Kagame happy with Kabila's election

Paul Kagame has surfaced in a BBC interview, after recently coming under fire from a French judge for his role in the assassination of President Habyarimana in 1994. His unconvincing performance in rebutting the allegations shows why so many believe he did it. To deflect all criticism, his trump card is the Rwandan genocide, and he uses it shamelessly to award himself a halo he doesn't deserve. There is no real opposition allowed in Rwanda, and no real elections. and the Tutsi elite (forming 10% of the population) maintains control over the Hutu majority. This elite were the vanguard in the recent rape of Congo, where over 4 million Congolese died so that Kagame's cronies (and Uganda) could gorge themselves with mineral wealth. President Kabila, who was trained by Rwanda, is thought to be half-Tutsi. Kagame tells the interviewer he is in constant contact with Kabila.

DRC: Congo 3.0 starts now...

Today, newly-elected Congolese President Joseph Kabila was sworn in. His inaugural speech included several references to rebirth, renewal, even of a revolution in the Congo. And anything short of that would be futile in the great DRC.

Joseph Kabila, and all the elected institutions of the country are embarking in a very long, and arduous journey, during which public scrutiny is going to be higher than it has ever been in the history of the country. The need to deliver will very early creep up on them, and they will have to be ready to face those presing demands. Despite his having been at the helm of the country during this painful transition, Kabila still has a lot to prove, in terms of his capacity to "bring back the country to normalcy", as Kinshasa newspaper Le Potentiel puts it, and to be able to lead the country towards an era of ideas, innovation and integrity, rather than one of corruption and destruction.

Kabila also faces the need to appoint a prime minister,nd form a government cabinet that will inspire the trust and confidence of the people. This is rather hard to do, as many politicians in the elite have already been seen at the task, in the various dictatorial administrations, and their capital of credibility is VERY low. How to operate that delicate balance between bringing in new blood, carefully choosing among those that have experience in running the country, and keeping political allies happy, will be one of the hardest tasks Kabila will face, second only to pacifying the country, and reinvingorating the economy.

There is work to be done here, and it's about time we started. Kabila needs to know that the hopes of an entire nation, and an entire continent are upon his shoulders. How he deals with that responsibility will establish his place in the annals of History. Mobutu started-off fairly well, and gave the country a lot of hope,despite his dictatorial tendencies. He then proceeded to squander all of that good will from the people, by plundering the country, along with his Western allies. Kabila has tolearn from History, otherwise, he may end up, like Mobutu, in the "trash can" of History.

Let those who have ears...

There is also another Congolese blogger that analyzes the situation HERE. I may not agree with everything, but it is very insightful, and I recommend it.

Congo kino liwa!

Tags: CongoDRCDR CongoAfricaNewsWorldElectionsPoliticsAnalysis

DRC: Are things actually moving!?!

From Reuters, through The Financial Times:

Congo's Kabila seeks reconciliation in violent east

By Reuters, Friday November 1 2006

KINSHASA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Congo's recently elected President Joseph Kabila carried a reconciliation message on Friday to his country's lawless east, where he is hugely popular but where rebel violence still threatens peace.

Days after the Supreme Court confirmed him as the winner of an Oct. 29 presidential run-off, Kabila visited the eastern city of Goma, which was threatened earlier this week by forces loyal to a renegade general, Laurent Nkunda.

In the worst fighting in Democratic Republic of Congo since last month's vote, Nkunda's fighters battled U.N. peacekeepers who used helicopter gunships and armoured vehicles to check the rebel advance in eastern North Kivu province.

At least five people were killed, more than 100 wounded, and up to 20,000 civilians were displaced by the clashes, which highlighted the east's volatility despite the historic polls, which were meant to draw a line under a 1998-2003 war.

Presidential spokesman Kudura Kasongo said Kabila was in Goma "to deal with a worrying security situation there".

He refused to give details but U.N. and Congolese officials said the mission appeared to be focused more on fostering reconciliation than trying to defeat Nkunda militarily.

"He doesn't seem to be on a war mission -- it seems to be more about appeasement," said one U.N. official.

In Kabila's ballot box contest against former rebel chief Jean-Pierre Bemba, voting was largely along ethnic and linguistic lines. Kabila won over 90 percent of votes in his Swahili-speaking native east, where civilians bore the brunt of the war and many see the president as a man of peace.

But pockets of rebel groups remain, such as the fighters loyal to Nkunda, a dissident Tutsi general who continues to oppose the Kinshasa government in the name of protecting threatened ethnic minorities.

"He (Kabila) wants to ensure that people understand he wants to work with everyone, including the Tutsis," an official at the presidency, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

"It's a trip aimed at calming the people. It's aimed at reconciliation," he added.

Before flying to the east, Kabila held a meeting on Thursday with his defeated rival Bemba in Kinshasa.

In addition to this, I have read from several sources in French, that the other major ex-rebellion, the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), had decided to fully participate in the new governmental process, especially now that they are guaranteed almost 10 seats in the Senate, after the provincial elections. Add to this the fact that all the rebellions in Ituri have now signed agreements towards peace... and are respecting them so far, things do not look that shabby after all. Now if we could just deal with this Laurent Nkunda guy, maybe we could start our way towards the new Congo...

I wonder...