Congo Chronicle XVIII

February 16 - March 1, 1998

sources: ACP, Le Soir, Trouw

Conference sur la Territoriale

The three days conference about the organisation of the national, regional and local administration has terminated successfully on February 14.It has been assisted by about 600 administrators from over the whole country. Some clear decisions were taken to produce order in the administration of the zones, provinces and regions. First of all agreement was reached about the responsabilities of the local authorities.They have the task to survey security, public order and the implementation of the national agriculture programm. They must control the local markets and commerce centres and supervise the maintenance of national laws and prices. The local authorities have also the obligation to promote health, education and alphabetisation of their population and to fight ignorance. Finally they have the control the local state organisations of police, army and security. The national government will supply appropriate professional dress with insignes, means of transport and telecommunication.

International contacts

EU The president of the EU election committee, Bascelar de Vasconcelos, visited Kinshasa during a week. On wednesday February 18, he talked with representatives of the Congolese civil society, a.o. the organisation for free elections LINELIT (Ligue National pour les Elections Libres et Transparentes). They pressed that the EU will invest in consciousness-raising of the population with respect to the elections. The EU has promised to reserve 30 million ECU ($32 million) to this end. The deputy minister of Home Affairs, Mulumba Katchy, has talked on a working meeting with Bacelar about the same item.

Herve Hasquin The Belgian president of the French Committee of the region Brussels, Herve Hasquin,arrived in Brussels on February 17 after a thorough visit to Kinshasa. On a press conference he showed satisfied about his encounters in Congo. Hasquin made clear that Congo will much appreciate Belgian aid. He had talks with president Kabila,seven ministers, the governor of the National Bank and most important entrepreneurs. Belgium should put its expertise into action in the fields health care and infrastructure. Hasquin gave the press the example of the Belgian business man Damseaux who already invests in the reconstruction of the road from Kinshasa to harbour Matadi. Moreover, Hasquin suggests Belgium to invest in education in Congo. The universities and technical highschools are in a very desolate situation. According to Hasquin the government team is prepared to reconstruct the country, but the international aid is necessary...

Visit of a UN representative The minister of Foreign Affairs, Bizima Karaha, received the representative of the UN organisation in Congo, Herbert Cleod. He announced that the administrator of the UNDP (UN Development Programm), Gustav Speth,will visit Congo shortly. Speth's purpose will be to reinforce the relations between the UNDP and Congo,that has already been endowed with $ 800 000 for improvement of public administration.

Visit of Mrs Ogata / UNHCR Mrs Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees started a three days visit to Congo on February 19. She talked with Congolese ministers of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs. UNHCR promised to contribute an amount of $ 20 million for repair of the damage caused by the massive presence in Kivu of Rwandese refugees since 1994. (note: This is not a great amount in comparison to the enormous damage: loss of lifes, material loss and disruption of security for the Kivu population, and considering that UNHCR yearly provides $ 300 million for the refugees in the Great Lakes Region)

Furthermore UNHCR has started the repatriation of hundreds of Congolese refugees who fled to Uganda last year during the war.

The UN-team that has to investigate the murder on Hutu refugees has started working in Mbandaka.

New vision on development cooperation

The minister of International Cooperation, Celestin Luanghy, organised a meeting on February 19 for foreign diplomats, where he explained the DRC vision on cooperation for development. In this context he stressed equality and partnership as principles. His department will create a data bank for the benefit of foreign investors. He intends further to organise a half-yearly forum "semestre de la cooperation" to promote mutual consultation.

Mining / Oil

The minister of Mining, Kibassa Maliba, will convene a meeting with representatives of banks and interested companies in the next half year to discuss a new mining code. He told this in Cape Town (South Africa) where he assisted an international mining conference.The Worldbank is prepared to help with the drawing up of this code, said its representative, Paulo Desa, who confered with the minister in Kinshasa.
Kibassa is invited by the South African Central Selling Organisation (De Beers) to come to London in order to discuss several mining projects.

The oil company PetroCongo will start exploration for oil in the region "cuvette centrale" (province Equateur) in this month of March, together with the Canadian company Trillion Resources. PetroCongo mentioned three oil-rich regions: "cuvette centrale", the Kivu rift, and the coastal region. Only at the coast oil is in production. The other regions have formerly been explored by foreign companies who never presented their results to the Congolese State; so PetroCongo has to do it over again.

FEC

On February 25 the board of FEC (Federation of Congolese entrepreneurs) communicated some decisions, chiefly about reorganisation. Some commissions have been formed with representatives of 16 companies, involving textile, beer, transport en telecommunication. FEC says to appreciate frequent consultation with the Congolese government. The companies support the government plans for the reconstruction of the country.
The government has decreed that every company has to organize trade union elections before the end of May. Finally this has to lead to the creation of an National Labour Council, a kind of national consultation of the social partners.

Patric Claes

Mr Patric Claes, the Belgian former administrator of the railway company Sizarail, has been released after 6 months emprisonment, and arrived in Brussels on February 17. Contrary to expectation he showed to the press no rancune about his emprisonment. On December 5 he had been sent for by Kabila, together with a couple of ex-Mobutu civil servants, who also were held prisonner. The discussion with Kabila was about state money that had been unlawfully approprieted and had to be restored. After that meeting Claes has prepared a draft for the continuation of Sizarail, which he has handed to Masangu, governor of the National Bank, who started to work with it. In the view of Claes, Sizarail has to be liquidated by a neutral third party. Then a new partnership has to be formed (Sizarail-bis) with participation of Congolese state. After submission of this plan the Congolese government has sent delegations to South Africa and to Belgium. This has led to the transfer of $ 16 million from South Africa (an old debt of the S.A. partner of Sizarail); also Belgium has reserved an amount of $ 10 million for the creation of a social plan for Sizarail. After solving these affairs Claes has been released. Masangu has expressed his hope that Claes will return to Congo to take charge of the renewed Sizarail.

Three ex-Mobutu generals, Baramoto, Nzimbi and Mavua, who were arrested in South Africa in December last year and had been provisionally released, have allegedly left South Africa with unknown destination.

Tshisekedi

Several news agencies have announced that Tshisekedi has been arrested on Februari 12, and sent back to his birth village. Trouw (dutch journal) mentions that UDPS party members fear for his life. His house has allegedly been repainted and equiped with new furniture, kichen utensils and linen. UDPS-members think that in his house, that is guarded by soldiers, he will die because the new things in his house are poisoned. The Dutch lawyer of Tshisekedi, mr Hofdijk, has asked minister Pronk, to intervene with Kabila to urge that a doctor is admitted to Tshisekedi.
Apart from that, at his press conference the Belgian minister Herve Hasquin has named Tshisekedi 'un bouffon' (a clown), which evoked a lot of indignation from UDPS in Belgium.

Meeting of the Cabinet

At the meeting of the Congolese Cabinet on Februari 28 Kabila has made an appeal to receive the Congolese football team with honour, although it has only got a third place in the African Football Competition.
Kabila showed angry about rumours in the press that he would be ill. He had stayed some days (20/2-24/2) in Switzerland to take rest for tiredness. In the press media circulated the wildest speculations.
One subject of the meeting was the tax proceeds; tax levy is gradually being streamlined, as small and middle sized companies and the informal sector are starting to pay tax.
A census is programmed with financial support of the EU fund It will be the first time since 1965 that census takes place.

Fighting in Kivu

The Belgian journal Le Soir reported about fightings in Kivu. On February 24, Ugandan military have entered in Congo near Butembo.There are also fightings between the Congolese army and the Mayi- Mayi.
In Bukavu has been an uprising of 300 Banyamulenge on February 25. Before that, Congolese military have made an inquiry into possession of weapons. They found arms and munition in the houses of several Banyamulenge, who have subsequently attacked a barrack where the weapons had been stored. Then they left to the southern place of Uvira. The Burundese army is allegedly supporting them. The Banyamulenge do not agree with the government's policy to integrate ex-FAZ military into the army, though these have had a re-education in Kitona camp.

Roger Winter

The Washington Post of February 22 published a interesting article of Roger Winter, president of the US Committee for Refugees, titeld: How Human Rights Groups Miss the Opportunity to Do Good. His remarks concern specially the countries of the Great Lake Region, Rwanda and the DRC.
In consideration to these countries he names 5 hard truth:
-The human rights communinity has serious shortcomings.
-The human rigts community mistakenly assumes that it alone has the best interests of the population at heart.
-Human rights failures by governments are not always deliberate.
-Seemingly "neutral" human rights reports can have powerful implications in a politically fragile region.
-Wartime human rights abuses do not necessarily invalidate the puposes os the war or the legitimacy of the victors.
(note: we advise very much to read the whole article, that we have copied on our website).

SEE ALSO:
chronicle 8, september 15 -september 28 1997
chronicle 9, september 29 -october 12 1997
chronicle 10, october 13 - october 26 1997
chronicle 11, october 27 - november 9, 1997
chronicle 12, november 10 -november 23 1997
chronicle 13, november 24 -december 7 1997
chronicle 14, december 8 1997 - january 4 1998
chronicle 15, january 5 - january 18 1998
chronicle 16, january 19 - february 1 1998
chronicle 17, february 2 - february 15 1998