KABILA NOV 29: OTHER TRANSITION SUJBECTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 002183

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2014
TAGS: ECON PGOV PINR PREL KCOR CG
SUBJECT: KABILA NOV 29: OTHER TRANSITION SUJBECTS

REF: A) KINSHASA 2178 B) KINSHASA 2168)

Classified By: AMBASSADOR ROGER MEECE. REASON 1.4 (b/d)


1. (C) President Kabila met November 29 with the Ambassadors
from UNSC Perm 5 countries, Belgium, South Africa, Angola,
and Nigeria, plus UN SRSG Bill Swing primarily to discuss the
situation in eastern DRC, as reported ref A. After the
discussion, Kabila also noted current debates regarding
designation of executives to run key state-owned companies,
and leadership of security services, including the
immigration service, (DGM) and the DRC National Intelligence
Agency (ANR). In both cases, there are major political
fights underway among the parties and groups that form the
transitional government.


2. (C) Starting with the issue of the state companies, Kabila
noted that DRC Vice President (and Congolese Liberation
Movement, MLC, President) Jean Pierre Bemba had written the
International Committee to Accompany the Transition (CIAT)
asking for CIAT intervention to resolve the political impasse
over allocation of the state companies' senior positions.
The CIAT last week issued a communique on the subject (ref
B),which declined to recommend specific appointments but did
emphasize principles of professional, apolitical management;
the need for full transparency; and avoiding use of the
companies for campaign or other political purposes.
Smiling, Kabila asked if the communiqu constituted the
CIAT,s official response to Bemba,s letter, or if something
more would be forthcoming. SRSG Swing, speaking on behalf of
the Ambassadors present, (all of whom are CIAT members),
affirmed that the communique constituted CIAT,s answer.
Kabila did not comment further, although Presidency Chief of
Staff Boshab recommended that, for form,s sake, a letter be
sent to Bemba referencing the communique to answer formally
Bemba,s letter. The CIAT members present agreed.


3. (C) Kabila also asked if the CIAT had been briefed
regarding another impasse over security services, and the
current "government" (comment: meaning Presidency) position.
Presidency Special Advisor Kaputo intervened that such a
briefing had not been provided, and proceeded to spell out
Presidency thinking. According to Kaputo, Bemba,s MLC and
the Rally for Congolese Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma) both insist
that they appoint a new director for Congo,s immigration
service (DGM). Both are willing to have the "ex-government"
(i.e., Kabila,s PPRD party) appoint the ANR director, but
neither will budge regarding the DGM. Kaputo said that, in
an attempt to break the logjam, the Presidency has proposed
that none of the three former principal belligerents (MLC,
RCD-Goma, ex-government) appoint directors for either agency.
Instead, the "civil society" component of the government
would appoint the ANR director, and the "political
opposition" component would appoint the DGM head. Expanding,
Kaputo said RCD-Goma would appoint a deputy to the ANR
director, and the MLC would assign one to the DGM. The
"ex-government" would assign deputies to both. Kaputo
additionally outlined allocation and control of various
internal office director positions, e.g., RCD-Goma in charge
of "External" services, Mai Mai to get the "Administration"
branch, etc. Kaputo said that all parties agree to the
formula, with the notable exceptions of the MLC and RCD-Goma,
who both continue to insist that they appoint the DGM
director.


4. (C) Kabila concluded the meeting by reiterating his
readiness for the "Espace Presidentiel" (the President and
four Vice Presidents) to meet again with the CIAT as soon as
possible. He noted, however, that two Vice Presidents,
Ruberwa and Z,Ahidi Ngoma, are not currently in Kinshasa.


5. (C) Comment: The Presidency is probably largely satisfied
with the CIAT communique, as it can be interpreted as siding
with the basic Presidency position asserting that state
companies are not subject to the same politically-based
division as other transition institutions. In fact, the Sun
City Accord is somewhat ambiguous, explicitly listing
criteria such as integrity and morality for these positions,
but leaving ambiguous the formula to be used to fill the
jobs. The current fight is really largely over an effort by
the various parties to tap into the companies as cash cows
for individual and party activities. The immigration and
security services are a different issue. Whatever the
outcome, we suspect the ANR stands to lose further ground as
an influential body for the remainder of the transition
period. The fight over the DGM position probably boils down
to money. RCD-Goma needs access to the potential revenue
flow that the immigration service holds, and undoubtedly the
MLC would like to control that revenue source itself.
RCD-Goma might also secondarily want to try to augment its
influence over eastern border controls, although in fact the
ANR now has a better national infrastructure and staffing at
border points than does the DGM. End comment.
MEECE