Congo’s crucial election may be heading for disaster

Finding examplesDRC of government success in the Democratic Republic of Congo () is not easy. The campaign team of Félix Tshisekedi, who is running to be re-elected president in a vote scheduled for December 20th, set itself the task of showing reporters something impressive near Lubumbashi, Congo’s second-biggest city. The journalist-jammed bus made wrong turns, repeatedly asked villagers for directions and twice nearly became mired in mud. Eventually it found a few half-built classrooms and an unfinished clinic. Yet locals are delighted. Mr Tshisekedi “does beautiful things!” beams Nadia, a young mother. After years of neglect by politicians some Congolese are understandably pleased with any sign of progress.Congo should have achieved much more. It stretches from Africa’s west coast to its centre and has a youthful population of 100m. It has large amounts of the minerals needed for the transition to green energy, producing 70% of the world’s cobalt. Yet after brutish rule by Belgium’s king, a chaotic passage to independence in 1960 and a long dictatorship, it is one of the weakest states in the world. Many major cities are not connected to each other by all-weather roads. Some 60% of Congolese live on less than $2.15 a day, an international standard of extreme poverty. The state has no control of large chunks of territory. Corrupt politicians, other African countries and rebel groups plunder its minerals.