TENSIONS WITHIN CONGO'S RCD EX-REBEL MOVEMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001214

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009
TAGS: PGOV PINS PREL MARR CG
SUBJECT: TENSIONS WITHIN CONGO'S RCD EX-REBEL MOVEMENT


Classified By: Poloff Edward Bestic for Reasons 1.5 B and D


1. (C) SUMMARY: There is much frustration within the
ex-rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD),but members are
divided on how best to proceed. There are disagreements over
whether to make more versus less concessions to their
adversaries, how best to deal with current and future
insurgents, and how "Congolese" the party needs to appear.
We are more likely to see repeated challenges to Ruberwa's
leadership rather than a formal split in the party, however.
For now, membership in the RCD and its promise of possible
largesse is more attractive than would be membership in some
small, inconsequential breakaway group which is not part of
the transitional government. END SUMMARY.

Former RCD Leader Criticizes Ruberwa, Rwanda
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2. (C) Senate 1st Vice-President Dr. Emile Ilunga told poloff
June 17 that current RCD-Goma president Azarias Ruberwa is a
"prisoner" of Rwanda. (Note: Ilunga and Ruberwa co-presided
over a June 13-16 meeting of senior RCD leaders. Ilunga was
RCD president from 1999-2001. End Note.) Kigali also has
influence over top RCD officials Jean-Marie Emungu and Moise
Nyarugabo. These individuals represent Rwanda and the
Banyamulenge community, not the Congo as they should. This
has weakened the RCD's political standing. "If the situation
continues," he declared, "the population will see us as
nothing but subjects of Rwanda, and we will end up with not a
single deputy" in parliament. Ilunga said that during the
mid-June meeting he and others argued against Ruberwa, who
wanted the RCD to quit the transitional government.
Currently, several members including himself are working to
oust Ruberwa. In their view, it is better to remain within
the party and try to change it rather than split off.


3. (C) Ilunga explained that when he was RCD president,
operating from Goma, Kigali was able to exercise a much
tighter grip over the movement. If we were still there and
not in Kinshasa, it would be unthinkable to publicly
criticize the actions of mutineers Gen. Laurent Nkunda and
Col. Jules Mutebusi. While the Rwandans are "our friends,
our allies, whose troops fought and died in the Congo," RCD
leaders should not be "slaves" or "vassals" of Kigali.
Ilunga added that Rwandan support for North Kivu Governor
Eugene Serufuli is part of a deliberate strategy of
sponsoring multiple proxies rather than a single ally in the
Congo.


4. (C) Speaking "as a Senator," Ilunga said the transitional
government is a failure. President Kabila and all four of
his vice-presidents are corrupt and hopelessly incompetent.
Meanwhile, most Congolese live in abject poverty, get
absolutely nothing from the state, and are seething with
frustration. He asked pointedly, "What's more important,
saving the country or respecting the Global, Inclusive
Accord?" The aborted coup attempt of June 11 shows how weak
the government is. MONUC forces can and should take over the
Congo, and countries such as Angola, South Africa and Nigeria
could then send additional troops to help the Congo get on
its feet. Dr. Ilunga said he has already spoken to the
British and Angolan ambassadors about this, and asked poloff
to deliver this message to the Ambassador.


Senior RCD Military Official Pessimistic
--------------

6. (C) Army logistics chief Brig. Gen. Malik Kijege, a Tutsi
who was until 2003 the RCD-Goma's chief of military
operations, told poloff on 29 June he is pessimistic about
the transition in general. Many RCD members have left
Kinshasa for the east, because they are frustrated with the
slow pace of the transition. Some have actually stopped
refurbishing homes they have purchased in Kinshasa, and even
traded houses with people in Goma who wish to come to the
capital. Kijege criticized the anti-Rwandophone rhetoric of
figures such as GDRC Vice-President Yerodia Abdoulaye and
pastor Theodore Ngoy, and said he thought a repeat of 1998's
witch-hunt against Tutsis is certainly possible since "the
same people are in charge," but it would not be as systematic
because unlike in 1998 there is a significant international
presence in Kinshasa. He himself was a battalion commander
in Kinshasa at the time, and only narrowly escaped capture.


7. (C) Kijege said that some of the officers in the east
associated with Gen. Laurent Nkunda had previously been
imprisoned not once but twice by Kabiliste forces, first in
1996-97, then again after the second war began in 1998. The
February 2004 arrest of Maj. Kasongo in Bukavu was a harsh
reminder of their potential fate. "Laurent and his men are
already in the bush," he explained. "They are already
excluded. How can you solve the problem by further excluding
them?" They have no other choice but to fight. All parties
in the Congo have blood on their hands, Kijege asserted,
including President Kabila. It is both unfair and unwise to
single out a particular group. Commenting on relations with
Kigali, he said people should recognize that because of the
1994 genocide, Rwanda thinks and acts "like a wounded
animal," and should not be backed into a corner.


8. (C) Kijege was unwilling to venture an opinion of incoming
armed forces chief Lt. Gen. Kisempia, but praised outgoing
chief Admiral Liwanga Mata for being "above tribal politics,"
which remains a serious problem. The Katangans, he said,
still want to be in control. They care nothing for the rest
of the country, however, so the result is "secession at the
summit of state." Despite his official position as chief of
logistics, Kijege said he has not been part of the weeks-old
government effort to send troops to eastern Congo, and knows
little about it.


COMMENT
--------------

9. (C) Many RCD members are frustrated and feel they have not
fared well from the transition, but they are far from
unanimous about how best to proceed. Ilunga's and Kijege's
views are representative of the two competing schools of
thought within the RCD: more versus less concessions to
their adversaries, how best to deal with current and future
Nkundas, how "Congolese" the party needs to appear. We are
more likely to see repeated challenges to Ruberwa's
leadership rather than a formal split in the party, however.
For now, membership in the RCD and its promise of possible
largesse is more attractive than would be membership in some
small, inconsequential breakaway group which has no seat at
the table. END COMMENT.
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