Ray of hope in Congo

New Zairean leader Laurent Kabila's victory over ousted president Mobutu Sese Seko's military regime can be seen as a new beginning for the 45 million people of Zaire to enjoy a better and more democratic life.

Although Kabila has declared himself head of state of Zaire, which since Saturday has been renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo, he has long been expected to be the man who would bring political and economic reform to this republic in Central Africa, whose people had lived in abject poverty despite the country's abundant natural resources.

The majority of Zaire's people had been fed up with the corrupt government of Mobutu, who had ruled the country with a iron fist for nearly 32 years, accumulating personal wealth and paying no attention to the country's development or the welfare of his people.

Understandably, Kabila garnered supporters easily when he and his men took up arms seven months ago to depose dictator Mobutu and his henchmen, just as easily as his complete conquest over Mobutu's troops who practically gave little resistance to his forces. Only 200 people were reportedly killed during the takeover of Kinshasa, the country's capital, on Sunday. This is a relatively small number of casualties compared to other armed uprisings on the Dark Continent.

Against this backdrop, Kabila is truly the man of the moment, not only for Zaire, but also for the entire Central African region. Kabila's friends and foes, we believe, cannot but accept his victory as a reflection of the Zaireans' aspirations for democracy and prosperity, which Kabila had promised he would bring to the country.

We also believe, however, that Kabila will have more problems, in fact even bigger problems, in the years ahead given that he could never restore the country's chaotic economic conditions overnight and that he badly needs financial aid from the international community to achieve his goals.

Besides, the myriad of ethnic groups that constitute Zaire is another factor which Kabila has to take into account. Obviously he has to share the country's leadership, not just with his majority Tutsi group, but also with other ethnic groups who have supported him in bringing the downfall of Mobutu.

Given all this, it entirely depends on the new leadership and people of the Democratic Republic of Congo as to whether or not they can make their dreams come true and catch up with world development peacefully, or face another dictatorial government that would bring more misery and suffering.

We believe that Zaireans' hope for a better future will materialize provided that Kabila keeps his promise to "institute a market economy, stabilize the country and the entire region, unite the nation, and bring democracy, prosperity and respect for human rights", which he had repeatedly said during his seven months of armed struggle.