UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
5 Mar
2009
Press Review
Kinshasa local papers today devote their comments to president Kabila's message to the Nation on the occasion of the commemoration of the 44th Independence Day.
In a ''vibrant'' message addressed by Joseph Kabila, on the Independence Day, the president calls on the Congolese people to fight intolerance, hatred and division, LE POTENTIEL headlines. Summing up the Head of State's message, the paper says that President Kabila has called on the Congolese people to show tolerance and love of the neighbour and denounced ''the recalcitrant behaviour of those in favour of chaos''. The president also made a mitigated assessment of the first year of Transition, declaring ''the assessment is not fully satisfactory''. Joseph Kabila says that the ''poor performance'' is due to the fact that ''there are areas where government has not performed as expected, amongst others, the reform of public firms, assistance to the most disadvantaged, improving the social and economic lives as well as the restructuring and integration of the army''. The Head of State however acknowledged that some progress was made, notably ''on political pluralism and consolidating the rule of law''.
L'OBSERVATEUR indicates, for its part, that Joseph Kabila also highlighted the ''priorities that need an immediate action''; firstly, ''the pursuit of the pacification and national reconciliation efforts, by addressing as a matter of priority, the pockets of tensions, violence and instability, particularly in Ituri, the Kivus and in other areas in the East''; secondly ''ending the slowness noted in the work of the national assembly and senate''; thirdly ''accelerating and extending the merging of the different armed forces and the putting in place of a restructured and integrated army'', the paper writes, further referring to other priorities also raised by the head of state: ''the revival of diplomacy, the pursuit of rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, the improvement of social and economic conditions and the putting-in-place of conditions conducive to the organisation of free and transparent elections within the period of time allowed''.
Moreover, L'AVENIR reports that President Kabila raised the need for a technical cabinet reshuffle 'in a shortest possible time'', for more effectiveness and dynamism. According to the paper, ''this was aimed to bring all the transitional institutions, without exception, to swiftly and effectively discharge their respective responsibilities''.
In this regard, FORUM DES AS reports that having declared himself in favour of a technical cabinet reshuffle, Joseph Kabila has created panic within ministerial departments further adding that the perspective of ''an upheaval within the government'' has created ''panic in the ministerial departments where ministers are increasing their strategies in order to retain their positions''. The same atmosphere also prevails within components and entities, the paper further says.
Congolese political opponent, Etienne Tshisekedi, addressed a message to the nation on the occasion of the 44th Independence Day. LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES, which publishes his message in full, notes that there are two major concerns in Etienne Tshisekedi's ''meaningful message'' describing it as a real call for public awareness ''to redouble faith in the final victory and use every existing gains for the noble struggle'', to mobilise ''firstly for free, transparent and democratic elections and secondly to ensure that the institutions to be created and the authorities to head them may reassure all the Congolese people as well as the foreigners living in the DRC''.
Alluding to the 44-year assessment, LE PHARE concludes that ''the result is just pathetic''. For this paper, ''it is unfortunate that for 44 years of independence, we have had endless transitions as if we were cursed by heaven. And the current one, like the previous is unable to free the Congolese people from its bondage and usher in an area where milk and honey will be flowing from the remote Canaan''.
As we were celebrating the 44th Independence Day, Good-wish or congratulation messages were addressed to the head of state, LE PALMARES says, highlighting two special messages from the French President, Jacques Chirac, ''who openly expressed his support to president Kabila and his determination to back him during this particular moment''. The second message came from President Kagame. Regarding the latter, the paper says ''as if he was trying to make all the cows in the world to laugh, Kagame has sent a good-wish message to Joseph Kabila''.
In the meantime, Didier Mumengi, former minister of Information under Laurent Désiré Kabila, has declared himself candidate for the next-year presidential elections, LA REFERENCE PLUS reports, adding that in a prelude, the former minister declared that ''the next struggles in Congo must be against the following seven plagues: hunger, disease, unemployment, insalubrities, instability, educational failure and the loss of virtues''.
L'OBSERVATEUR indicates, for its part, that Joseph Kabila also highlighted the ''priorities that need an immediate action''; firstly, ''the pursuit of the pacification and national reconciliation efforts, by addressing as a matter of priority, the pockets of tensions, violence and instability, particularly in Ituri, the Kivus and in other areas in the East''; secondly ''ending the slowness noted in the work of the national assembly and senate''; thirdly ''accelerating and extending the merging of the different armed forces and the putting in place of a restructured and integrated army'', the paper writes, further referring to other priorities also raised by the head of state: ''the revival of diplomacy, the pursuit of rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, the improvement of social and economic conditions and the putting-in-place of conditions conducive to the organisation of free and transparent elections within the period of time allowed''.
Moreover, L'AVENIR reports that President Kabila raised the need for a technical cabinet reshuffle 'in a shortest possible time'', for more effectiveness and dynamism. According to the paper, ''this was aimed to bring all the transitional institutions, without exception, to swiftly and effectively discharge their respective responsibilities''.
In this regard, FORUM DES AS reports that having declared himself in favour of a technical cabinet reshuffle, Joseph Kabila has created panic within ministerial departments further adding that the perspective of ''an upheaval within the government'' has created ''panic in the ministerial departments where ministers are increasing their strategies in order to retain their positions''. The same atmosphere also prevails within components and entities, the paper further says.
Congolese political opponent, Etienne Tshisekedi, addressed a message to the nation on the occasion of the 44th Independence Day. LA TEMPETE DES TROPIQUES, which publishes his message in full, notes that there are two major concerns in Etienne Tshisekedi's ''meaningful message'' describing it as a real call for public awareness ''to redouble faith in the final victory and use every existing gains for the noble struggle'', to mobilise ''firstly for free, transparent and democratic elections and secondly to ensure that the institutions to be created and the authorities to head them may reassure all the Congolese people as well as the foreigners living in the DRC''.
Alluding to the 44-year assessment, LE PHARE concludes that ''the result is just pathetic''. For this paper, ''it is unfortunate that for 44 years of independence, we have had endless transitions as if we were cursed by heaven. And the current one, like the previous is unable to free the Congolese people from its bondage and usher in an area where milk and honey will be flowing from the remote Canaan''.
As we were celebrating the 44th Independence Day, Good-wish or congratulation messages were addressed to the head of state, LE PALMARES says, highlighting two special messages from the French President, Jacques Chirac, ''who openly expressed his support to president Kabila and his determination to back him during this particular moment''. The second message came from President Kagame. Regarding the latter, the paper says ''as if he was trying to make all the cows in the world to laugh, Kagame has sent a good-wish message to Joseph Kabila''.
In the meantime, Didier Mumengi, former minister of Information under Laurent Désiré Kabila, has declared himself candidate for the next-year presidential elections, LA REFERENCE PLUS reports, adding that in a prelude, the former minister declared that ''the next struggles in Congo must be against the following seven plagues: hunger, disease, unemployment, insalubrities, instability, educational failure and the loss of virtues''.
