Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KINSHASA535
2008-06-17 12:41:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kinshasa
Cable title:  

GOMA NOTES 06/08/08: CONGOLESE DDR CHIEF BRIEFS

Tags:  PGOV PREL MOPS KPKO CG UN 
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PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0535/01 1691241
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171241Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8133
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000535 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS KPKO CG UN
SUBJECT: GOMA NOTES 06/08/08: CONGOLESE DDR CHIEF BRIEFS
INTERNATIONAL FACILITATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000535

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS KPKO CG UN
SUBJECT: GOMA NOTES 06/08/08: CONGOLESE DDR CHIEF BRIEFS
INTERNATIONAL FACILITATION


1. (SBU) Summary: Congolese DDR chief Alphonse Ntumba Luaba
briefed International Facilitation representatives June 7 and 8 on
the ability of the GDRC's program to address Goma and Nairobi
process DDR requirements. The program is budgeted at $75 million;
Ntumba anticipates that the World Bank and African Development Bank
will begin allocating funds in the near future. Mobile DDR teams
should be ready to deploy around July 4 and begin processing around
July 7. Under an alternate proposal, the Facilitation will approach
donors about funding fixed transit centers. Ntumba expects an
estimated 172,000 persons to participate in either brassage or DDR.
Near-term challenges include: initial funding of $4 million will
only cover approximately 4,000 ex-combatants; and 1,000 people,
principally Mai-Mai, have spontaneously congregated at MONUC bases
in the Grand Nord region of North Kivu claiming they are ready to
disarm. End summary


2. (SBU) Alphonse Ntumba Luaba, head of the Congolese national DDR
program (PNDDR),briefed representatives of the International
Facilitation in Goma June 7 and 8 on the program's readiness to
address Goma and Nairobi process DDR and brassage issues.

Finance
--------------


3. (SBU) Ntumba reported that the Congolese program will cost $75
million. Most of the funding will be provided by two multilateral
development banks: $50 million in international development
assistance (IDA) funds from the World Bank MDRP program, and $22.5
million from the African Development Bank (ADB) for reintegration
programs. The Congolese government will provide $2.5 million in
counterpart funds. According to current projections, the MDRP plans
to release a first tranche of $4 million in Project Preparation
Facility funds during the last two weeks of June.


4. (SBU) Ntumba noted that MDRP will not cover Congolese combatants
on foreign soil (the World Bank has another fund for this caseload),
FDLR combatants or transit and orientation centers (mobile DDR teams
are envisioned instead). Facilitation representatives agreed to
approach donors in Kinshasa to determine interest in financing
construction of transit and orientation centers. Mobile DDR teams

will be ready to deploy around July 4, with processing envisioned to
begin around July 7. However, Ntumba stressed that the Amani
program's Joint Commission on Peace and Security (CTMPS) will make
the final decision on when the DDR and brassage processes would
begin.

Numbers
--------------


5. (SBU) Ntumba estimated that a total of 172,000 combatants will
participate in either brassage or DDR through the program. He
expects 132,000 will pass through a full cycle: 56,000 in DDR,
79,000 in brassage for integration into the FARDC. Of these, he
anticipates 80,000 will come from the FARDC, 35,000 from Kivu armed
groups, 2,000 from the FDLR (Congolese members),9,000 Congolese
combatants in foreign territory and 6,000 northern Katanga Mai-Mai
fighters. (Note: Consensus in Goma is that armed groups in fact
total some 20-25,000 fighters. End note.) The other 40,000 have
already disarmed and demobilized, but yet to go through
reintegration.

Operations
--------------


5. (SBU) In terms of how the program would operate, Ntumba
explained that combatants would first present themselves at MONUC or
FARDC bases where they would be disarmed and given a disarmament
certificate. Mobile teams would then deploy to areas with
concentrations of disarmed combatants to process them for
participation in the program. Ex-combatants choosing DDR will be
given $140 and told to return home to await additional processing by
the mobile teams. They will also receive stipends of $25 per month
for 12 months as well as an individual reintegration package, the
same as other ex-combatants have received in previous programs.
Those choosing army integration will be transported by the FARDC to
brassage centers.


6. (SBU) Facilitation representatives presented various views of
the proposal during the two meetings. MONUC Eastern Division
Commander General Bikram Singh advocated for fixed transit centers
at the June 7 meeting. He said that if combatants surrender their
arms and are told to go home to wait for the mobile teams, they will
refuse, citing security concerns. It is more likely they will
demand to stay at MONUC bases. This would create a demand for food
and shelter that MONUC can not accommodate.

KINSHASA 00000535 002 OF 002




7. (SBU) Singh noted that MONUC wants to encourage immediate and
ongoing desertion from the armed groups, but this will not happen if
their food, shelter, and security needs can not be immediately
addressed. On the other hand, as SRSG Chief of Staff John Almstrom
and World Bank MDRP representative Harald Hinkel noted the expense
of reorientation and transit centers and predicted that
ex-combatants would often simply remain for lengthy periods there of
time, creating additional food, shelter, and security issues.


8. (SBU) Ntumba noted that the "one man, one gun" principle will be
an eligibility requirement for the program; in fact, it is required
under the government's DDR agreement with the World Bank. Under
this principle, only someone who surrenders a firearm in working
order, a land mine, a grenade, a radio or a certain amount of
ammunition is eligible for the program. Presentation of a heavy
weapon, ("collective" weapons, in the jargon of the program) can
make 3-10 fighters eligible. Those who do arrive for processing
without any such weapons will be by definition presumed to be
non-combatants.

Challenges
--------------


9. (SBU) Discussion at the June 8 meeting also focused on the
problem of 1,000 people, principally from Mai-Mai groups, who have
congregated at MONUC bases in North Kivu's Grand Nord region
claiming they are ready to disarm and enter brassage or DDR.
Facilitation representatives agreed on the need to come up with an
emergency financial and operational plan to address this. Ntumba
said the mobile teams could be ready to deploy for this purpose when
needed.


10. (SBU) Discussion also highlighted a number of other issues and
problems:

-- MDRP's initial $4 million disbursement will cover only some 4,000
ex-combatants.

-- The defense ministry has informally agreed to eligibility of
Congolese FDLR for the program. Taking the decision public will
probably require a more formal determination. MONUC's DDRRR office
strongly supports this proposal as a potentially powerful magnet to
draw them away from the larger group.

-- Facilitation representatives suggested asking Nkunda to send his
fighters directly to a DDR or brassage center. CNDP fighters would
not then have to be processed by a mobile team or in an orientation
center.

-- A/S Frazer's Senior Adviser Tim Shortley highlighted the
importance of calculating a realistic timeline for completion of
brassage that can be presented to Nkunda. This would recognize that
each of the six brassage centers can accommodate only 3,500 people,
which can include no more than 30 per cent from any one group. In
addition, it must account for the approximately three-month brassage
process and potentially lengthy transport time to and from the
centers.

Comment
--------------


12. (SBU) Comment: Mobile teams have been used successfully in
past DDR programs in the DRC. In the absence of fixed orientation
and transit centers, they could be used in the Amani program for all
groups except perhaps CNDP, PARECO, FRF and the Yakatumba Mai-Mai.
The idea of "one-man, one-gun" has been applied in the DRC only in
the case of Ituri DDR Phase 3. If enforced rigorously, it could
exclude many -- perhaps 80 per cent -- of claimed Mai-Mai members.
End comment.

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