Empty Expectations- OPTIMISM turned to OUTRAGE |
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Jocy Nduku |
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Hello fellow Congolese,
I have been sending all of you e-mails on the Tuesday reception for President Kabila in New York and I feel that it is my duty to inform you on
what happened.
As people rushed to make it on time at the Holiday Inn to greet the President and ask him questions regarding our beloved country, We
encountered several obstacles.
I. Upon arriving at the door, we were frisked by the so called security.
We were asked to open our bags and the security literally fondled our clothes (it looked like a night club scene, esp. since there was music
booming on the background)
II. We were seated and were provided at a distant corner table something to
eat and some drinks. As i mentioned some of the old time Congolese music
was playing, including some Ndombolo/ Koffi/ papa Wemba --- while we were
waiting
III. About 2 hours later, as the hors deurves were wearing out in our
stomachs, the entourage who came with Kabila from DRC showed up, including
his 2 secretaries and other diplomats. They arranged the flag on the podium
where he would be seat and took care of some more logistics (that were not
yet taken care of properly, I suppose)---as we continued to wait... (an
announcement was made that our President was in a business dinner meeting
with American businessmen, and that as soon as that dinner is done with
he'll be right with us)
IV. Then around 10:30pm there were still no sign of him and another announcement was made that we should continue to be patient
V. By 11pm, people started leaving (mind you it was about 4 hours later,
since 7pm they've been waiting) and then the FINAL announcement was made by
an MC at 11:15pm that Kabila was not showing up!!
Not only did he not show up, but the ambassadors of both NY and DC didn't
come including all of the ministers that accompanied him, didn't bother to
come to at least give an official apology.
Now, I don't know about you all, but I am outraged. I believe that this
kind of behavior is inconsiderate. The 3-4 inches of snow fell in NY
yesterday, but people still managed to come OUT from everywhere, including
Canada, Boston, DC, New Jersey, Connecticut, even Belgium to see the President and ask their questions, but instead they got humiliated and had
four full hours of their time that they could have used to work or rest,
COMPLETELY WASTED. This kind of behavior need to be condemned. We need not
to continue tolerating abuse, I suggest we nip it in the bud, by showing our
discontentment. We have to allow not only the Presidentof the DRC, but also
all of our leaders to FEEL ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS TO THE PEOPLE AND
THE COUNTRY. The times of oppression are OVER, we cannot be trampled over
like lice anymore. IT's time to stop making-up excuses for this sort of
thing and demand the right of the people to at least be RESPECTED.
Jocy Nduku
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