Kitawala in the DRC

Kitawala is a spiritual and religious movement that originated in Malawi in the early 20th century.^[1]

History

The movement was derived from varying sects of African Christian movements, such as Kimbanguism and the Watch Tower Movement, which were also relevant and making waves throughout the continent. As the movement spread and traveled by word of mouth through miners and other laborers, it eventually arrived in the Congo in the 1920s.^[2] Paulo Kanumbi is attributed as a leading founder and pioneer of the movement in the Congo. Having always gravitated towards spirituality and questioning the world around him, an encounter with his teacher introduced him to the idea of the Kitawala. This prompted him to undergo a journey of self-discovery, eventually serving as a major prophetic figure in the movement. The movement began to spread throughout the Congo, making waves from the 1930’s even furthering post-colonial rule in the 60’s and beyond.^[3]

A lot of the Kitawala movement emphasized the usage of restorative and spiritual healing to help communities to regain collective strength and solidarity amid colonial rule. However, the Kitawalist strongly condemned the usage of witchcraft and made it a mission to find individuals who partook in such practices.^[1] The vehement disapproval of witchcraft comes from the teachings and ideas of Tomo Nyirenda, who led a major witch hunt excavation across central Africa, inspired by the Watch Tower beliefs, which are also echoed in Kitawala.^[4] The Kitawalist carried out similar excavations, which led to the murder of many Congolese people, and this violence was also what shaped colonial perceptions of the movement and its ideological frameworks.^[5]

The goal of the Kitawalist movement was to empower spiritual, physical, and political change that pushed back against the reigns of the white oppressor through the lens of Christianity.^[6] Furthermore, the movement aimed to rid institutions and groups that were not just tied to colonial political powers, but also other local chieftain powers that partook in practices and ideologies deemed contrary to the Kitawala belief frameworks. Another fundamental concept in Kitawala was a message that called for the black man's liberation from the white centered Christianity and political institutions that profited from the exploitation of black people.^[7] It's found in these Afro-centric ideas, which were also supported by movements like Negritude, which emphasized the liberation of Black People. Simon Kimbangu, who founded the Kimbanguist Church, also inspired many of these same frameworks in the Kitawala belief as well.^[6]

Spread of ideas

The Kitawalist movement was very effective at spreading throughout the eastern DRC, and this work was achieved by various preachers who set out to convert others as a response to a call from God. Some of these major preachers and spreaders of the movement were people, including Ilunga Jean, Ilunga Levi, and Mutombo Stephan, who sought to spread the Kitawalist message and ideas progressively and expansively.^[2] Often, they would start by having general conversations with individuals, asking for simple requests of food and water, and would engage in further conversation, beginning to share the Kitawala cause. A lot of these interactions and efforts made to convert individuals were rooted in the idea of promoting the Bible as it was supposed to be expressed, free from the white man's distortion. The preachers emphasize the idea of salvation and baptism, believing that it was through the ritual of baptism and believing in that God, people would be spiritual and physically renewed. However, some of the Kitawalist tactics were also forceful and not as cordially introduced. This method of spreading the movement proved to be very effective, inciting many individuals to get baptized throughout the region. However, its growth and expansion were feared by Colonial Powers, who were especially not amused with the anti-white rhetoric being pushed.^[3]

As the movement grew and gained traction, it caused tension between colonial officers, Kitawalist leaders, and chieftain powers within the provinces. The Kitawalist prophets influenced the masses, encouraging individuals to engage in varying boycotts, and many refused to do labor needed for mining. This was especially present in the Katanga region and prompted many Colonial powers to crack down on the movement and try to suppress its growth. This, mixed with the witch-hunting excavations, painted a picture of violence and threat to colonial powers, prompting the colonial officers to react and to engage in plans to combat this seemingly imminent threat to power.^[8] Eventually, in the 1930’s the Belgian colonial authorities formed a secret service aimed at catching Kitawalist followers and to get them down. This was mixed with the creation of labor camps, imprisonment, and other punishments to attempt to control the movement, but these actions proved insufficient.^[5]

Violent revolts and social consciousness

1944 Masisi-Lubutu uprising

In 1944, one of the major violent Kitawala events known as the Masasi Lobutu took place in a village named Magoa in the Masisi district of the Congo. Leader of the revolt, Burshiri Lugunda, had a mission to liberate the black people from the colonial powers. He was known for spreading his teachings known as Mapendo which emphasized love and condemned actions deemed morally wrong, including witchcraft. Burshiri believed that he was Yesu Mukombozi, the Son of God who had come to achieve said mission.^[7] He had recruited followers and encouraged them to renounce the Belgian colonial leaders by partaking in acts of resistance like refusing to do labor, paying taxes and to boycott.^[9] The arrest of colonial agent De Schryver, where Luganda and his followers humiliated and tortured him, sparked the revolt in which he set out to arrest the rest of the European settlers in the region and to attack the city of Bukavu. A series of violent attacks aimed at Europeans and other witchcraft users sparked a response from the colonial officers. Colonial officers created the Force Publique to suppress the revolts and they also eventually arrested Lubutu and his followers.^[10] The event was a major effective rebellion in the in the Kitawalist movement and was accompanied by other small, similar engagements as well.

Response To colonization

These religious uprisings and outburst were also deeply rooted in response to the economic and political state of the Congo as established by the Belgian colonies. Colonial rule had completely delegitimized and reconstructed pre-existing social, political and economic structures as they once were. The colonial powers had created an atmosphere in which there was a clear distinction between the colonized and the colonizer, marked most evidently in a racial separation of the black people and their white colonizer.^[11] This racial identity marker was deeply ingrained in the minds of the civilians. In response to that, individuals within their race created social hierarchies to try to create some superiority internally. As a result, elite black individuals were easily susceptible to the control of the colonial rulers as their upper class status gave them a false sense of equivocal status. We see this most evidently in chieftan powers and elites who often were used by colonial powers to try to suppress the movements such as Kitawala. The chieftan elites saw the movement as a threat as the Kitawalist did not only see the colonizers as threats but also unjust use of power and corruption which was common in the Cheiftan powers.^[5] However, these alliances gave the chiefs a false sense of comfort and security, as they would inadvertently continue to be exploited by the colonizers.

Colonial response

As marked by the violent uprising, the increased anti-colonial message made the colonial powers grow fearful. Consequently, In 1949, Kitawala and Watch Tower were banned completely by the Colonial Powers.^[5] A major fear of the colonial powers was this nationalist idea and the collective identity being pushed. They were afraid of losing their control over the people and possibly being overpowered by a strong united front of Congolese people. This is very evident in the policies being implemented in the 1950s by the Colonial Officers, trying to crack down on the movement and address it fully. In trying to strategize how exactly to dismantle the movement, the colonial powers found that the issue was with the political Kitawalist, not the religious Kitawalist. The religious and spiritual ideas were tolerable for the colonist, but the anti-white, anti-colonialism rhetoric was not. The distinction between the religious and political sects of the movements was important in order to try to compromise with the movement, as it was becoming increasingly impossible to control. In doing so, there were Surete teams utilized to conduct surveillance on Kitawala and to undermine the movement. Colonial authorities also tried to forge a sense of legitimacy by introducing education, resources, and other bribes they felt would help regain trust with the constituents so they would trust the colonial powers.^[5]

However, these efforts did not prove successful as the movement still sustained and remained influential.

Kitawala post-colonialism

Kitawala still remained relevant once Congo got its independence in 1960. Whilst the religions major role towards resistance of an oppressive colonizer no longer was an issue, its role as a decentralized form of power was relevant. Many individuals look to Kitawala as a structure and entity providing moral grounds and frameworks for navigating the post-colonial Congo and its social, economic and political state which proved to be very difficult and challenging to navigate for most constituents.^[2] People especially look towards authoritative figures within the religion as trusted individuals with the wisdom and spiritual knowledge that is sought out to those who deem it necessary to live.Thus exhibiting the importance of Kitawala in the Congo both in its emergence in the 1920's and now in the present day as well.^[2]