SOUTH KIVU ASSEMBLY ELECTS NATIONAL SENATORS

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000079 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS SUBJECT: SOUTH KIVU ASSEMBLY ELECTS NATIONAL SENATORS REF: KINSHASA 66 ¶1. (U) South Kivu provincial deputies elected four Senators January 19, including one from the RCD political party. Despite lingering suspicion about the RCD among the South Kivu population and no RCD representation in the assembly, Boniface Balamange (RCD) received nine votes, the most received among 44 candidates. Sanila Shenila, a former RCD parliamentarian running as an independent followed with seven votes. President Kabila's AMP coalition, which dominated national elections, gained two Senators, Jean Luc Kuye-Ndondo (MSR) and Michel Chiribagula, an independent. ¶2. (U) Three of the four Senators-elect were prominent members of the Transitional Government. Balamange was Minister of Labor, Shenila was an MP, and Kuye-Ndondo was the chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Two prominent unsuccessful candidates were transition Senator Enock Sebineza and former South Kivu Vice Governor Aurelie Bitondo. ¶3. (SBU) A MONUC-Bukavu political officer told us that some South Kivu provincial deputies claim they are concerned about their security in the wake of the vote. Some politicians and media have accused them of bias and corruption in their choice of Senators. On January 22, the youth wing of the South Kivu Civil Society presented the Provincial Assembly president, Emile Baleke, with a declaration claiming the election was bringing to the Senate "certain undesirables who had immersed this province in gunpowder and blood." ¶4. (SBU) Biographical Information: Boniface Balamange Nkolo (RCD-G) Balamange, 42, is an ethnic Havu from Idjwi Island. A lawyer by training, he was Minister of Labor in the Transitional Government. He is close to Transitional Vice President Azarias Ruberwa and was one of the founders of the RCD. Born April 18, 1964. Sanila Shenila Mwanza (Independent) Shenila, 44, is an ethnic Bembe from Fizi territory. A businesswoman whose mother was a gold trader with ties to Burundi and the RCD-G, she was an RCD-G member of the Transitional National Assembly. She ran unsuccessfully as an independent for the National Assembly in July. Born September 28, 1962. Jean Luc Kuye-Ndondo (MSR) Msgr. Kuye-Ndondo, 52, an ethnic Fulero from Uvira Territory. A Catholic cleric with a doctorate in theology from Belgium, he was a professor in universities in Brussels and Bukavu. He took part in the Inter-Congolese Dialogue and was appointed President of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission during the Transitional Government. Born April 24, 1954. Michel Chiribagula Bululi Bogoye (Independent) Chiribagula, 62, is an ethnic Shi from Mwenga territory. He is a longtime civil servant and was Chief of Division at the General Directory of Taxes in South Kivu. He ran unsuccessfully for the National Assembly in July as a member of the UPRDI party. Born April 24, 1944. MEECE