BEMBA'S MLC WINS HALF OF KINSHASA'S SENATE SEATS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000072

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: BEMBA'S MLC WINS HALF OF KINSHASA'S SENATE SEATS

REF: KINSHASA 66


1. (U) Jean-Pierre Bemba's MLC won four of eight seats in
Kinshasa's senatorial delegation in a vote by provincial
assembly deputies January 19. Bemba himself came first in
the poll of the 48 deputies, followed closely by MLC
officials Bernadette Nkoy Mafuta and Eve Bazaiba. President
Kabila's PPRD won two seats, with Azarias Ruberwa's RCD and
an independent candidate splitting the remaining pair.


2. (U) The Kinshasa delegation in the new Senate will
include two current ministers, Moise Nyarugabo (RCD) and
Romain Nimy (MLC),and two former governors of Kinshasa, Nkoy
Mafuta (MLC),who served in the Mobutu era, and David Nku
Imbie (PPRD),a Joseph Kabila appointee. The MLC's Nkoy
Mafuta and Bazaiba will be two of only five women in the
108-member Senate.


3. (U) Of the 241 Kinshasa candidates listed for the Senate,
only 13 received votes. Each deputy was allowed to cast a
single vote, and the 27 from the MLC maintained party
discipline to elect four of their eight candidates. They
gave nine votes to Bemba, eight each to Nkoy Mafuta and
Bazaiba, and two to Nimy. The PPRD elected two of its five
candidates with a total of 10 votes, despite counting only
eight deputies in the 48-member assembly.


4. (U) A prominent casualty of the vote was former
presidential candidate Wivine Nlandu, who ran as an
independent. She had joined Bemba's Union pour la Nation
campaign coalition as permanent secretary, and, running
outside her natural constituency in Bas-Congo, received no
votes. Key Kabila allies, including Mbusa Nyamwisi's Forces
du Renouveau and Mobutu Nzanga's UDEMO, had no deputies in
the assembly and were likewise shut out.


5. (U) Biographical information:

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (MLC)

MLC president Bemba, 44, asserts ambitions to create a viable
political opposition to the new government. He finished
second to Joseph Kabila in the October presidential
elections. Bemba was vice president for economic and
financial affairs during the transition. He once commanded
forces which controlled almost one-third of the country
before agreeing at Sun City to convert the MLC from a rebel
movement to a political party. He retains interest in major
Congolese transportation and communications enterprises. The
son of Jeannot Bemba, one of Congo's richest men, he was
educated in Belgium for 20 years and has a degree in
economics from the Catholic Institute of Commerce. Born
November 4, 1962.

Bernadette Nkoy Mafuta (MLC)

Nkoy Mafuta, 58, is MLC national secretary for women's
issues. During the presidential campaign she was in charge
of public relations for Bemba's electoral coalition, l'Union
pour la Nation (UN). She was governor of Kinshasa from
August 1996 to May 1997 and is remembered for promoting
public health programs before being replaced by a military
governor in the final days of the Mobutu era. Born October
14, 1948.

Eve Bazaiba Masudi (MLC)

Bazaiba, 41, is a former UDPS official who was expelled from
the party for running for the National Assembly in the July
2006 elections. After failing in her bid for an Assembly
seat, she joined Bemba's UN. She gained notoriety during the
campaign for incendiary statements questioning the integrity
of the electoral process. Born August 12, 1966.

Moise Nyarugabo Muhizi (RCD)

Nyarugabo, 41, was named transitional economy minister in
October 2006. Previously leader of the RCD parliamentary
group, he was an unsuccessful National Assembly candidate in
the July legislative elections. A Tutsi lawyer from Uvira,
South Kivu, he was formerly director of the RCD department of
justice, human rights and conflict resolution. He was
director of OBMA, Laurent Kabila's "office of ill-gotten
gains," before breaking with Kabila and joining the RCD
rebellion. Unlike many in the RCD, he appears to have
maintained loyalty to RCD president Ruberwa. Born January 5,

1966.

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David Nku Imbie (PPRD)

Nku Imbie, 54, is medical director of the Salvation Army's
Congo branch and a practicing physician. He served as
governor of Kinshasa from June 2002 to May 2004. Born July
28, 1952.

Ignace Ndebo a Kanda (PPRD)

Ndebo, 53, is president of the PPRD youth league. He is the
son of former Kivu Governor Ndebo a Kanda de ne Nkega, a
staunch Mobutist from Equateur. Born December 29, 1953.

Romain Nimy Tembo (MLC)

Nimy, 49, was named transitional agriculture minister in
October 2006. He is MLC national secretary for reform
issues. He served as chief of staff to his late brother
Roger during the latter's time as youth and sports minister.
He was a signatory to the November 2006 public appeal by
Bakongo notables for pre-trial release of Bemba associate
Marie-Therese Nlandu, detained on charges of subversion.
Born July 22, 1957.

Innocent Nkongo Budini Nzau (Independent)

Nkongo, 57, has not been previously active in politics. A
practicing lawyer, he is the senior attorney accredited
before the Kinshasa-Gombe court of appeals. He is the
current secretary-general of the Franco-Congolese chamber of
commerce and industry. Born November 5, 1949.
MEECE