MINISTER OF DEFENSE ROLLS UP DDR AGENCY, GIVES

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000751 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV MARR KPKO CG SUBJECT: MINISTER OF DEFENSE ROLLS UP DDR AGENCY, GIVES UNDP LEAD IN NEXT PHASE OF ITURI DEMOBILIZATION REF: A. KINSHASA 377 ¶B. KINSHASA 153 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Congolese Defense Minister Chikez Diemu announced the dissolution of the DRC's disarmament, demobilization and reinsertion (DDR) agency CONADER June 23 and transfer of its functions to his ministry. He previewed the next phase of Ituri District DDR, which will emphasize community development. He said new DDR funding from the World Bank would likely come on line around November. DDR will be on the agenda of the Contact Group meeting on SSR with the GDRC scheduled for July 12-13 in Kinshasa. End summary. ¶2. (U) Defense Minister Chikez Diemu announced the dissolution of the DRC's National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reinsertion (CONADER) and the transfer of its functions to the defense ministry at a June 23 meeting with international donors active in DDR. He also removed CONADER head Daniel Kawata, who had earlier expressed optimism that he would retain some role in future DDR efforts (ref A). Although Chikez clearly indicated his intention to subsume the DDR process into his ministry, no supporting declarations have yet been signed by President Kabila. ¶3. (SBU) Chikez provided no details on the successor organization, referring technical questions to Vice Minister for Veterans Affairs Yvonne Iyamulemye Kabano. He introduced Ntumba Luaba, a lawyer who previously served as human rights minister under Laurent Kabila, as head of the ministry's DDR programs. (Note: In 2004, Luaba was captured and held hostage by one of the Ituri armed groups, leading to a week-long crisis; he was subsequently released unharmed. End note.) ¶4. (SBU) Chikez also discussed an additional $50 million in funding from the World Bank's Multi-Country Disarmament and Reintegration Program (MDRP) Trust Fund -- with a focus on conditions for its disbursement -- scheduled to be available as early as November. The transfer of CONADER's functions to the Ministry meets the Bank's first key condition. The second condition is redesign and significant staff reduction of the successor organization. The third, and most contentious, condition requires that the GDRC return $9 million in MDRP funds already disbursed by CONADER but subsequently determined not to have conformed to established World Bank procedures. ¶5. (SBU) As he has elsewhere, Chikez championed a community development-based reinsertion model. He distributed a new Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) which outlines the next phase of DDR engagement in Ituri. The MoA gives UNDP the lead in demobilizing an estimated 4,500 Ituri ex-combatants, of which it estimates 3,150 will opt for community reinsertion and 1,350 for integration into the armed forces. It also transfers a commensurate number of contested entry and exit "kits" (reftels) from CONADER to UNDP. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: CONADER's demise is not unexpected, after numerous allegations of mismanagement. On the one hand, there was good reason not to continue supporting a system which was clearly broken. On the other, however, the GDRC now faces a significant delay in setting up a new DDR structure. It is hoped that the ministry's efforts result in a functional DDR program that corrects CONADER's most glaring inefficiencies in the shortest time possible. End comment. MEECE