Article 15 (idiom)

"Whether you're young or old, we all face the same reality: the difficult life
The daily nightmare.
What to do? If nothing else, refer to Article 15:
"Do what you must to live"
In Kinshasa."

"Article 15 Beta Libanga", 1985 song, by Pépé Kallé. Translation by Gary Stewart. ^[1]

Article 15 (article quinze, French pronunciation: [aʁ.ti.klə.kɛ̃z] ) is a humorous French idiom in the Democratic Republic of the Congo which refers to an imaginary legal provision permitting individuals to take any measures, whether legal or illegal, necessitated by adverse personal circumstances such as economic hardship, crime, or oppression by the state.

Originating during the Congo Crisis and popularised under the Zairean regime in the 1970s, Article 15 references a fictional provision of the 14-article constitution of the secessionist state of South Kasai which was said to read "débrouillez-vous!" in French. This has been variously translated as "get on with it", "fend for yourself", "figure it out yourself", ^[2] "make do to survive", ^[3] "deal with it yourself", or "do what you need to do".

A popular idiom in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Article 15 refers to an individual's inability to expect help from the state and thus justifies actions taken at their own initiative to muddle through. It is sometimes used to justify or explain unlawful conduct especially corruption and petty crime in the country. ^{[4] [5]}

Article 15 plays a prominent role in Congolese popular culture, such as the Congolese rumba song "Article 15, oyebi yango" (1963) or "Article 15 Beta Libanga" (1985).

See also

• System D, an equivalent concept in English from European French
• Politics of the belly

References

1. Stewart, Gary (2000). Rumba on the River: A History of the Popular Music of the Two Congos. London: Verso. p. 285. ISBN   1859843689.
2. Yong, Ed (July 2018). "The Next Plague Is Coming. Is America Ready?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
3. Ayimpam, Sylvie (10 April 2019). "Street smarts in Kinshasa". UNESCO Courier. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
4. Titeca, Kristof; Nkuku, Albert Malukisa (March 12, 2018). "Kinshasa's informal economy is trapped by a corrupt "tax" system for powerful public officials". Quartz Africa. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
5. Rorison, Sean (2012). Congo: Democratic Republic - Republic. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 38. ISBN   978-1-84162-391-7 . Retrieved 3 April 2020.

Further reading

• Kisangani, Emizet François (2016). "Article 15". Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4th illustrated ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 76. ISBN   978-1-4422-7316-0.
• Tricoire, Marion (2020). "Delinquent Fiction: Article 15 and the shégués Children in Marie-Louise Mumbu's Samantha à Kinshasa". Research in African Literatures. 51 (2): 80. doi:10.2979/reseafrilite.51.2.05. S2CID   231624859.