medium-sized enterprises to give to cronies, leading to a national economic downturn.
• The regime of Laurent-Désiré Kabila, which took power in 1997, continued the predatory traditions of the Mobutu era. Kabila suspended the Constitution, banned political activities, and granted mining concessions to speculators before even reaching the capital, Kinshasa.
• During the conflicts in the late 1990s, occupying forces from Rwanda and Uganda were accused of plundering public and private assets in the DRC, with Ugandan leaders reportedly diverting their armies' missions to create "armies of business".
• The transition period from 2003 to 2006 was intended to move the DRC toward a democratic dispensation, culminating in elections in 2006 and early 2007. However, the author notes signs of a resurgence of corruption and patrimonial rule during the establishment of new political institutions.
• The report aims to assess the anti-corruption laws and institutions of the 2003–2006 transition to identify gaps and ensure national legislation aligns with international instruments, including the UN Convention against Corruption, the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, and the SADC Protocol against Corruption.

APA

KODI, M. (2008). CORRUPTION AND GOVERNANCE IN THE DRC DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD (2003–2006). Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MONO148FULLBACK.PDF

Chicago

KODI, MUZONG. CORRUPTION AND GOVERNANCE IN THE DRC DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD (2003–2006). Institute for Security Studies, 2008. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MONO148FULLBACK.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=KODI |first1=MUZONG |title=CORRUPTION AND GOVERNANCE IN THE DRC DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD (2003–2006) |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=August 2008 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MONO148FULLBACK.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kodi2008corruption, author = {KODI, MUZONG}, title = {{CORRUPTION AND GOVERNANCE IN THE DRC DURING THE TRANSITION PERIOD (2003–2006)}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2008}, month = aug, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/MONO148FULLBACK.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }