Congo: Bridging the Past

Principal artery of commerce in the Congo was traditionally the Congolese National Route, a 1,725-mile rail-river-rail connection from Elisabethville in Katanga to the Atlantic gateway at Matadi. But the route became unusable with the outbreak of civil war. When ever Katanga’s secessionist Moise Tshombe felt events going against him, he quickly ordered another railroad bridge blown up. Thus, since 1960 most traffic has moved on alternate rail lines through Portuguese Angola and Mozambique. But the routes across foreign territory soak up revenue badly needed within the Congo, and last week Premier Cyrille Adoula hopefully dedicated a new railroad bridge at Bukama. the final rebuilt link in the Katanga-Matadi run. ‘This is not only a bridge over the Lualaba River,” said Adoula. “It is a bridge over the unhappy past.”

Though a milestone of sorts, the Bukama bridge also marks the petty pace of Congolese unity, for the steamy 25-day trip by barge and boxcar remains an awesome obstacle course.

Some of the 23 Congolese provinces created since 1962 claim authority to levy import-export duties as the mood strikes them. Also, tribal tensions necessitate frequent changes of engineers as trains pass from one region to the next. If the local folk spot an enemy at the controls, they might swarm aboard and kill him on the spot.