Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hi Andre,
I trust that you are all alright?
Sorry for late response; I was in a remote area.
Right now; the situation in DRC is a bit confuse.
Legally, Kabila can not present himself for another run. He tried last
January to condition the elections by the organisation of a census. In fact
it was a way to legally go over his term because a census would have
taken roughly two years. As a result the opposition and population went
on the street which lead to the withdrawal of the project of the law in the
parliament.
Kabila created a situation where technically we can not have elections in
2016 for the following reasons:
However, is Kabila jumping in bed with the Chinese?? And are you seeing France/USA teaming up
now China is coming on so strong?
Regards Andre
----- Original Message ----From: ANDRE DEGEORGES
To: Christian DRC Muteba
Cc: BRIAN TUT REILLY ; Nimmi Seoraj ; ARMAND BIKOO CAM ; GEORGES MOUNCHAROU
CAMMINEF
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2015 4:31 PM
What is the reality today and what nations are involved and how are the linked to each other, to Kabila
and to Rwanda/Uganda and their rebel groups/militias ? How does this play out as it appears to me
past foes - The USA & France are now teaming up against the onslaught of China?
Christian - you have your boots on the ground - so how do you see it?
Regards Andre
878
Fifteen years ago, the United States, in concert with African regional organizations, helped facilitate
political settlements of wars that killed millions of people in Central Africa. The overwhelming majority
of victims were citizens of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where, beginning in 1996, the decay
of President Mobutu Sese Sekos corrupt and incompetent regime spawned what would become
known as Africas World War. The conflict embroiled two successive Congolese governments,
several African countries, and a jumble of armed groups. By 2002, however, the United States helped
facilitate a peace accord that provided for the withdrawal of foreign forces and a democratic transition
based on a new constitution and free elections. During the same period, U.S. and South African
diplomacy, backed by states in the region, helped end a potentially genocidal civil war in neighboring
Burundi by mediating a new democratic constitution.
Today, however, those agreements are unraveling as Congolese President Joseph Kabila and
Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza attempt to bypass their two-term limits and cling to power. In
Burundi, Nkurunzizas last-minute decision to run for reelection this month touched off a constitutional
crisis, with street protests, a military coup, and a counter-coup. The Obama administration has made
diplomatic efforts to address that crisis, taking a strong anti-third-term position and reacting to
violence on the part of the Burundian government with cuts in security assistance and visa
restrictions. But Washington is missing a crucial opportunity to prevent the situation from deteriorating
in the far more strategically consequential Congo. The country is the largest by size in sub-Saharan
Africa, and third biggest in terms of population. It is extremely rich in natural resourcessuch as
copper, cobalt, tantalum, and the world's second largest equatorial rain forestand it shares borders
with nine countries.
Ever since Belgium, the United States, and the UN engineered the fall of its first democratically
elected leader, Patrice Lumumba, in 1961, Congo has been the place where Africans have looked first
to judge U.S. foreign policy toward the continent. As President Barack Obama prepares for his fourth
and possibly final official trip to Africa in July, he should act aggressively to sustain past American
successes (including his own) in advancing democracy and peace in the heart of Africa.
DEMOCRACY ON THE DECLINE
Like Congos infamous kleptocrat Mobutu Sese Seko, Kabila has chosen to govern through a system
of patronage that has spawned massive corruption and a dysfunctional public service. According to
the political scientist Pierre Englebert, the Congolese government and people lose as much as $4
billion in revenue every year due to state agents manipulation of mining contracts and payments,
torturous budget practices, and outright theft. The degree of corruption has deeply undermined costly
international efforts to strengthen and reform the countrys security and economic institutions. Donors
acknowledge the problem with a euphemism: lack of political will. In 2011, when Kabila manipulated
a constitutional change and rigged voting in order to assure his reelection, the United States and
African regional organizations looked away.
T
homas Mukoya / Courtesy Reuters
U.N. peacekeepers drive their tank in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, August 2013.
And so U.S. policy toward Congo has eroded. For one thing, the Obama administration has failed
to follow up on the special envoys recommendation for the UN to facilitate an inclusive and
transparent dialogue between all stakeholders on the overstocked calendar and related issues, such
as updating the voter roll to include the millions who have come of age since 2011. For the opposition
in Congo, what Kabila has recently proposeda dialogue led purely by the governmentis a
nonstarter. Whats more, unlike the EU and the UN, Washington has provided modest funding for the
local elections, which are widely rejected by the Congolese opposition and civil society groups. The
United States should instead be earmarking substantial support for the crucial national ones on
condition that they are conducted in a free and fair manner.
At the same time as Washington is failing to protect democracy in Congo, it is not doing enough to
sustain the regions peace process.
Meanwhile, the State Departments public condemnations of unlawful detentions and non-credible
charges against dissenters have been sporadic and failed to highlight specific cases. And even
though political parties need to be strengthened in order to compete in the elections, the U.S.
government has offered a pittance of assistance on this frontjust $1 million per year for all parties,
well below what it spends in other important African countries. U.S. policy should change on all these
fronts. And if Kabila continues to deform the election process, the United States and other countries
should consider placing targeted sanctions on senior members of his regime.
To make matters worse, at the same time as Washington is failing to protect democracy in
Congo, it is not doing enough to sustain the regions peace process. In part due to the absence of a
dynamic special envoy, past progress toward ending military conflict between Congo and its eastern
Ever since 1961, Congo has been the place where Africans
have looked first to judge U.S. foreign policy toward the
continent. As U.S. President Barack Obama prepares for
his fourth and possibly final official trip to Africa in July,
he should act aggressively to sustain past American
successes in advancing democracy and peace in the heart
of Africa.
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Trade and Trouble
What China Can Learn from the 1640 Economic Bust
By Salvatore Babones
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-Best Regards
Chris MUTEBA K
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.
Henry Ford