UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
6 Mar
2009
Press Review
Today's local newspapers in Kinshasa are focusing their attention on the various actions initiated by the political stakeholders of the transition process.
LE POTENTIEL gives an assessment of the transition, and mentions the head of state's determination, ''to kick-start the transitional machinery which is affected by inertia''. It further says that President Kabila requested all the transition's stakeholders last week to make a contribution each for an effective updating of the 'roadmap', which he published last month. The paper recalls that the first version of the transition's chronogram spread over six periods of three months each running from April 2004 through September 2005. However, the 26 August 2004 assessment of the chronogram, ''did not prove conclusive'', for, ''of 342 priority activities selected only 7 were implemented as of 26 August''. Considering that the figures are indicative of the inertia affecting the transition's institutions, LE POTENTIEL points out the ''bottlenecks'' on the way to the elections, caused by the transition's slowness. The paper goes on to say that the Presidency only implemented 8 activities of the 35 selected.
Transition's assessment begins today, announces LE PHARE, alluding to the convening of an extraordinary meeting of the cabinet today ''to mainly look into the assessment reports from the Political, Defence and Security Commission led by Azarias Ruberwa Manywa and the Social and Cultural Commission led by Z'Ahidi Arthur Ngoma''. According to the paper, it is Vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba, in light of the political situation and the pledges made to the South African President, who convened the meeting aimed to urgently clear the issues on Government table.
L'OBSERVATEUR reveals that President Joseph Kabila made a short visit on Sunday 5 September, to Libreville, where he held talks with his Gabon's counterpart Omar Bongo. The paper feels that the Congolese President's visit to Libreville ''is worth its weight in gold'', because Gabon is to chair the United Nations General Assembly for a year. The paper quotes diplomatic sources as declaring that Gabon supports the UN Secretary General's idea requesting that the number of peacekeepers in DRC be more than doubled. Furthermore, the paper says, both heads of State pledged to ''see the transition's proceed to the end, that is, the organisation of free, democratic and transparent elections''.
The headline in LE PALMARES reads: Joseph Kabila to learn from Omar Bongo: ''Retaining power long is no accident'' highlighting that Omar Bongo is ''a shrewd strategist who knows how to use both rigour and flexibility which can in no way be assimilated to weakness''. Joseph Kabila may also learn ''how Bongo used most successfully the weapon such as respect for a given word and pledge''.
The DRC situation was also at the centre of the meeting between the Congo Brazzaville President Sassou Nguesso and the Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, meeting last Saturday in Brazzaville. L'AVENIR, which conveys this information, declares that ''both heads of states reiterated their support to the DRC institutions''. In so doing, notes the paper, ''they called on the international community to reinforce MONUC so that the general elections, scheduled for June 2005 in DRC, happen smoothly''.
Referring to the reinforcement of troops in DRC, L'OBSERVATEUR announces that a draft resolution aimed to increase MONUC strength from 10,500 to 23,900 was presented by France to the UN Security Council. According to the paper, the draft resolution specifies Monuc mission, namely: ''to retain their presence in the main zones facing increasing instability, to protect civilians, staff and the UN properties, to monitor the movements of combatants along the border between the DRC and Burundi and contribute to the national programme of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of the Congolese combatants''. The paper underscores that this resolution would be ''conducive to the holding of an international conference on peace, security and development in the Great Lakes region''.
In this regard, LA REFERENCE PLUS reports that lots of progress were made in the preparation of the Conference of the Great Lakes region with the holding of the first meeting of the regional preparatory Commission due to take place in Burundi from 6 to 10 September 2004. ''The main objective of the regional Preparatory Commission is to reconcile national approaches and proposals on the four themes ' peace, security, economic development and regional integration and to reformulate them and submit them to the Heads of State due to meet in a first summit in Dar es-Salaam, Tanzania, later this year for approval'', the paper adds.
Transition's assessment begins today, announces LE PHARE, alluding to the convening of an extraordinary meeting of the cabinet today ''to mainly look into the assessment reports from the Political, Defence and Security Commission led by Azarias Ruberwa Manywa and the Social and Cultural Commission led by Z'Ahidi Arthur Ngoma''. According to the paper, it is Vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba, in light of the political situation and the pledges made to the South African President, who convened the meeting aimed to urgently clear the issues on Government table.
L'OBSERVATEUR reveals that President Joseph Kabila made a short visit on Sunday 5 September, to Libreville, where he held talks with his Gabon's counterpart Omar Bongo. The paper feels that the Congolese President's visit to Libreville ''is worth its weight in gold'', because Gabon is to chair the United Nations General Assembly for a year. The paper quotes diplomatic sources as declaring that Gabon supports the UN Secretary General's idea requesting that the number of peacekeepers in DRC be more than doubled. Furthermore, the paper says, both heads of State pledged to ''see the transition's proceed to the end, that is, the organisation of free, democratic and transparent elections''.
The headline in LE PALMARES reads: Joseph Kabila to learn from Omar Bongo: ''Retaining power long is no accident'' highlighting that Omar Bongo is ''a shrewd strategist who knows how to use both rigour and flexibility which can in no way be assimilated to weakness''. Joseph Kabila may also learn ''how Bongo used most successfully the weapon such as respect for a given word and pledge''.
The DRC situation was also at the centre of the meeting between the Congo Brazzaville President Sassou Nguesso and the Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, meeting last Saturday in Brazzaville. L'AVENIR, which conveys this information, declares that ''both heads of states reiterated their support to the DRC institutions''. In so doing, notes the paper, ''they called on the international community to reinforce MONUC so that the general elections, scheduled for June 2005 in DRC, happen smoothly''.
Referring to the reinforcement of troops in DRC, L'OBSERVATEUR announces that a draft resolution aimed to increase MONUC strength from 10,500 to 23,900 was presented by France to the UN Security Council. According to the paper, the draft resolution specifies Monuc mission, namely: ''to retain their presence in the main zones facing increasing instability, to protect civilians, staff and the UN properties, to monitor the movements of combatants along the border between the DRC and Burundi and contribute to the national programme of disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of the Congolese combatants''. The paper underscores that this resolution would be ''conducive to the holding of an international conference on peace, security and development in the Great Lakes region''.
In this regard, LA REFERENCE PLUS reports that lots of progress were made in the preparation of the Conference of the Great Lakes region with the holding of the first meeting of the regional preparatory Commission due to take place in Burundi from 6 to 10 September 2004. ''The main objective of the regional Preparatory Commission is to reconcile national approaches and proposals on the four themes ' peace, security, economic development and regional integration and to reformulate them and submit them to the Heads of State due to meet in a first summit in Dar es-Salaam, Tanzania, later this year for approval'', the paper adds.
