UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
6 Mar
2009
Press Review
Today's local papers mainly focus on the outcomes of the recent meetings between the DRC and its Donors in Kinshasa as well as President Kabila's postponed trip to Kindu.
President Kabila officially opened the Consultative Group for DRC meeting that took place in Kinshasa on 11-12 November, L'OBSERVATEUR says, stating that the outcomes of the meetings were very encouraging. ''The donors promised to contribute 5.7 billion USD within the framework of a Minimum Partnership Programme for the Transition and Reflation in French acronym PMPTR over three to four years'', the paper reports, further indicating that for the year 2005, a disbursement of 1.3 billion is planned for.
L'AVENIR says Donors have ''commended DRC's efforts made during the current year in the economic area and for a successful Transition''. The paper quotes Mr. Emmanuel Mbi, the Head of the Operations at the World Bank for Central Africa and the Great Lakes as highlighting that it is very ''unusual to see such a large-scale programme be fully funded from the first donors' meeting''. This is to prove that the Government has done ''a high-quality job'', the paper says, indicating that the DRC Government has achieved a minimum partnership program for the transition, covering a 4- year period (2003-2007). ''The Donors are now endeavouring to reflate activities throughout the DRC, the total coast of which is estimated at 6.86 billion dollars'', the paper further says.
In the same context, L'OBSERVATEUR announces that immediately after the Consultative Group meeting, the DRC and the World Bank planned another third forum on investments in DRC held on 13 November 2004. The forum was attended by about 200 international potential investors of the private sector, the paper reports, noting that it was aimed to ''provide basic information to investors and to meet their concerns so that they would invest in DRC''.
Will Joseph Kabila make it to Kindu', LA REFERENCE PLUS wonders, announcing that the Congolese President is expected in Maniema by next Wednesday. However, the paper raises ''some serious concerns'' about the security situation in this region. It quotes humanitarian sources as reporting ''a flow of weapons and the presence of unidentified and uncontrolled armed gangs'', despite the presence of the GSSP (President's Special Security Group known as Groupe spécial de Sécurité présidentielle) in the town. The paper therefore concludes that Maniema does not offer any security guarantee for the Head of State to visit the area.
FORUM DES AS, raising the same subject, refers to suspense around the Kindu trip. Quoting ''generally reliable sources'', the paper confirms the postponement of the trip even though ''an advanced team had already been deployed to the administrative town of the Maniema Province''.
LE PALMARES also confirms the postponement of President Kabila's trip to Kindu, stating the following reason: ''the security conditions wished by president Joseph Kabila are not met yet'', noting that ''the President's aircraft was armoured in Ethiopia''.
In another development, LE PHARE comments on the Parliament Spokesman, Olivier Kamitatu's visit to Etienne Tshisekedi, the national leader of the 'Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS)'. The paper quotes the Parliament's spokesman as acknowledging that such a visit was quite ''unusual'' but in view of the June 2005 elections, ''such visits must take place regularly''.
LE POTENTIEL, for its part, focuses on the talks between the Parliament's spokesman and Etienne Tshisekedi and says that the move was aimed to ''get all the political stakeholders participate discreetly in the discussions about the transition process, the future constitution and future elections''. To this end, Olivier Kamitatu reportedly handed a questionnaire to Etienne Tshisekedi that will enable him to come up with ''some relevant synthesis with a view to preventing the clashes with incalculable consequences''. The ''series of questions'' published by the paper in full, is aimed at collecting the political players' views about three major themes: the Transition, the Constitution and the Power Access Mode.
L'AVENIR says Donors have ''commended DRC's efforts made during the current year in the economic area and for a successful Transition''. The paper quotes Mr. Emmanuel Mbi, the Head of the Operations at the World Bank for Central Africa and the Great Lakes as highlighting that it is very ''unusual to see such a large-scale programme be fully funded from the first donors' meeting''. This is to prove that the Government has done ''a high-quality job'', the paper says, indicating that the DRC Government has achieved a minimum partnership program for the transition, covering a 4- year period (2003-2007). ''The Donors are now endeavouring to reflate activities throughout the DRC, the total coast of which is estimated at 6.86 billion dollars'', the paper further says.
In the same context, L'OBSERVATEUR announces that immediately after the Consultative Group meeting, the DRC and the World Bank planned another third forum on investments in DRC held on 13 November 2004. The forum was attended by about 200 international potential investors of the private sector, the paper reports, noting that it was aimed to ''provide basic information to investors and to meet their concerns so that they would invest in DRC''.
Will Joseph Kabila make it to Kindu', LA REFERENCE PLUS wonders, announcing that the Congolese President is expected in Maniema by next Wednesday. However, the paper raises ''some serious concerns'' about the security situation in this region. It quotes humanitarian sources as reporting ''a flow of weapons and the presence of unidentified and uncontrolled armed gangs'', despite the presence of the GSSP (President's Special Security Group known as Groupe spécial de Sécurité présidentielle) in the town. The paper therefore concludes that Maniema does not offer any security guarantee for the Head of State to visit the area.
FORUM DES AS, raising the same subject, refers to suspense around the Kindu trip. Quoting ''generally reliable sources'', the paper confirms the postponement of the trip even though ''an advanced team had already been deployed to the administrative town of the Maniema Province''.
LE PALMARES also confirms the postponement of President Kabila's trip to Kindu, stating the following reason: ''the security conditions wished by president Joseph Kabila are not met yet'', noting that ''the President's aircraft was armoured in Ethiopia''.
In another development, LE PHARE comments on the Parliament Spokesman, Olivier Kamitatu's visit to Etienne Tshisekedi, the national leader of the 'Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS)'. The paper quotes the Parliament's spokesman as acknowledging that such a visit was quite ''unusual'' but in view of the June 2005 elections, ''such visits must take place regularly''.
LE POTENTIEL, for its part, focuses on the talks between the Parliament's spokesman and Etienne Tshisekedi and says that the move was aimed to ''get all the political stakeholders participate discreetly in the discussions about the transition process, the future constitution and future elections''. To this end, Olivier Kamitatu reportedly handed a questionnaire to Etienne Tshisekedi that will enable him to come up with ''some relevant synthesis with a view to preventing the clashes with incalculable consequences''. The ''series of questions'' published by the paper in full, is aimed at collecting the political players' views about three major themes: the Transition, the Constitution and the Power Access Mode.
