"They listen to the politicians, understanding nothing" raps Congolese hip-hop artist Alesh in Reveil or The Awakening, a song that represents the frustration and hope of the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the video of which was released just before sub-Saharan Africa's largest country went to the polls this week, the third time since it gained its independence in 1960.
It would be a sad thing if that were literally true. 'Cos while what the people of DRC want is what people anywhere in the world wants when they go to the polls — for their lives to improve — the difference between what life is and what it could be is nowhere as vast as it is in DRC. The country's mineral wealth (cobalt, diamonds, coltan, gold, copper, zinc, etc.) is worth over US$ 24 trillion, but two civil wars have left the country at the bottom of the UN's Human Development Index. "We lost forty-something years," explained Kabila. "All we're trying to do is make up for lost time."
If you Google "Democratic Republic of Congo" and "elections", most of the news reports will be about the pre-election violence, the fact that the country wasn't ready, logistically that is, for this election (they went ahead anyway because incumbent President Joseph Kabila's term expires on the 6th of December), and calls by some of the presidential candidates for the elections to be annulled due to the irregularities. But frankly, we're just keeping our fingers crossed for the people of DRC that whoever they vote in hasn't just been blowing smoke in their faces. That would be the ultimate insult to a people who have shown considerable restraint considering they're well aware of how wide that gap between what is and what could be actually is. 
Before the elections Kabila's popularity had hit rock bottom in Kinshasa, the country's capital, where poverty had been worsening while the cost of basic goods had been rising, but he is still expected to win. If he does, will that mean enough people believe that, despite the current situation, he and his party have done a good enough job over the last decade and that they will do a better job than the opposition, or that the "irregularities" were substantial enough for the results to be questionable? And if that happens, what then? If he is voted out will that mean the people of DRC have woken up?
“First and foremost my people / we need to detox in order to open their eyes so they see the paradox.” - Alesh, lyrics from ‘Reveil’
Frankly, no one knows, so all anyone, including the Congolese, can do is wait and see.
The video was filmed in various parts of the DRC, including Bukavu and Kikwit, but the core was filmed in Baniele, an illegal squatter settlement on the outskirts of Kinshasa. Baniele was built on land that is in a constant state of erosion and where a single electrical wire and a single well supports the entire neighbourhood of thousands. According to Ben Herson, founder of fair-trade label Nomadic Wax (who produced the video), Baniele was chosen as the backdrop for the video because it is so representative of the Congolese struggle and experience.
