NORTH KIVU GOVERNOR HAPPY WITH STATUS QUO

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001760

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2014
TAGS: PGOV PINS PREL CG
SUBJECT: NORTH KIVU GOVERNOR HAPPY WITH STATUS QUO


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


1. (C) SUMMARY: North Kivu governor Serufuli told the
Ambassador Sept. 9 the FDLR remains a threat but Laurent
Nkunda does not, and his policy is "good relations with all,"
Kinshasa and neighboring countries included. He is keen to
promote foreign business investment in the province, and
traveled to the western U.S. in 2002 partly to do so.
Serufuli appears quite happy with the political status quo,
with his own position recognized by but not subordinate to
Kinshasa and his potential rivals in the RCD-Goma all in the
capital. END SUMMARY.


I'm OK, You're OK
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2. (C) North Kivu provincial governor Eugene Serufuli told
the Ambassador and poloff Sept. 9 that although FDLR
guerillas do continue to commit acts of banditry and prey on
the rural population, renegade former RCD-Goma officer
Laurent Nkunda "is a myth" and poses virtually no threat
whatsoever. Serufuli said he communicates directly with
President Kabila on a regular basis, and wants to maintain
"good relations with all," the Congo's neighbors included.
To this end, at Serufuli's initiative Ugandan and Congolese
local authorities at several points along the border have
begun to meet regularly. Also, until Sept. 8 he was in Beni
and Butembo in the northern part of the province, where he
had traveled to coordinate with local officials. (Comment:
The Beni-Butembo area, also known as the "Grand Nord," is
only nominally under Serufuli's control; it remains
essentially a fiefdom of Mbusa Nyamwisi's RCD-K/ML movement.
End Comment.) Indeed, he claimed credit by virtue of his
presentations while on tour for having coaxed out of the bush
600 Mai-Mai combatants. MONUC and humanitarian
representatives confirmed to us that 600 Mai-Mai had indeed
presented themselves unexpectedly in Beni the previous day,
provoking some consternation in the local office to come up
with instant logistics and other arrangements to take care of
them and transport them to a temporary camp.


Open for Business
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3. (C) Serufuli also mentioned that he had traveled to
Washington state and California in 2002, a trip partly for
pleasure and partly to drum up business interest in his
province. Unfortunately, because U.S. businessmen continue
to have a negative perception of the situation in the Kivus
and the Congo, he failed to attract any interest. Serufuli
declined to name his U.S. contacts, aside from an NGO based
in Santa Barbara, California with whom he had discussed the
possibility of transporting quantities of medical supplies to
the Congo. (Bio Note: Serufuli was trained and worked as an
anaesthesiologist before embarking on his current career.
End Note.) He claimed that the NGO was on the verge of
sending the supplies but in August 2003 decided not to, and
inquired whether or not Embassy Kinshasa turned it off
because the USG still considered Serfuli a rebel. (Comment:
The proposed deal was news to us. End Comment.)


COMMENT
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4. (C) Serufuli was prominently sporting a national DRC flag
lapel pin, presumably intended to bolster his credentials as
a loyal servant of the government, consistent with the
language he used. His accompanying chief of staff, however,
appeared somewhat less nimble, occasionally lapsing to heap
blame on Kinshasa for all manner of ills, likely a somewhat
accurate reflection of prevailing sentiment within the
current North Kivu provincial government. Serufuli, a North
Kivu Hutu, appears a clever politician but his rosy picture
of the security situation and downplaying of the Nkunda
threat did not ring true. Nor for that matter his assertions
that he no longer controls any militia force, a position at
odds with reports from virtually all other observers
including locally-based MONUC staff. Our sense is that he is
relatively happy with the status quo. Kinshasa has formally
recognized him as governor, but has little control over what
he does, while other rivals in the RCD-Goma are all now back
in the capital thousands of miles away from constituent
support in the Kivus. We suspect that Serufuli would like to
keep everyone slightly off balance, with neither Kinshasa nor
Kigali, much less any local forces, gaining a decisive upper
hand in his home region while he seeks to continue to build
his own base and maintain a juggling act with other competing
forces. END COMMENT.
MEECE