Scaffolding the state: faith-based organisations and application of democratic principles in the DRC and Zambia

ABSTRACT

This article argues that Roman Catholic bishops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia provide an arena for ordinary people to participate in politics and demand government accountability. The article analyses the bishops’ engagement with the populace as well as with the state through two dimensions of democratic quality: participation and accountability. The research design for the article is qualitative, and it is based on a literature review and listed sources. The article is also informed by an examination of the sociopolitical activities of the Roman Catholic Church’s faith-based organisation (FBO), the Conference of Catholic Bishops, as recorded in public pronouncements, communiques, and media reports. This FBO has long helped shape domestic politics in the DRC and Zambia. The article demonstrates various ways in which the Roman Catholic Church’s FBO-based pursuit of justice and truth in the DRC and Zambia results in substantially strengthened democratic accountability and participation.

KEYWORDS:

• Democracy
• participation
• accountability
• faith-based organisation (FBO)
• Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Roman Catholic Church

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. CENCO and ZCCB are essentially the same wing of the Roman Catholic Church. The only difference is that in DRC the organisation assumes a French name similar to the former name of ZCCB, which was previously called Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC), because French is the country’s official language. They are therefore treated as one FBO in this article.

2. President Kabila remained in office despite his constitutional term expiring in 2016, thanks to a caretaker clause in the constitution of the DRC. In 2016 the DRC’s Constitutional Court ruled that Kabila remain in power until a new president was elected. The general elections were supposed to be held in 2016 but were postponed due to alleged lack of funds, a decision which was criticised by the opposition coalition and said to be a ‘feet dragging’ strategy to cling on power or ‘glissement’ (Radio Okapi 2016a; East 2016; Wolters 2016).

3. This study meets national and international guidelines for research that relates to humans. No animals or human subjects were used or interviewed for the research on which this article is based and permission to use information from the cited sources in the article was not required. The information is publicly available and unrestricted re-use is permitted via an open licence.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leon Mwamba Tshimpaka

Leon Mwamba Tshimpaka is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Institute for Strategic and Political Affairs (ISPA) and Research Fellow at the Centre for Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn), Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria. He researches people-centred approaches to governance, alternative regionalism and regional integration, civil society and consolidation of democracy, the political transnationalism of African migrants, and anti-corruption initiatives and sustainable development in Africa. He also teaches civil society and alternative regionalism.

Christopher Changwe Nshimbi

Christopher Changwe Nshimbi is Director, Institute for Strategic and Political Affairs (ISPA) and Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria. He researches governance, migration, regional integration, borders, the informal economy and water governance. He also sits in on international advisory panels on migration, the water sector, and social protection.