GOMA POLITICAL NOTES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 008561

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2010
TAGS: PGOV ASEC PHUM CG
SUBJECT: GOMA POLITICAL NOTES

REF: A. KIGALI 4167

B. KINSHASA 8211

C. KIGALI 4261

D. KINSHASA 4046


Classified by Economic Officer Katherine Simonds. Reason:
1.5(d).



1. (C) Goma is not a very political town, despite its status
as administrative headquarters for the RCD. While numerous
general strikes (villes mortes) closed down Bukavu for days
at a time over the last year, in Goma only one part of the
city shut down and that for only one day. Residents of Goma,
like their countrymen in Kinshasa, are focussed on survival.
However unhappy they may be with the authorities, they devote
their energy to getting through each day, rather than to
political activity. Nevertheless, during Econoff's five-day
visit to Goma, political themes arose. This cable (the last
of the series of reports on the visit) covers political
issues, including: impressions of the RCD; the absence of
concrete signs that Rwanda ultimately intends to annex the
Kivus; the attitudes of Goma residents toward Kabila and
Kinshasa; and the aborted attempt by a prominent businessman
to form a new political party. This cable also touches on
security issues.


--------------
Impressions of the RCD
--------------



2. (C) RCD leaders were eager to meet with Econoff. The
RCD's Director of External Relations (equivalent to Minister
of Foreign Affairs) immediately returned econoff's call
although he was at the airport departing for a Joint
Political Committee meeting. He asked her to meet with his
deputy. The deputy insisted on arranging meetings with the
RCD's Directors of Mines, Finance and Economy, and all three
made time for the meetings, despite the fact that most of
their week was taken up with a general meeting of party
leaders. Even Secretary General Ruberwa tried to arrange a
meeting with econoff.



3. (C) The RCD met 6-8 hours a day for three days during
econoffs visit to formulate an action plan for the party.
The business community was scornful of the meetings and of
the RCD in general. They note that the party has a penchant
for long meetings that produce little; the RCD met for almost
a full month soon after it was formed. Business contacts
concede that the recent cabinet shuffle (Ref A) improved the
quality of RCD department heads, but believe that any effort
at good governance currently underway is too little and too
late to earn the party popular support. Many of the people
with whom econoff discussed the RCD's new policy for coltan
exports (Ref B) are confident that the RCD will back down
under pressure, as, they say, it has done several times in
the past.


--------------
Congolese Institutions Remain
--------------



4. (C) While Rwanda clearly runs the RCD and, through the
RCD, the Kivus, they have not altered the basic Congolese
structure of governance. There is no obvious displacement of
Congolese institutions by Rwandan institutions, which might
be expected if Rwanda's plans include future annexation of
the Kivus, as some believe. Both the RCD's Director of
Finance and the local coordinator of the electricity
parastatal SNEL briefed econoff on the administrative
structure of enterprises under their control. The Finance
Director said that the RCD controlled parts of eight
different provinces. In each province, a governor and
various state services (e.g. customs and other revenue
agencies) operate, in accordance with Congolese law. He said
all are officially subservient to Kinshasa, but the RCD has
appointed a coordinator for each agency to control things
until Kinshasa can take over once again. The SNEL
coordinator described his role in similar terms.


--------------
Nostalgia for Kabila
--------------



5. (C) People from all levels of society in Goma were
interested to hear how things are going in Kinshasa. Both
affluent and average Gomans asked about the dollar-franc
exchange rate in Kinshasa (which is about twice as high as in
Goma). Several people told econoff they had heard there was
"famine" in Kinshasa. Although Goma suffered some severe
looting when the AFDL arrived, casual conversation suggests
that Kabila is popular in Goma. He gets credit for helping
to get rid of the refugees who destroyed the local economy.
A couple of contacts told econoff that there was a brief
respite from the fear of victimization under Kabila. One
commented that for about a year, soldiers got paid, and
didn't need to rob the populace in order to survive. Another
commented that the AFDL had executed a few thieves when it
came through Goma, and subsequently banditry stopped. There
is no nostalgia for Mobutu, and his luxurious former
residence (which now houses RCD offices) is known locally as
the Museum of Shame.


--------------
Birth and Death of a Party
--------------



6. (C) Victor Ngezayo told econoff about his attempt to form
a political party, the Congolese Patriotic Movement (MPC)
(Ref C). He said he founded the party to create a voice for
good governance and tolerance. He believes that the
Congolese have no faith in democracy and expect nothing from
government because they have been burdened for 40 years by a
dysfunctional system. To launch the MPC, he held a nine-day
workshop open to everyone, including RCD and Mai Mai, to
discuss the nature of the current crisis and to look for ways
to end the war. Ngezayo sent the declaration the workshop
produced to the RCD. His cover letter was conciliatory,
noting that the MPC shared the values and motivations that
inspired the RCD's 1998 rebellion.



7. (C) Ngezayo said that the MPC's declaration, which was
released on the same day the RCD restructured (Ref A),was
seen as sabotage by party leaders. Bizima Karaha threatened
Ngezayo and others with hanging. Ngezayo said that Karaha
told him: "This is our territory. Go conquer your own."
Ngezayo told econoff he didn't want to get anyone killed, so
he suspended his party.



8. (C) Ngezayo gave econoff a copy of the report on his
workshop prepared for the RCD's intelligence service. The
memo's description of the workshop is remarkably similar to
Ngezayo's. The memo says the ostensible purpose of the
workshop was to analyze the current crisis, but the real goal
was to start a political party "to install democracy and the
rule of law in the Congo." The author of the memo, Director
General of Internal Security Christian Bya-Mweze, warns that
the MPC could lead some leaders astray and calls for a
forceful RCD response.


--------------
Security Notes
--------------



9. (C) While life in Goma is relatively secure, there are
constant reminders that the situation is dramatically
different in the rest of North Kivu. The owner of a
transportation company was interrupted during lunch by a
phone call reporting delays due to the ambush of a truck just
seven kilometers outside town on the road past the airport.
A coffee buyer from Beni on a visit to Goma mentioned that a
few nights earlier two people were killed in central Beni.
He then commented that whenever a couple of UPDF are killed,
the Ugandans burn villages and kill forty Congolese. The
Vice President of the local Chamber of Commerce (FEC)
mentioned in a similarly offhand manner that he had been
forced to assume double duties when the local FEC President
was killed in a road ambush.



10. (C) Residents of Goma describe a much more complicated
security picture than is recognized in Kinshasa. When
attacks occur by irregular combatants, the perpetrators could
be members of any of a number of groups: Mai Mai, Mongol,
Simba, FDD, SPLA, LRA, Ex-FAR, Interhamwe, deserters or
bandits. Fixing blame is difficult. (It is notable that
those in Goma view the ex-FAR and Interhamwe as two separate
groups, never linking them casually as is common in
Kinshasa.) Asked about reports that the Rwandans have
created a force of false Interhamwe (Ref D),residents of
Goma have an open mind. They don't rule out the possibility
that there is a Rwandan campaign to terrorize local
residents, but note that these reports may simply refer to
Rwandan expeditionary forces made up of recently released
prisoners. Anything is possible. The great fear of Goma
residents is that the Kivu provinces, once referred to as
"Little Switzerland," will become a land made up of warlords'
fiefdoms.
SWING