UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
5 Mar
2009
Press Review
The local press keeps commenting on Mr. William Swing's recent visit to Libreville. Some of today's papers raise (once again) the Territorial administration, the disarmament and demobilisation operations of he Congolese ex-combatants, the financial cooperation programme between the World Bank and the DRC.
« Swing brokers the transfer of the ex-DSP to Libreville. » Under this headline, Le Communicateur sums up what it refers to as « The inside story on the meeting between Kofi Annan's Special Representative and president Bongo. » On Tuesday, William Swing held talks with Gabon's President within the framework of the DRC peace process. The Head of MONUC requested, among other things, the participation of Gabon's police to MONUC CIV POL activities. According to this weekly paper quoting diplomatic sources, « the purpose of William Swing's visit was to negotiate the transfer of the Mobutu's Presidential Special Division based in Brazzaville and Oyo, the native town of president Dénis Sassou Ngwesso, to Gabon. »
For Le Communicateur, «the head of MONUC's initiative is part of the strategies aimed to dupe the Congolese authorities' In the political imagination of the Congolese people, William Swing is not only dangerous but also able to undermine a country's serenity according to the interests of his mentors.»
L'Observateur rather urges appeasement in relations between Kinshasa and Brazzaville. In its editorial, the paper calls for « a good management of relations with neighbouring countries. » « We should not have problems with Rwanda and all the neighbouring countries at the same time. It would not seem logical for us to fail to bring Sassou, a Congolese like us, to share a common vision of the future», writes the paper. In the same development, L'Observateur writes « Ex-DSP to be incorporated soon into future army», at the initiative of president Kabila. « We learnt from diplomatic sources that president Kabila has been making contacts with several African leaders and some Congolese officials to secure the integration of the former ex-FAZ (Forces armées congolaises) and DSP into the restructured and integrated Congolese national armed forces», indicates the paper.
In the meantime, « the Territorial administration machine is in a deadlock, and the Government is to come up with a decision today», highlights Le Palmarès. « The Government announced that governors and vice-governors would be named today after its cabinet meeting. But alas, once again, writes the paper, 'The Transitional Government will draw a blank. The components were until yesterday wasting time in endless discussions and small details as part of their strategies; this shows to which extent the parties are embarrassed. » The major reason, says the paper: « all the belligerents are uncertain about the outcome of the elections. This explains the overlapping pre-electoral calculations as their interests dictate'the game of the alliances sealed trying to get round the quotas, prepares the ground for the election rigging. »
The same explanations are given by L'Avenir which points out that « the components are going back over their expectations and proposals about the disputed provinces», while the «population is getting impatient. »
In some provinces where new governors are expected, like Maniema the disarmament and demobilisation operations are making progress, indicates Le Potentiel, adding « that over 450 ex-combatants were recently disarmed within the framework of the first official operation based on spontaneous disarmament in Kindu. » It further says, « the deployment of the Kivu Brigade continues its course».
To conclude, Le Potentiel and Le Palmarès announce the donation of 100 million US dollars by the World Bank to the DRC, within the framework of the DDR programme (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration). This was announced during the official visit of the World Bank Managing Director, Shengman Zhang to Kinshasa.
For Le Communicateur, «the head of MONUC's initiative is part of the strategies aimed to dupe the Congolese authorities' In the political imagination of the Congolese people, William Swing is not only dangerous but also able to undermine a country's serenity according to the interests of his mentors.»
L'Observateur rather urges appeasement in relations between Kinshasa and Brazzaville. In its editorial, the paper calls for « a good management of relations with neighbouring countries. » « We should not have problems with Rwanda and all the neighbouring countries at the same time. It would not seem logical for us to fail to bring Sassou, a Congolese like us, to share a common vision of the future», writes the paper. In the same development, L'Observateur writes « Ex-DSP to be incorporated soon into future army», at the initiative of president Kabila. « We learnt from diplomatic sources that president Kabila has been making contacts with several African leaders and some Congolese officials to secure the integration of the former ex-FAZ (Forces armées congolaises) and DSP into the restructured and integrated Congolese national armed forces», indicates the paper.
In the meantime, « the Territorial administration machine is in a deadlock, and the Government is to come up with a decision today», highlights Le Palmarès. « The Government announced that governors and vice-governors would be named today after its cabinet meeting. But alas, once again, writes the paper, 'The Transitional Government will draw a blank. The components were until yesterday wasting time in endless discussions and small details as part of their strategies; this shows to which extent the parties are embarrassed. » The major reason, says the paper: « all the belligerents are uncertain about the outcome of the elections. This explains the overlapping pre-electoral calculations as their interests dictate'the game of the alliances sealed trying to get round the quotas, prepares the ground for the election rigging. »
The same explanations are given by L'Avenir which points out that « the components are going back over their expectations and proposals about the disputed provinces», while the «population is getting impatient. »
In some provinces where new governors are expected, like Maniema the disarmament and demobilisation operations are making progress, indicates Le Potentiel, adding « that over 450 ex-combatants were recently disarmed within the framework of the first official operation based on spontaneous disarmament in Kindu. » It further says, « the deployment of the Kivu Brigade continues its course».
To conclude, Le Potentiel and Le Palmarès announce the donation of 100 million US dollars by the World Bank to the DRC, within the framework of the DDR programme (Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration). This was announced during the official visit of the World Bank Managing Director, Shengman Zhang to Kinshasa.
