NEW VICE GOVERNOR ELECTED IN SOUTH KIVU

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000591 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG SUBJECT: NEW VICE GOVERNOR ELECTED IN SOUTH KIVU ¶1. (U) South Kivu's provincial assembly unanimously elected Bernard Watunakanza Banamwezi vice governor May 26. Banamwezi is a member of the Social Movement for Renewal (MSR) political party of Minister of State for Infrastructure and Reconstruction Pierre Lumbi. He ran unopposed as a candidate of the pro-Kabila Alliance for the Presidential Majority (AMP),which holds a majority in the provincial assembly. ¶2. (U) The special election for vice governor was held after the position's previous occupant, Leon Mumate, died unexpectedly May 11 from hypertension and renal failure. Mumate, who had just been elected in January, was also aligned with the AMP. ¶3. (SBU) Banamwezi, 54, was born December 10, 1952 in South Kivu. He is an ethnic Rega from Mwenga Territory, as was his predecessor Mumate. Banamwezi was a teacher and headmaster before becoming an active member of South Kivu's civil society. MEECE