The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State

8. Regional Administration

8 Regional Administration Importance ofthe territorial administration If there is a striking resemblance between the Mobutist state and its Bula Matari predecessor it is to be found in the regional administration. The territorial administration ofthe Second Republic has as its major function the control of the population. It counts the people, regulates their movements , issues identity cards, reports on their "state of mind," and taxes them to pay for the operations ofthe local administrative units which carry out these tasks-in short, it enforces state hegemony. Although the labels attached to the administrative units and to the administrators who head them have changed since the colonial era, the structures themselves are similar. In many ways, the texture of the relationship between the citizen and the state apparatus resembles that of Ie temps des belges. Probably the greatest differences between the present administration and its colonial predecessor lie in the related areas of probity and competence . Few would dispute the effectiveness or probity of the colonial administration , within its own terms of reference; but the present administration has been repeatedly criticized by Mobutu himself as corrupt and inefficient. From the days of Leopold the regional administration was the crucial armature ofthe colonial state. In the early phases, the regional administration had the task of assuring the "effective occupation" ofthe vast territories claimed by Leopold in order to make internationally secure the title to these domains. There followed the challenge ofappropriating the labor of a sufficient portion ofthe populace to lay the foundations for colonial capitalism and ensure a fiscal flow that would cover the consumption needs of the state itself. A thorough penetration and control of the subject society was basic to the colonial project throughout the Belgian era; the loss of territorial mastery in some wnes in 1959 was a mortal blow to colonial self-confidence. 221 222 RegionaJAdministration Territorial control was no less central to the policy calculus ofthe New Regime. The loss ofeffective regional administration, and the fragmentation of administrative authority through a multiplicity of factionalized provincial jurisdictions, were defining characteristics ofthe First Republic pagaille; during the 1964-65 rebellions the liquidation ofvestiges ofstate power even remotely responsive to Kinshasa in large areas ofthe republic was fatal. Reestablishment of the authority of the state, by restoration of the ascendancy ofits regional administration, was a central priority for the Mobutu regime. Initially, it appeared that this goal was being met. The unified hierarchical grid ofthe centralized state was restored, at least in form. The acute shortage of Zairian personnel possessing the formal educational qualifications deemed requisite for command functions within the state apparatus was overcome. But new pathologies became apparent by the 1970s; the credibility ofthe state was at issue as its inability to perform basic services became manifest and corruption pervaded its apparatus. To illuminate the nature ofthe state, we explore in this chapter the operation of its regional administration; its hierarchical structure, its personnel , and its practical functioning are studied through two policy cases-the reform of chieftaincy and the regrouping ofvillages. We then turn to the mechanisms ofvenality which have been so destructive to state credibility and legitimacy. It should be noted that our focus here is not on the central bureaucracy ofthe state. This is not to suggest that the capital apparatus is not important ; in such a centralized system ofgovernance as New Regime Zaire, the reverse is the case.I But we feel that the state-society interaction is best viewed at the point where public authority rests directly upon the citizenry , and where hegemony is extended to all parts ofthe territory. Territorial administration: the Belgian model The Belgian regional administration had a number ofdistinctive characteristics ; immediately striking was its symmetry. Territorial control was assured by a neat system of nesting territorial subdivisions, such that the entire colony was divided into provinces, each province into districts, and each district into territories. All units on a given level were juridically equivalent. In this respect, the Belgians were very much the heirs of Bonaparte , the Mpinga has pointed out.2 There were about 125 territories RegionalAdministration 223 and 25 districts (precise numbers fluctuated); a territory was, on average, nearly as large as Belgium, or [roughly equivalent to the state of New Jersey. The territory was the most crucial echelon of administration, as it represented the point at which the European administration exercised its control upon Mrican intermediaries (chiefs). The province, the district, and the...