UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
6 Mar
2009
DRC Press Review
*Original in French
Kinshasa's press announces for today the launch of the meeting of the Regional Preparatory Committee for the International Conference on Peace and Security in Countries of the Great Lakes. Also, the papers offers more comments on the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs' controversial remarks about the officials of the Transition in the DRC and on the issue of the sharing of government-controlled companies.
Kinshasa's press announces for today the launch of the meeting of the Regional Preparatory Committee for the International Conference on Peace and Security in Countries of the Great Lakes. Also, the papers offers more comments on the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs' controversial remarks about the officials of the Transition in the DRC and on the issue of the sharing of government-controlled companies.
The 2nd meeting of the Regional Preparatory Committee for the International Conference of Countries of the Great Lakes is being launched in Kinshasa today, LE POTENTIEL announces. According to LE PHARE, President Joseph Kabila, ending his visit to Kisangani, returned Monday to the capital in order to attend the opening ceremony.
'The head of State, Major-General Joseph Kabila, has returned to Kinshasa, ending a three-day visit to Kisangani, the capital of Province Orientale,' in eastern DRC, L'OBSERVATEUR notes. His agenda there, the paper says, included meetings with several delegations and with personalities, among them the archbishop of Kisangani, Monsignor Monsengwo. Talks concentrated on the problems confronting the local populations. Joseph Kabila received a memo in which the signatories called for the successful completion of the political Transition in the country, 'despite the difficulties encountered along the way,' the paper says. For Monsignor Monsengwo, 'the objectives of the Transition will not be achieved so long as road, river and airport infrastructures are not rehabilitated and refuse collection and road maintenance services restored in Kisangani.' L'AVENIR quotes Monsengwo as saying 'President Kabila listened very carefully, said the memo was fairly rich in content and promised he would examine the different problems submitted in the document.'
According to L'AVENIR, 'By his Kisangani visit, President Kabila has restored confidence in the people of Province Orientale, restoring long broken ties between him and the populations of the interior.' The President is concerned about specific problems faced by people in other parts of eastern DRC, the paper says. 'This is why he will soon resume the tour he has undertaken in the country's East, beginning by the legendary town of Kindu' the paper writes.
In a piece titled 'Joseph Kabila demands explanations from the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs,' LE PALMARES recalls Mr. Karel De Gucht's controversial remarks during his visit to the region- remarks that have angered Congolese authorities. According to the paper, while the Belgian Minister 'sharply criticised the record of leaders of our country,' he 'was all praise for Rwanda.' 'There is a least a State in Rwanda, and they are trying to manage the country correctly,' the papers quotes him as saying. For Mr. De Gucht, 'Rwanda is a country where order reigns, and a country that is not undermined by corruption,' the paper writes. Riled by those words, 'President Kabila sent an emissary to meet the Belgian Minister in Bujumbura and demand an explanation over those remarks.'
This information is confirmed by FORUM DES AS, which titles 'Karel De Gucht's crude words cause an outcry in Kinshasa.' According to the paper, 'in the Kinshasa political microcosm and among leaders in Belgium, the first DRC visit of the new Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs is exclusively perceived through his rather 'imprudent' remarks ' imprudent in form a least,' writes the paper, arguing that a statesman, especially a Minister of Foreign Affairs, 'should not talk anyhow.' 'Karel De Gucht's value judgement is not likely to reinforce Brussels' mediation role in the crisis in the Great Lakes,' the paper concludes.
For FORUM DES AS, 'to denigrate Kinshasa and praise Kigali is certainly not the right attitude for a Minister just beginning his mandate. Besides, it is worth knowing that, in fact, Belgium owns it average power status to its influence on Congo-Zaire.' Mr. De Gucht's declarations, the paper says, have caused a 'shock' in Brussels, both among the political circles at 'Rue Quatre Bras' where are found 'the crowned heads of the DRC Desk, the most important section of the Africa Department of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' and among Congolese living in Belgian. 'The former Minister, Louis Michel was not happy at all. The Secretary-General, Isabelle Durant, for her part, thought that these declarations were awkward and disastrous,' LE PALMARES writes. It says however that observers prefer to play down the whole incident, because the current Belgian Foreign Minister is known for his excesses 'due to his independence of mind.'
'Karel De Gucht stands by his words,' LE PALMARES notes. The paper quotes the Minister as saying 'In politics, you need to be a diplomat, but it is equally important for a politician to say what he thinks. Diplomacy alone will not be enough to push things forward in Congo.' For the paper, these words 'mark the end of the smooth diplomacy of Louis Michel.'
'The Belgian Minister's words and his veiled allusions to corruption have come to fuel the ongoing debate on the management of government-controlled companies,' notes LE PHARE. Of Congolese political actors that are pushing for shared control of state-run companies, the papers says they are 'less interested by these companies as a potential source of growth, development and job creation than by the benefits their management can offer. What they want is to be able to make money to finance their electoral campaign or for personal enrichment,' says the paper, calling for a public debate on the role and goal of a company in a developing country.
'In order to undermine the current company managers', biased audit reports are being circulated, FORUM DES AS announces. LA REFERENCE PLUS agrees. It says, 'The real report is totally different. LE POTENTIEL, in its editorial titled 'They all are predators,' notes that the audit report, issued after months of investigations into about 20 companies, is damning not only for the managers, but also for the overseeing Ministries. 'The state-run companies are run like private goods, resulting in illegal enrichment for some and worsening poverty for the entire national community (..) Unjustified privileges are handed out everyday, without caring at all about the health of the companies in question.'
Titling 'Sharing the companies in order to pay the war bill,' L'AVENIR wonders about what makes the leaders of some components want to share state-owned companies. For the paper, 'The politicians are looking for financial means. The nearing end of the Transition makes them nervous. As the days pass, their intentions become clearer.'
LE PALMARES recounts how loyalist troops have recaptured the locality of Kilwa in Katanga province. Militiamen had briefly occupied Kilwa last week. They were, according to the paper, former Katangese gendarmes who had been chased from mining zones in Angola and had subsequently joined the Maï Maï. 'Last Friday, the Congolese Armed Forces recaptured the locality of Kilwa, 400 km north of Lubumbashi. Troops launched the offensive from the locality of Pweto, about 100 km north-east of Kilwa, about 20 km from the Zambian border,' the paper writes. 'About 3,000 Congolese have crossed the border into Zambia,' fleeing the clashes in Kilwa, reports LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES. Their conditions are deplorable, as they lack food and blankets, the paper says.
'The head of State, Major-General Joseph Kabila, has returned to Kinshasa, ending a three-day visit to Kisangani, the capital of Province Orientale,' in eastern DRC, L'OBSERVATEUR notes. His agenda there, the paper says, included meetings with several delegations and with personalities, among them the archbishop of Kisangani, Monsignor Monsengwo. Talks concentrated on the problems confronting the local populations. Joseph Kabila received a memo in which the signatories called for the successful completion of the political Transition in the country, 'despite the difficulties encountered along the way,' the paper says. For Monsignor Monsengwo, 'the objectives of the Transition will not be achieved so long as road, river and airport infrastructures are not rehabilitated and refuse collection and road maintenance services restored in Kisangani.' L'AVENIR quotes Monsengwo as saying 'President Kabila listened very carefully, said the memo was fairly rich in content and promised he would examine the different problems submitted in the document.'
According to L'AVENIR, 'By his Kisangani visit, President Kabila has restored confidence in the people of Province Orientale, restoring long broken ties between him and the populations of the interior.' The President is concerned about specific problems faced by people in other parts of eastern DRC, the paper says. 'This is why he will soon resume the tour he has undertaken in the country's East, beginning by the legendary town of Kindu' the paper writes.
In a piece titled 'Joseph Kabila demands explanations from the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs,' LE PALMARES recalls Mr. Karel De Gucht's controversial remarks during his visit to the region- remarks that have angered Congolese authorities. According to the paper, while the Belgian Minister 'sharply criticised the record of leaders of our country,' he 'was all praise for Rwanda.' 'There is a least a State in Rwanda, and they are trying to manage the country correctly,' the papers quotes him as saying. For Mr. De Gucht, 'Rwanda is a country where order reigns, and a country that is not undermined by corruption,' the paper writes. Riled by those words, 'President Kabila sent an emissary to meet the Belgian Minister in Bujumbura and demand an explanation over those remarks.'
This information is confirmed by FORUM DES AS, which titles 'Karel De Gucht's crude words cause an outcry in Kinshasa.' According to the paper, 'in the Kinshasa political microcosm and among leaders in Belgium, the first DRC visit of the new Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs is exclusively perceived through his rather 'imprudent' remarks ' imprudent in form a least,' writes the paper, arguing that a statesman, especially a Minister of Foreign Affairs, 'should not talk anyhow.' 'Karel De Gucht's value judgement is not likely to reinforce Brussels' mediation role in the crisis in the Great Lakes,' the paper concludes.
For FORUM DES AS, 'to denigrate Kinshasa and praise Kigali is certainly not the right attitude for a Minister just beginning his mandate. Besides, it is worth knowing that, in fact, Belgium owns it average power status to its influence on Congo-Zaire.' Mr. De Gucht's declarations, the paper says, have caused a 'shock' in Brussels, both among the political circles at 'Rue Quatre Bras' where are found 'the crowned heads of the DRC Desk, the most important section of the Africa Department of the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' and among Congolese living in Belgian. 'The former Minister, Louis Michel was not happy at all. The Secretary-General, Isabelle Durant, for her part, thought that these declarations were awkward and disastrous,' LE PALMARES writes. It says however that observers prefer to play down the whole incident, because the current Belgian Foreign Minister is known for his excesses 'due to his independence of mind.'
'Karel De Gucht stands by his words,' LE PALMARES notes. The paper quotes the Minister as saying 'In politics, you need to be a diplomat, but it is equally important for a politician to say what he thinks. Diplomacy alone will not be enough to push things forward in Congo.' For the paper, these words 'mark the end of the smooth diplomacy of Louis Michel.'
'The Belgian Minister's words and his veiled allusions to corruption have come to fuel the ongoing debate on the management of government-controlled companies,' notes LE PHARE. Of Congolese political actors that are pushing for shared control of state-run companies, the papers says they are 'less interested by these companies as a potential source of growth, development and job creation than by the benefits their management can offer. What they want is to be able to make money to finance their electoral campaign or for personal enrichment,' says the paper, calling for a public debate on the role and goal of a company in a developing country.
'In order to undermine the current company managers', biased audit reports are being circulated, FORUM DES AS announces. LA REFERENCE PLUS agrees. It says, 'The real report is totally different. LE POTENTIEL, in its editorial titled 'They all are predators,' notes that the audit report, issued after months of investigations into about 20 companies, is damning not only for the managers, but also for the overseeing Ministries. 'The state-run companies are run like private goods, resulting in illegal enrichment for some and worsening poverty for the entire national community (..) Unjustified privileges are handed out everyday, without caring at all about the health of the companies in question.'
Titling 'Sharing the companies in order to pay the war bill,' L'AVENIR wonders about what makes the leaders of some components want to share state-owned companies. For the paper, 'The politicians are looking for financial means. The nearing end of the Transition makes them nervous. As the days pass, their intentions become clearer.'
LE PALMARES recounts how loyalist troops have recaptured the locality of Kilwa in Katanga province. Militiamen had briefly occupied Kilwa last week. They were, according to the paper, former Katangese gendarmes who had been chased from mining zones in Angola and had subsequently joined the Maï Maï. 'Last Friday, the Congolese Armed Forces recaptured the locality of Kilwa, 400 km north of Lubumbashi. Troops launched the offensive from the locality of Pweto, about 100 km north-east of Kilwa, about 20 km from the Zambian border,' the paper writes. 'About 3,000 Congolese have crossed the border into Zambia,' fleeing the clashes in Kilwa, reports LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES. Their conditions are deplorable, as they lack food and blankets, the paper says.
