The Risks of Recentralization in the DRC

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila is slowly recentralizing government control in the vast central African country with an eye toward national elections in November. As he reasserts Kinshasa's writ, however, Kabila will run up against entrenched interests not happy to see increasing government interference. In the run-up to the election, Kabila will have to tread carefully in order to balance DRC national interests with regional and extraterritorial ones. And if he moves too aggressively, violence could ensue. Kabila understands these pressure points, however, and will likely moderate his government's behavior to avoid provoking a threatening reaction from subnational or extraterritorial rivals.