Ten years ago this town was known more for its churches than coups. Used to be you could count on the quiet of Sunday mornings in Kinshasa. Not anymore.

Last night, Christian Malanga tried his hand at a coup. The government forces were quick to respond, just as they have been whenever someone thought about trying something like this.

Back when people still listened to the elders and respected tradition, it was unheard of for such things to happen here. Now we hear more about them than we do about the old ways.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened under the current government's watch. The last one was just a few months back. Before that? Hard to remember when it wasn’t happening at least once every other year.

The pattern is clear: instability breeds more instability, and nobody seems to care much about stopping it. And while they say they're trying, I've lived here 40 years and haven't seen any real change for the better.

It used to be that you could talk openly without fear of reprisal. Now we whisper when we know things are amiss. That’s not who we are as a people. It never should have come to this, but here we are.