Why Dr. Denis Mukwege should not join the DRC politics

Here are three reasons why Dr. Denis Mukwege, the recent laureate of the European Parliament Sakharov Prize, should not become another Congolese politician:

1) In joining the Congolese political mêlée Dr. Mukwege would contribute in enforcing the notion that politics is the ultimate destination for Congolese intellectuals.
2) The overcrowded Congolese political arena is ineffective, it requires decentering perspectives from visionary independent thinkers such as Dr. Mukwege.
3) In becoming part of the Congolese political mêlée, Dr. Mukwege’s moral authority will suffer since his political success will necessitate political alignment.

With more than 400 political parties, the Congolese political scene is overcrowded. It doesn’t lack individually brilliant minds, but it is stuck in an unproductive dependent trajectory. Often Congolese intellectuals have blindly joined the political circus just to find themselves dancing to the same music they criticized from outside. Some African scholars such as Jaques Depelchin have used the concept of entrism to qualify the lure of joining certain African political systems with the intention of changing them from within. Similar with resource curse, the confinement of Congolese intellectuals in the political arena has atrophied our social creative abilities. Because pursuing political office is the teleology of a Congolese intellectual life, it seems, Congolese politics has starved other sectors of life. It is not exaggeration to claim that the Congo is plagued by intellectual curse.

In the Congolese social and political landscape, Dr. Mukwege is a rare specimen; he is an outlier. Dr. Mukwege does not simply play by different rules. He seems to be playing a different game altogether. Multiple national and international awards speak to Dr. Mukwege’s expertise, courage, determination, and compassion for human freedom. In spite of the risk that comes with working in Eastern Congo, and a direct attempt on his life, Dr. Mukwege seems unstoppable. In 2013 after a few months of exile in Belgium, Dr. Mukwege went back to work at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, explaining that his life wasn’t more valuable than that of Congolese women who have been survivors of rape in Eastern Congo. From the establishment of Panzi Hospital in 1999 to 2013, Dr. Mukwege and his team have treated over 40,000 women survivors of sexual violence. On November 26, Dr. Mukwege received the Sakharov Prize. Immediately Congolese and other international analysts began speculating whether or not Dr. Mukwege should venture into the Congolese political battleground. As a Congolese intellectual, I sincerely think that Dr. Mukwege should not join the Congolese mêlée of politicians.

The question here is not whether Dr. Mukwege is capable of infusing some measure of trust and efficiency into the Congolese political machinery. He certainly can. What interests me the most is Dr. Mukwege’s overall social contribution and the message he would send to Congolese young intellectuals should he join the Congolese political class. Among others, here are three interrelated reasons why Dr. Mukwege should not become a politician.

First, in joining the Congolese political arena, Dr. Mukwege would contribute to the myth that seeking an elected or a political position is the end goal of the Congolese intellectual life. For the most part, as soon as Congolese friends and acquaintances find out that one nourishes intellectual ambitions, the expected question is, “when are you running for office?” Congolese intellectuals can testify to that fact. It seems like a Congolese is not yet an intellectual until she/ he becomes part of the political fight club. Don’t get me wrong, I am not arguing that Congolese intellectuals should not be political; they should be by all means. However, contributing to the political system does not necessarily entail seeking or siting in an elected office and living of the prerogatives associated with the state or the political power. What matters here is not whether Congolese intellectuals should be political, but how should they seek to influence the political system. My point is this, clustering the most influential Congolese minds into the political football field weakens our ability to efficiently contribute toward the transformation of the Congolese political culture. Political survivability forces Congolese intellectuals to adapt to the political system at the expenses of transforming it. If this is accurate, then Dr. Mukwege is more likely to adapt to the Congolese political system. That would be a shame.

Second, the ineffectually congested Congolese political arena, with an ever-metastasizing number of political parties, desperately needs positively transformative outside perspectives. Dr. Mukwege represents alternative social forces that could help transform the Congolese political culture. For so long most Congolese social fields, perhaps with the exception of the music industry and church business, have not garnered national and international clout to inspire Congolese. Dr. Mukwege can use his national and international credibility to strengthen the Congolese civil society and generate reliable alternative sources of influence.

Finally, in joining the Congolese political saga, Dr. Mukwege’s moral authority might be jeopardized since he will not only be forced to pick a dog in the Congolese political fight, he will be one of them. Consequently, Dr. Mukwege might no longer be seen as the compassionate fearless doctor. He will become a Congolese politician, inspiring successful Congolese intellectuals to join the political arena instead of developing reliable alternative areas of possibility for social participation.

I could never thank Dr. Mukwege enough for his work and contribution to the Congolese society. We need more daring professionals of his caliber. And more pertinently, the Congolese political system needs a positive transformation of the political culture. But the political culture will not be transformed so long as the entrism syndrome continues to lure influential Congolese minds. I sincerely hope that Dr. Mukwege does not become another Congolese politician.

* Patrick Litanga, a Congolese PhD student at American University in Washington DC.

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