Equatorial Kundu

The Republic of Equatorial Kundu (REK) is a fictional West African country in The West Wing.

Geography[]

In the original appearance of the country in In This White House, the Kundunese president's wife goes into hiding in Kenya and American intelligence sources in both Angola and Sudan provide information on an emerging coup, providing a very unclear picture of where the country is. President Nimbala is played by South African actor Zakes Mokae and he speaks Setswana, an official language in South Africa and Botswana. In its second apperance in season 4 it is depicted on maps as being roughly where real-life Equatorial Guinea would be, but Leo describes it as being "near the Ivory Coast" and US special forces stage a helicopter rescue mission into Kundu from a base in Ghana, both significantly further to the west.^[1]

The capital city is Bitanga and another major city is Musato. Kundu is viewed by the Bartlet administration, at least under its rightful president, as an important ally in the region.

People[]

President Nimbala (In This White House)
President Nzele (The California 47th)
Ambassador Tiki (The California 47th)
Archbishop Zake Kintaka (Inauguration: Part 1)

History[]

2000[]

Kundu first mentioned in the season two episode "In This White House" when President Nimbala, representing the African Union, meets with Josh and Toby to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to get free or discounted HIV/AIDS medication for Kundunese citizens. At the end of the episode President Bartlet informs Nimbala that there had been a coup d'état in Kundu by the AFRC rebels, resulting in the death of his brother and his sons, and urges him to accept asylum in the United States. However, Nimbala feels that he must return to Kundu, where he is summarily executed in the airport parking lot as soon as he arrives.

2003[]

Ethnic cleansing of the Induye minority by the Arkutu majority, with many similarities to the real-life Rwandan Genocide, takes place in 2003. (Inauguration (Part I)) Intelligence reports put the death toll at close to 25,000, and later 115,000.

The government used radio broadcasts to direct mobs to kill groups of Induye citizens. One such broadcast directed a group to a church where a bishop was sheltering 800. Neighbors were swapping family members for the night, due to widespread sexual violence.

Bartlet dispatches US troops to Kundu to act as a peacekeeping force. (Inauguration: Over There (Part II)) He informs the Ambassador Tiki of Kundu that he has taken the airport and gives the Kundunese government 36 hours to give the command for troops to hand over their weapons to the US military before he takes Bitanga. However three US soldiers are taken hostage, and Nzele demands immunity and $500m for their safe return. (The California 47th) They are later rescued, though 17 personnel were killed when a US staging base in Ghana was bombed. (Red Haven's on Fire)

A number of US troops were killed in a later friendly fire incident in Kundu. (Angel Maintenance)

US forces were still present in Kundu as of May 2003, when President Bartlet speculated whether the terrorists who kidnapped his daughter might demand US withdrawal from Kundu as well as Qumar.

Inspiration[]

The 2003 genocide in the show and many of its details are clearly inspired by the real-life 1994 Rwandan genocide, though Rwanda also exists in the show and is directly referenced by President Bartlet in his 2002 election night address and by Toby when White House staff are debating intervention in Kundu as a place of similar strife.^[2] The conflict in the Congo involving the Rwandan army, precipitated in part by the 1994 genocide, is also discussed in the 2002 episode Night Five.