SOUTH KIVU ASSEMBLY ELECTS NEW GOVERNOR

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000315 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG SUBJECT: SOUTH KIVU ASSEMBLY ELECTS NEW GOVERNOR ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The South Kivu provincial assembly elected Louis Muderhwa governor March 21 following the censure, reinstatement, and resignation of previous Governor Celestin Cibalonza. The support of heavyweight national politicians was a critical factor in Muderhwa's victory. End summary. ¶2. (U) South Kivu provincial deputies elected National Assembly Deputy Louis Leonce Muderhwa, candidate of the pro-Kabila AMP, as governor March 21. Muderhwa and Vice Governor-elect Jean Claude Kibala received 33 of 36 possible votes. Independent candidate Rene Kahukula received one vote while the third candidate, independent Joseph Kuhanika, received none. Two ballots were ruled invalid due to irregularities. A fourth candidate, Mwanza Amisi, withdrew the day before the election, officially for personal reasons. The Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) certified the election as valid. ¶3. (U) The vote was scheduled to elect a replacement for Celestin Cibalonza, who was removed in a no-confidence vote by the Provincial Assembly in November 2007. Cibalonza, a longtime adviser to President Kabila, had come under fire for mismanagement and failure to improve South Kivu's security situation. Cibalonza appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. It reinstated him in December 2007, but he resigned February 10. A MONUC-Bukavu political affairs officer told us the resignation this followed informal appeals to Kabila by provincial deputies who feared Kabila would dissolve the assembly if their standoff continued. ¶4. (SBU) According to a South Kivu tribal chief and an adviser to National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe, Muderhawa's selection as the official government candidate reflected internal rivalries in the national AMP coalition. Both told us that Muderhwa's candidacy was supported by Evariste Boshab and Augustin Katumba, respective PPRD and AMP secretaries-general. Boshab and Katumba's support forced Kamerhe's choice, National Assembly Deputy (and his brother-in-law) Aime Boji, to withdraw from the race although he had received the most votes in the PPRD's provincial selection process. Provincial deputy Francois Rubota, who subsequently lined up the support of 18 other colleagues, also withdrew from the race in the face of Muderhwa's clear support from the national hierarchy. ¶5. (SBU) The CEI had rejected the applications of three other candidates on procedural grounds. It ruled that two who claimed to be independent candidates were in fact members of the AMP. The CEI spokesman told us the third failed to resign his current post before declaring his candidacy, in violation of constitutional requirements. ¶6. (SBU) Biographical note: Louis Leonce Muderhwa Chirimwami, 45, was born in Bukavu, South Kivu. A lawyer, he studied at the University of Kinshasa before teaching law at Catholic University in Bukavu. He served as vice-minister of mines during the Transition before being elected to the National Assembly from Bukavu in July ¶2006. GARVELINK