Tribalism and xenophobia: bill seeks to punish ethnic favoritism, including in political offices

Congolese national deputy Garry Sakata Moke Tawab has proposed reforming the 1966 law against racism and tribalism, adding xenophobia as a new concept. His bill would require political office chiefs to be from a different provincial, tribal or ethnic background than the authority they serve, and would penalize officials who appoint more than a quarter of their tribe’s members to their offices. The new offense of “abuse of tribal power” would carry six to twelve months in prison and a fine of ten million Congolese francs. The proposal also defines “cultural identity” as belonging in the private sphere and prohibits promoting it in the workplace.