NEW DRC MINISTER OF ECONOMY, PIERRE MALOKA

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001993 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2010 TAGS: ECON EFIN PINR PGOV CG SUBJECT: NEW DRC MINISTER OF ECONOMY, PIERRE MALOKA REF: KINSHASA 1926 Classified By: GREG GROTH, ECON COUNSELOR: REASON 1.4 B AND D 1.(U) Econcouns met on November 29 with the new Minister of Economy, Pierre Maloka Makonji. Maloka, who was sworn in on November 27, replaces outgoing minister Floribert Bokanga Nzakomba, who left the GDRC after the recent cabinet reshuffle (reftel). Under the transitional framework the Economy Ministry is filled by an appointee of the RCD/G faction, led by Vice President Azarias Ruberwa, but is under the direction of the VP in charge of the Economic and Financial Commission, Jean-Pierre Bemba. ¶2. (C) Maloka said he met Ruberwa for the first time in July while attending a Protestant church service in Kinshasa, and that the two became friends. Maloka said that he realizes that his term as Minister will only last at most six months, but that he wants to accomplish something during his tenure. Maloka is so new to the job that he had not been in his office, and admitted that he did not yet have a clear vision of his approach. He did, however, use the term "Christian values" more than once during the discussion, and asked aloud at one point how the Congo could be such a rich country and its people still be so poor. Econcouns and the Minister spoke almost exclusively in English, and Maloka admitted at one point that his French is a little rusty due to lack of use. ¶3. (SBU) Maloka is 65 years old, born in the town of Bosonjafo, near Mbandaka in the Equateur province. His father was a minister with the British Baptist mission there. Maloka emigrated to the U.S. in the early 1960s, and is a Legal Permanent Resident of the U.S. He received a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago and an M.A. in Economics from De Paul University. He returned to the Congo during the period 1974-80 as Director of Development for the Church of Christ in Zaire, a union of 56 Protestant churches which claims a membership of 12 million people. Beginning in 1990, Maloka taught economics at Campbell University, located on Camp Le Jeune, in North Carolina. His course offerings included both microeconomics and macroeconomics. From July 2001, Maloka has served as president of the Congolese National Unity Party (PUNA),after being elected in absentia. Maloka met his American wife, Fran, in the Congo and they have been married for 42 years. They have a son, Pierre, who lives in the U.S. MEECE