Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KINSHASA87
2007-01-25 13:55:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kinshasa
Cable title:  

KABILA ALLIES WIN MAJORITY OF EASTERN KASAI'S

Tags:  PGOV PINR KDEM CG ELECTIONS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8198
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0087/01 0251355
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251355Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5473
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 000087 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM CG ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: KABILA ALLIES WIN MAJORITY OF EASTERN KASAI'S
SEATS IN NATIONAL SENATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 000087

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM CG ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: KABILA ALLIES WIN MAJORITY OF EASTERN KASAI'S
SEATS IN NATIONAL SENATE


1. (U) Results from the January 19 Senate elections in
Eastern Kasai gave the pro-Kabila Alliance for the
Presidential Majority (AMP) an overwhelming majority of seats
in a region that includes areas that have been politically
hostile towards Kabila. The People's Party for Reconstruction
and Democracy (PPRD) won three of the province's 12 Senate
seats, while Azarias Ruberwa's Rally for Congolese Democracy
(RCD),currently aligned with the AMP in provincial
elections, won two. Other AMP coalition parties each winning
one Senate position included the Convention of Unified
Congolese (CCU),the League of Christian Democrats (LDC),and
the Party of National Alliance for Unity (PANU),bringing the
AMP total to at least eight.


2. (U) The AMP won the majority of seats thanks in large part
to its current alliance with Ruberwa's RCD. AMP members came
just shy of gaining the majority in the provincial
legislature, winning just 27 of 61 seats in the October
elections. The RCD won eight seats in Eastern Kasai, thereby
giving the AMP-RCD coalition a ruling majority in the
assembly.


3. (U) Notable winning candidates from the AMP include the
alliance's national coordinator Andre Philippe Futa (PANU),
President Kabila's chief of staff Leonard She Okitundu
(PPRD),and Transitional Government Senator Raymond Omba Pene
Djunga (LDC). Both Okitundu and Futa are widely mentioned as
possible Senate Presidents.


4. (U) Only two candidates allied with Jean-Pierre Bemba's
Union for the Nation (UN) coalition won seats: former
presidential candidate Roger Lumbala of RCD-N and former MLC
Transitional National Assembly deputy David Mutamba of the
Democratic Convention for Development (CDD).


5. (U) Two independents were elected from Eastern Kasai. At
least one, Jacques Tshimbombo Mukuna, who represented the RCD
in the Transitional National Assembly, is a nominal ally of
the AMP. The other elected independent, Willy Kakienge
Nundwe, is a political newcomer.


6. (U) The one high-profile losing candidate in the Eastern
Kasai Senate elections was U.S.-based physician and former
presidential candidate Oscar Kashala. Running as a candidate
from his Union for the Reconstruction of Congo (UREC) party,

Kashala did not receive any votes in the balloting, although
UREC has one member in Eastern Kasai's provincial assembly.


7. (SBU) Biographical information:

David Mutamba Dibwe (CDD)

Mutamba, 64, represented civil society in the Transitional
Senate and later the MLC in the Transitional National
Assembly. He was defeated in his run for the new National
Assembly from Eastern Kasai. He participated in the Lutundula
Commission's mission to Katanga. A former chief of staff to
Leon Kengo wa Dondo, he also served as the president of
mining parastatal SODIMICO and the CEO of the electricity
parastatal SNEL. A native of Kamina, Katanga , he became a
naturalized Belgian citizen in 1998. Born June 19, 1942.

Willy Kakienge Nundwe (independent, affiliation unknown)

Kakienge, 46, was elected as an independent candidate from
the southern region of Lomami in Eastern Kasai. Born January
5, 1961.

Sebastien Matanda Mwidika (PPRD)

Matanda, 61, represented the political opposition in the
Transitional National Assembly. He was also elected from the
Lomami district of Eastern Kasai. Born December 28, 1945.

Pascal Kabeya Sabua (RCD)

Kabeya, 56, is secretary general of the SYTHAC labor union
and a member of the executive committee of Union Network
International (UNI)-Africa. Born September 11, 1950.

Leonard Anganda Mbutshu Luhata (CCU)

Anganda, 64, has served as professor of social sciences at
the University of Kinshasa. Born December 28, 1942.


KINSHASA 00000087 002 OF 003


Raymond Omba Pene Djunga (LDC)

Omba, 68, was Mobutu's first cabinet secretary after the 1965
coup d'etat. Born in the same village as Patrice Lumumba, he
was trained at Belgium's royal military academy. In September
1975 he was accused of plotting a coup against Mobutu and
condemned to death. After serving four years in prison, he
became a businessman and administered several development
projects. Omba participated in the Sovereign National
Conference and later served as Minister of Public Works from
1994-1996. He founded the League of Christian Democrats and
represented Eastern Kasai in the Transitional Senate, where
he chaired the defense and security committee. Born April 8,

1938.

Leonard She Okitundu (PPRD)

She Okitundu, 60, is Kabila's current chief of staff. A
member of the same Tetela tribe as Patrice Lumumba, he holds
a law degree from the University of Lausanne. He spent most
of his adult years in exile in Switzerland following Mobutu's
coup, working as a human rights activist and lawyer. He
returned to the Congo in 1996 after being recruited by
Laurent Kabila to serve on his diplomatic staff. Named
Minister of Human Rights, he later became Foreign Minister in
2000, retaining the position under Joseph Kabila until 2003.
He led the government delegation during the Inter-Congolese
Dialogue and is a signatory of the 2003 Sun City Accords.
Born March 20, 1946.

Adalbert Otshumampita Aloki (RCD)

Otshumampita, 62, has been a professor at the National
Medical School (ISTM) and head of the law faculty at the
International University of Congo. He previously served as an
adviser to the Ministry of Higher Education and director
general of ISTM before being dismissed for embezzlement. Born
February 11, 1944.

Andre Philippe Futa (PANU)

Futa, 58, is the national coordinator of the AMP and is
president of the Party of National Alliance for Unity (PANU).
He is a member of the traditional Kasaian royal families of
Bena Mbayi and Bakwa Dishi, holding the title of traditional
chief of the Bakwa Dishi clan. He holds several advanced
degrees, including a Masters in agro-economics from the
University of Florida, and a doctorate in economics from
Oklahoma State University. He served in many different
positions with the African Development Bank, including
interim director from 1995-1996 and Eastern Africa director
from 1999-2001. Under Laurent and later Joseph Kabila, he
served as Minister of Agricultural Development (2001-2002),
Minister of Economy (2002-2003),and Minister of Finance
(2003-2005). He was elected chairman of the board of
governors of the World Bank and IMF for the Congo in 2004.
Born August 26, 1948.

Benoit Ngeleka Kanguvu (PPRD)

Ngeleka, 65, was a member of the Transitional National
Assembly. Born August 8, 1941.

Roger Lumbala (RCD-N)

Lumbala, 48, is the national president of the Rally for
Congolese Democracy-National (RCD-N) and a spokesman for
Bemba's Union for the Nation alliance. A co-founder of
Ruberwa's RCD, he split from the party in 2000 to form RCD-N,
which allied with Bemba's MLC and received military support
from Uganda. He is a former member of Etienne Tshisekedi's
Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS). He later
joined Laurent Kabila's AFDL march across the country to
topple Mobutu, before turning against him in 1997. He holds a
degree in education and served as the Minister of External
Trade in the Transitional Government before being ousted on
corruption charges. He unsuccessfully ran for president in

2006. Though he won a seat in the National Assembly, the
Supreme Court annulled his victory for attempts at voter
fraud. Born April 13, 1958.

Jacques Tshimbombo Mukuna (independent, presumably allied
with Kabila/AMP)

Tshimbombo, 60, represented the RCD-G in the Transitional

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KINSHASA 00000087 003 OF 003


National Assembly, but ran as an independent candidate for
Senate. He held several positions under Mobutu, including
Minister of Sports and Youth and the last director of the
National Service for Intelligence and Protection (SNIP). He
also held the position of governor of Kinshasa from
1985-1986. He returned to the Congo from six years of exile
in 2003, founding the Union for Republican Renewal, which is
allied with the RCD-G. Born June 12, 1946.
MEECE