MOBUTISTS CLAIM SECRET TO DRC GOVERNANCE: PAYOFFS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001131 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2015 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM CG ELECTIONS SUBJECT: MOBUTISTS CLAIM SECRET TO DRC GOVERNANCE: PAYOFFS Classified By: PolOff TJNaber, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) Summary. During a June 7 meeting with poloff officials of the Popular Movement for the Revolution (MPR), one of two self-proclaimed Mobutist groups, demanded American support and claimed they alone held the secret to successfully governing the DRC. Following a lengthy rant against alleged elections irregularities and their abandonment by the U.S. they promised violence, war, and the assassination of Kabila if they were not appeased. End summary. The United States Owes Us -------------- ¶2. (C) Aponet Potia, Secretary General of the MPR, Nsambu Kapinga, Vice President of the MPR, and party member Dieudonne Nzapa (former Zairean Ambassador to Uganda) presented their party as the sole political and state organ under Mobutu, who came to power in 1965. Although the party became one among many with Mobutu's 1990 "democratic" reforms, the officials called themselves the "inheritors" of Mobutu. As such, they alternately complained about being abandoned by the United States and demanded renewed support. According to Kapinga, Mobutu had provided service to the U.S. for 32 years -- by being a good ally against communism and financially supporting several Republican presidential campaigns. Mobutu, he said, was a true friend to America who did everything for them and asked nothing in return, and it was shameful that the U.S. had forsaken the Mobutists in their hour of need. Kapinga said the Mobutists homes had been confiscated and inhabited by Kabila and his soldiers, Mobutists have spent time in prison, and Professor Penako, a University of Kinshasa law professor and president of the MPR, had been prevented from participating in the current government due to his association with Mobutu. Tired Elections Criticism -------------- ¶3. (C) The officials cited nearly every circulating rumor of elections irregularities in their explanation of why elections should be halted. Nzapa drew a genealogical chart for poloff illustrating how all four vice-presidents and President Kabila were either "foreigners" themselves or tools of Rwanda and Uganda receiving directives from them. They demanded that Independent Electoral Commission Chairman Malu Malu be removed from office and that their own members be included in Transitional Government institutions. Kapinga asked why, when bad governance and dictatorship are regularly denounced buzzwords in the international community, Western governments would allow bandits to run for office. All three officials were careful to note that they supported elections but not poorly prepared ones with so many irregularities and problems. They told poloff that they were approaching the Americans not because MPR has no chance in the elections, but because the U.S. has the power to intervene and fix things when there are problems. (Note: MPR as a party no longer exists. It has been replaced by Catherine Nzuzi's MPR-R and Nzanga Mobutu's party. End note). The "Secret" of Congolese Politics -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Kapinga explained that Professor Pemako, as the last Director of Cabinet to Mobutu (1992-1997),had been the recipient of all Mobutu's state secrets. Although they preferred to share these secrets with the Ambassador in exchange for financial and moral support, they consented to outline for poloff their solution to the Congolese crisis and the problems of the Great Lakes countries. According to Kapinga, Mobutu kept 400 tribes as well as various religious entities and political parties happy by incorporating them into his government through the "sharing of money." Kapinga said Mobutu considered power like an elephant -- if you give everyone a piece of it when it's killed, there will be no exclusion and no war. Potia said Mobutu used the politics of appeasement and claimed that under Mobutu's regime, he had delivered money to Tshisekedi in the middle of the night to "feed his belly." Because the Kabila regime was not paying Tshisekedi, he explained, Tshisekedi was causing problems. SIPDIS Similarly, Nazapa noted, it was necessary to be a good neighbor and to share Congolese riches with neighboring countries so that they wouldn't have to take them through aggression. He told poloff that although MONUC had created a period of stability from 2003 to 2006, the Mobutists could have done the same thing without arms simply through the secret of "sharing money." SIPDIS Warnings to Joseph Kabila and the International Community KINSHASA 00001131 002 OF 002 -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Potia had a very clear message for the U.S.: the DRC is in great danger. He called the U.S. Ambassador's July 4 speech "dangerous" and said that going to elections would not be a solution. The international community, by obliging the Congolese to go to elections, would be "lighting a fire." Potia cited the countries of Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Burundi where elections had come "too soon" and led to revolution. He cautioned that the Ambassador's message (Note: saying there would be no delay in going to elections. End note.) had been badly interpreted among opposition groups and allied him with the PPRD. Potia warned that the Congolese would not suffer five more years (until the next elections cycle) and would choose violence unless they got "their share of the pie" through negotiations. He offered to conduct "secret diplomacy" with the Americans to encourage President Kabila to share (money). He said that he didn't want to see what happened to the Belgians happen to the U.S. (Note: presumably meaning to be chased out of the country by violence. End note) and flatly stated that all the warning signs were in place for President Kabila's imminent assassination -- building opposition and his refusal to engage in dialogue. Potia ended by predicting that "if Joseph (Kabila) shares, then everything will be okay; otherwise it's all over." Comments -------------- ¶6. (C) Six days later, poloff remains stunned by MPR's blatant demand for money and their openly expressed sentiment that corruption could save the country. An embittered group of has-beens, the MPR officials are truly trapped in a changed world in which they have no tools to be successful. They are reduced to bargaining with well-published "secrets" and threatening violence in an attempt to prevent upcoming elections. End comment. MEECE