Salongo

From Roach Busters

Salongo ("Work" in the Lingala language) was an obligatory civic work program introduced by the Mobutu regime in 1973, ostensibly to foster a return to communalism and solidarity inherent in traditional society. Intended to mobilize the people to perform collective work "with enthusiasm and without restraint," salongo was, in fact, forced labor. Citizens were required to perform one afternoon of labor per week on agricultural and development projects. The program proved highly unpopular, and so many Zairians refused to perform their salongo duties that many local administrators turned a blind eye. Even though shirking one's salongo duties carried a penalty of one to six months' imprisonment, by the end of the 1970s, rare indeed was the Zairian who did not shirk his duties. Ironically, the self-proclaimed anti-colonialist Mobutu's "revolutionary" program revived one of the most despised features (forced labor) of the colonial state whose legacy he was purportedly working to erase.