Congo poll rivals drum up votes with music
Source: Reuters
By Alistair Thomson KINSHASA, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Congolese President Joseph Kabila's face bobs up and down on a sweaty dance floor to a song praising his arch-rival, former rebel chief Jean-Pierre Bemba. The man sporting the president's portrait on his T-shirt under the slogan "Let's Vote for Kabila" grins broadly, perhaps mindful of the irony as he dances to the latest song that testifies to Bemba's robust support in the capital Kinshasa. Both candidates have tried to turn Congo's rhythm-filled music to political advantage in their campaigns for Sunday's presidential run-off to choose Democratic Republic of Congo's first freely elected president in over 40 years. "We're all going to vote for him, Joseph Kabila," popular vocalist Tshala Mwana belts out in one TV broadcast, wearing a large blue dress -- one of Kabila's campaign colours. Mwana was a close political and personal friend of Kabila's father Laurent, who was assassinated by a bodyguard in 2001. Flick over to Bemba's CCTV channel and a row of young women in tight T-shirts and jeans gyrate their hips energetically in between clips of Bemba addressing cheering crowds. In one scene, Bemba kneels to kiss the ring of the late John Paul II during a visit to the Vatican in 2004 -- all to the sound of Congo's famous rumba. LYRICS BANNED The singing and dancing come with powerful messages. Congo's High Media Authority has banned a number of songs and jingles on both sides in an attempt to preserve calm in the run-up to the poll. Tensions have already spilled over into violence between rival campaigners in several cities. "Ba wuta ba koma ko dondua na congo" -- "The foreigners are starting to take over in Congo," ran one banned song in Lingala, the language of western Congo and the capital where Bemba enjoys strong support and many distrust Kabila. Kabila struggles in Lingala and is more at ease in Swahili, the lingua franca of eastern Congo and East Africa, where he grew up in exile, largely in Tanzania, fuelling his opponents' jibes that he is a foreigner. "Those who have come here have grown fat while we are dying of hunger," the song continues. "You know his mother and father, but where did those who have come here grow up? You know Bemba's father and mother. With Bemba the foreigners will go back home, with Jesus the foreigners will flee," it goes on. Such language is emotive stuff in Congo. Rwanda's invasions of eastern Congo in the late 1990s, for which many Congolese hold Rwandans in contempt, followed its own 1994 genocide and a decade of war in Congo has been punctuated by outbursts of hate-filled propaganda and ethnic bloodletting. Tying up with a political campaign can pay well, as well as guaranteeing an artist exposure via partisan radio and TV stations. But some musicians are opposed. "It's very dangerous -- there are risks," said a guitarist playing with a Kinshasa band who, like many in these times of political tension, did not want to give his name. "In my personal view an artist should be neutral, not supporting a political party. It's better that way," he said.
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