What still
baffles me with the people of the Pool region, in particular the Laris, who are
considered as Congo’s second “colonial power” after the French and who have produced
great personalities such as Andre Grenard Matsoua, is their love for France. The Laris are considered to be Congo’s second
“colonial powers or masters” after France, because they not only spread around
the country working either as civil servants or traders, they are also known to
be one of the most industrious tribes in the country. However, after thorough
investigations, there is need to nuisance, the manifest love of southern
Congolese toward France. My investigations have made me to realize that, the
apparent manifestation of love toward France demonstrated by southern Congolese
or the Laris, is nothing but a a form of protest, which will be explained later
on.
Paradox
The love of
southern Congolese toward France is truly a paradox. For their hero, who has
become a national and pan African hero, Andre Grenard Matsoua who was born on
the 17th of January 1899 and was killed or died in a French jail or
hospital on Congolese soil on the 13th of January 1942, was a
nationalist. He was a not only a Congolese political figure and nationalist, he
was also a pan Africanist, who taught his people to be independent minded. He
taught Congolese and black Africans from France’s African possessions, to be
nationalistic, to study hard and use the same tools used by the Whiteman:
education, to fight win their freedom. And as part of his emancipation drive, he
founded his own religion, known as the Matsouanists and he also invented what
is known today as “SAPOLOGIE”. Besides
those two ideologies, he also created a militant movement for students from
French-speaking black Africa in France.
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