Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Minerals Conundrum and March 23 (M23) Rebellion: An Exposition.

This paper examines the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) minerals conundrum from its independence from Belgium in 1960, under Patrice Lumumba, who was murdered by the Belgians and succeeded by Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga to the present day. The paper's overall objective is to reveal that all wars and conflicts in the DRC were necessitated by mineral resources, found mainly in the Eastern Provinces of North and South Kivu. The rare minerals include cobalt, copper, gold, diamonds, tantalum, coltan and zirconium among other mineral resources. The paper contends that Western countries including Belgium, France and the United States of America (US) among others countries have fiercely contested for mining rights in the DRC since colonialism to this day. Similarly, some African countries have been used by some Western governments as conduits for exploiting DRC's mineral resources. The Chinese are also involved in mining in the DRC. This paper adopts the qualitative secondary research approach as its adopted methodology and deploys the resource curse theory as its theoretical undergirding. Several scholars have researched the DRC's perennial conflicts since colonialism to the present day. However, none of the scholars have focussed on the involvement of many global powers and some African countries in the destabilisation of the Kivus for mineral resources. This current study zeros its focus on that area. Findings emerging from this paper expose several Western countries, namely the US and Belgium among others, conniving with some African countries in perpetually and persistently disrupting the peace of the DRC to exploit its natural resources. The paper recommends that all foreign governments involved in the Kivus should immediately withdraw all their troops from the DRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]