BRAZZAVILLE/CONGO: NTUMI - DEER HUNTER OR THE

S E C R E T KINSHASA 000688 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/C RUTH HENDERSON, JANE GAFFNEY INR/AA JOHN BERNTSEN, JENNIFER PEKKINEN PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS GREG D'ELIA, ROBERT KANEDA E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2017 TAGS: PREL PINR PHUM PGOV CF SUBJECT: BRAZZAVILLE/CONGO: NTUMI - DEER HUNTER OR THE HUNTED? REF: A. KINSHASA 000659 ¶B. BERNTSEN-BARGERON E-MAIL ¶C. 13 JUNE 2007 ¶D. BRAZZAVILLE 000093 Classified By: DCM MARK BIEDLINGMAIER, REASONS 1.4(B)(D) ¶1. (C) Following his June 8 "walk in the woods" in Kinkala with CNR President Frederic Bintsamou (Pasteur Ntumi),in the presence of BBC journalist James James, (reported reftel A), DCM was contacted by CNR National Secretary Joseph Mbizi to discuss his party's anticipated participation in the June 24 legislative elections. A meeting was held in Brazzaville on June 14 with Mbizi and included the DCMs from the Embassy of South Africa, Coen van Wyk and Apostolic Nunciature, Msgr. Banatulaye Kuriwkose. Mbizi reported that, despite firm commitments made by the Office of the Prime Minister during protracted pre-concertation negotiations, no government "matching funds" had been provided by the host-government to Ntumi, or to the CNR, which would have virtually assured the party's full involvement and active participation in the nationwide election campaign. Mbizi added that, if these funds were not received prior to the June 15 voter registration deadline, Ntumi would have no option but to withdraw all CNR candidates from the ballots. Post verified on June 20 that no government funding had been provided to the CNR and that Ntumi would now called for a boycott of the Sunday electoral process. ¶2. (S) BBC journalist John James (please protect) reported to DCM the substance of a conversation held with Presidential Spokesman and Minister of Communication, Alain Akouala-Antipault, on Sunday evening, June 10, shortly after BBC had broadcast James' piece on the Kinkala meeting with Ntumi. Akouala advised James that, unlike his BBC predecessor, Francois Bikindou, who had been forced to leave Brazzaville five years earlier after an interview arranged with Ntumi, the Republic of Congo was now "a completely democratic country and would certainly not interfere with his activities or those of the working press." He then added, to James' bewilderment, that President Sassou-Nguesso had been approached on several occasions by various elements within the military who offered to "get rid of" Ntumi, but that the President did not believe this would be a prudent course of action. Instead, Akouala continued, the President would now welcome Ntumi's return to Brazzaville as "the government would at least know where he was located." ¶3. (C) (Note: During the June 14 meeting with Mbizi noted above, it was disclosed that Ntumi had planned to return to Brazzaville prior to the June 24 election in an elaborate 40-car motorcade, surrounded by his supporters from the Pool, and with a security detail of 45 ex-combattant soldiers. Mbizi stated that this number had been agreed upon following negotiations with the host government after an initial proposal to bring 60 armed, ex-combattants to the city was declined. It is now unlikely that Ntumi will make this move to Brazzaville given his call to boycott the elections and withdraw CNR candidates from the process due to non-receipt campaign matching funds from the Ministry of the Interior.) ¶4. (S) On a related note, Ambassador Weisberg met privately with Minister of Technical Education, Pierre-Michel Nguimbi (please protect),who frequently shares insider views with the embassy, for a tour d'horizon of the current political situation. In response to Ambassador's summation of DCM's recent contact with Ntumi, Nguimbi stated that Ntumi was thought to be mentally unstable, a marginalized figure in the newly-reopened Pool region, and above all, a festering irritant to President Sassou-Nguesso and the PCT. Motioning to the Ambassador with a double cross-slash to the throat, Nguimbi said that Sassou-Nguesso was "fed-up" with the entire Pasteur Ntumi issue, and that he (Ntumi) "was finished." This conversation took place only days after Minister Akouala's discussion with BBC correspondent James in which similar sentiments were expressed. This discourse would lead one to wonder, now that Ntumi is officially "out of the woods" whether he is the hunter, or the hunted, in the eyes of his countrymen and senior government leaders? ¶5. (C) The Nguimbi assessment of Ntumi's personality differs from that observed by James and DCM during their chance June 8 encounter. Ntumi welcomed his visitors to the outdoor setting in a calm, yet somewhat shy manner, and then warmed-up considerably after opening pleasantries, reference to the Bikindou PNG affair, and Ntumi's wish to continue his university studies in either psychology and sociology in the United States. He was articulate and surprisingly well informed of world events given his relative isolation in the Pool region for over ten years, in particular the U.S. lead role in anti-narcotics trafficking, economic globalization, Chinese presence in the central Africa region, and the recent Sarkozy-Royal election run-off in France. Perhaps playing to his audience, Ntumi insisted that English-language study and access to information technology resources would be "the key to unlock the talents" of the young, future Pool generations, now anxious to re-integrate into society following the tragic civil war period. Unlike the dated photographs run frequently in the national press, which often feature Ntumi as an ill-groomed, bizarrely-clad deadbeat, he arrived to the June 8 meeting dressed in a conservative suit, neat in appearance and grooming, shined black loafers and sporting a modest Seiko- or Timex-style chronometer/racing watch. The CNR secretary, Joseph Mbizi, later confided to the DCM that Ntumi was a voracious reader of history, politics and international affairs, and despite its remote location, Kinkala had an excellent internet link which allowed Ntumi to "surfing the net" several hours each day for news and developments in the fields of medicine, technology, and his personal passions, music, culture and the arts. ¶6. (C) In other election news, candidates worth watching this weekend include former Minister of Transportation, Andre Okombi-Salissa; populist opposition Member of Parliament, Nick Fila; and, recently demoted Special Advisor to the President, Jean-Dominique Okemba (profiled reftel C). Okombi-Salissa, currently Minister of Tourism and Environment -- an insignificant portfolio given the heavy clout borne by Minister of Forestry and Environment Henri Djombo in the international community -- and Okemba, now wallowing on the back benches as president of Congo's National Security Commission, both aspire to higher office but have been frustrated in this trek by Sassou-Nguesso's recent decision to remove them from their respective power bases. Okombi-Salissa has, to date, adamantly refused to dislodge from his office at the Ministry of Transportation, and, known to control both a well-armed private militia and regional radio station, is considered by many to be "off limits" and a formidable force "not to be reckoned with" lest one would be prepared to suffer dire consequences. Urban legend in Brazzaville notes that Salissa's militia conducted a mafia-style "knee-capping" of a fellow Member of Parliament who attempted to cut-in on lucrative commercial activities controlled by Salissa while Minister of Transportation. ¶7. (SBU) The avuncular Fila, hero of last Fall's successful passive resistance protest in the Poto-Poto suburb of Brazzaville -- prompted by a host-government attempt to forcefully expropriate land and slum residences for a Chinese-backed redevelopment project to build medium-income housing, led by the unpopular Minister of Construction Alphonse Nsilou -- is openly criticizing the Minister of Interior, Francois Ivobi, and others charged to establish a representative National Electoral Commission, with corruption, incompetence and voter registration fraud. There has been, however, a highly-pervasive apathetic attitude toward the election process by the average Congolese, who find it more advantageous (financially and otherwise) to accept generous gifts of cash, t-shirts, baseball caps, and in one precinct, small refrigerators, from aggressive PCT campaigners, than to seriously debate tough political issues and the merits of a true opposition voice. ¶8. (U) Post once again renews its interest to secure prompt Congressional approval for the IFES grant proposal, currently in the AF/C clearance process, which would provide an innovative opportunity to educate and empower voters, through an open debate for all party candidates, to capture the interest of Republic of Congo voters prior to the anticipated July 22 run-off. MEECE