Tony Mwaba and Yves Bunkulu call for a revival of patriotism, national cohesion and a new citizenship

On Monday, June 12, 2023, Dr. Yves Bunkulu, Minister of Youth, Introduction to New Citizenship, and National Cohesion, officially presented to his colleague, the Minister of Primary, Secondary and Technical Education (EPST), Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi, in his capacity as Chair of the Education Thematic Group, the National Guide to Introduction to New Citizenship and the various teacher training modules developed by a commission composed of delegates from sectoral ministries. The objective is to revive patriotism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"It was my duty, as the person responsible for issues related to Education for New Citizenship, to report to the Chair of our Education Thematic Group on the work accomplished by the committee and to present him with the various documents that will serve us in our sector—whether in formal or non-formal education—so that we have a guide to help us create a new Congolese citizen," said Dr. Yves Bunkulu.

The Minister of Youth and Initiation to New Citizenship noted that this guide was developed during a series of workshops organized at his ministry’s initiative in January, April, May, and August 2022, in Kinshasa and Mbanza-Ngungu. He also specified that this educational content will now be incorporated into various course and training programs at all educational levels, in order to instill a sense of patriotism in pupils and students.

"There is also a module focused on teacher training regarding the Introduction to New Citizenship, since teachers are the ones who convey this concept, and its success depends on them," he added.

The Minister of EPST, Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi, emphasized the importance of integrating the National Guide to the Introduction to New Citizenship into various school and university curricula, as well as into vocational training programs, especially given the current security situation in eastern DRC.

"In our country, we speak of an introduction to new citizenship. It was necessary to provide educational content for various school curricula and training programs so that, across all educational levels, we can now have a new type of Congolese citizen. We are in a country plagued by insecurity in its eastern region; this requires mobilization at the national level, the reawakening of a sense of patriotism, but also civic-mindedness to move our country forward," said the minister.

According to the head of the EPST, the next step is to implement this guide in school and university curricula so that we have citizens who have internalized a love for their country, who will help the nation succeed in this general mobilization, free from tribalism, ethnicism, and everything that divides, to defend the national flag, especially against all those who constantly covet the nation’s wealth and wage war on the Congolese people to destabilize the country.

For the record, Minister Tony Mwaba recently launched the "Salute to the Flag" campaign in all schools across the DRC with the aim of reviving civic-mindedness. This initiative will now go hand in hand with the integration of the National Guide to New Citizenship into the Congolese education system.

"These are things that have been neglected for some time, and this has had an impact on national cohesion, civic-mindedness, and citizenship. And we must return to all these best practices that will enable us to effectively foster a new generation of Congolese, capable of meeting all the challenges our country faces today. That is why at the EPST, we have introduced the practice of saluting the flag, discussions on fostering patriotism, love of country, and national unity—all things we want to revive—and this marks the beginning of implementing the work that has just been done," he said.

Christian BELLA