A journey into the Congolese jungle with MR. DRC:
a musician, fixer and witness to the country’s resource curse

Congo, my precious

There’s a Congolese tale that goes like this: ‘When the world was born, God went around all the countries, distributing gifts from a basket. But by the time he reached Congo, he was so tired that he said, ‘Let me just give them everything that’s left’’.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the most resource-rich countries on earth, with vast deposits of diamonds, tantalum, tungsten, gold, oil, uranium and 80% of the world’s coltan, used in every single electronic device. And yet, the DRC remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

Bernard Kalume Buleri, a musician and fixer for international news outlets, was born in 1960, the year the DRC gained its bloody independence. His father worked for a colonial Belgian mining company and Bernard was put through school with money from Congo’s riches. He lived on the front lines of his country’s history of turmoil, witnessing his homeland torn apart over and over again by greed.

Bernard’s story is a damning testament to a global system that can transform a nation’s natural abundance from a blessing into a curse.