EQUATEUR: "A REAL DIFFERENT CONGOLESE PROVINCE"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 000652 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/07/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KJUS KWMN SENV PINR CG SUBJECT: EQUATEUR: "A REAL DIFFERENT CONGOLESE PROVINCE" REF: KINSHASA 633 Classified By: Ambassador William J. Garvelink for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: During a recent visit to Equateur Province, polcouns met with Acting Governor Jean-Claude Baende, provincial government officials, parliamentarians, and MONUC officials, all of whom outlined the political struggle between supporters of impeached Governor Jose Makila and Acting Governor Jean-Claude Baende. Makila, who is accused of embezzlement and mismanagement, is apparently losing support within his own MLC party, as potential successors jockey for position against Baende in anticipation of a vote in parliament to elect a new governor and vice-governor. Most analysts agree that Baende, who is not a member of the majority party in the provincial parliament (MLC),is President Kabila's choice to supplant Makila, the only non-PPRD governor. Although the president of the provincial parliament vigorously protested the arrest and detention of national MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, several interlocutors told polcouns that support for Bemba was only superficial, even amongst MLC cadre. Political, governmental, religious and civil society representatives unanimously criticized what they perceived as an imbalance towards protecting the environment over legitimate economic subsistence concerns of Equateur residents. Interlocutors maintained that the province was neglected by international and national partners, whose attention was overly focused on the eastern DRC, despite equally deplorable economic, development, social, and human rights situations in western DRC. End summary. The Impeached Governor -------------- ¶2. (C) Polcouns recently traveled to Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur Province, to meet with the acting governor, members of the provincial government, the president of the Provincial Assembly, religious and civil society leaders, and MONUC Mbandaka. Equateur Province, the stronghold of former President Mobutu and MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, is in the middle of a political battle between those loyal to impeached Governor Jose Makila and supporters of Acting Governor Jean-Claude Baende. Sixty-five out of 105 deputies in the MLC-controlled Provincial Assembly voted on January 24 to impeach the MLC governor on grounds of mismanagement and embezzlement. Makila initially accepted the impeachment, but then appealed to the Mbandaka Court of Appeals, which ruled that parliamentary procedures had not been followed. Makila's opponents subsequently appealed to the DRC's Supreme Court, which reportedly has overturned the Court of Appeals judgment, although it has not yet been publicly announced. The Supreme Court will probably announce its decision around July 15, at which time the Provincial Assembly will elect a new governor and vice-governor. ¶3. (C) Baende told polcouns that he would run as a candidate to replace Makila. He derided Makila as "a former nurse and Kinshasa moneychanger," whose political career only took off because he was married to the sister of former National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe. Baende criticized Makila for misappropriating funds, specifically funds sent to the province, which should have been passed down to the district levels. Baende said that at least three MLC politicians were jockeying to replace Makila, but President Kabila's PPRD, which is in opposition at the provincial level, had not yet chosen a candidate. The PPRD, according to Baende, wanted "a moderate governor who would ensure calm during the 2011 presidential elections." (Comment: Baende was clearly alluding to himself. Analysts increasingly view him as Kabila's choice to replace Makila. However, Baende, who is not MLC, does not have the grassroots contacts that MLC leaders enjoy. Another interlocutor noted that many "northerners" would not support Baende, a "southerner" from Mbandaka. End comment.) Baende opined that, even amongst MLC cadre, there was little solid support for Jean-Pierre Bemba. Bad Governance -------------- ¶4. (C) The Head of MONUC's Mbandaka Office, Gurian Ndiaye, characterized Equateur as "a really different Congolese province," due to the level of corruption, administrative incapacity, infrastructure challenges, and the opaque political scene. (Note: Ndiaye has served in various MONUC KINSHASA 00000652 002 OF 003 offices throughout the DRC including Kinshasa, in Katanga, in Bunia, and two tours in Mbandaka. End note.) He presented polcouns with a voluminous file documenting various embezzlement charges against Makila. Ndiaye described the Makila government as "real mafia," intimidating journalists and civil society, even trying to have Ndiaye removed as head of office. According to Ndiaye, Makila also leads a sleazy lifestyle, often flying up under-age girls from Kinshasa on the bill of the provincial government. Ndiaye conceded that Baende was also corrupt, but within limits, e.g., he regularly sends funds to the territories, whereas Makila regularly skimmed off these funds. ¶5. (C) Makila, according to Ndiaye, had tried to ingratiate himself with Kabila by claiming that some Equateur citizens were planning a national insurrection. Acting on these fears, GDRC security forces arrested and detained a number of Equateur residents, primarily in Kinshasa. According to Ndiaye, Kabila subsequently realized that Makila's accusations were spurious and the president became livid with Makila. (Note: National Assembly parliamentarians from Equateur and human rights organizations had criticized the GDRC for arbitrary detention of Equateur natives in late 2008/early 2009. End note.) Kabila reportedly now has decided to expend more development assistance on Equateur, a province that many felt had been neglected because of its Mobutu past and MLC roots. Makila, Bemba, and The Hague -------------- ¶6. (C) Ndiaye reiterated Baende's claim that support for Bemba in MLC circles was actually superficial. Even national MLC leaders do not privately hope for his return to the DRC, Ndiaye opined. Ndiaye noted that Bemba and Makila have a strained relationship, because Makila allegedly swindled over $300,000 from Bemba's recently deceased father (reftel). ¶7. (C) Edmond Mondombo, president of the Provincial Assembly presented polcouns with an anti-Baende viewpoint. The current political struggle, according to Mondombo, reflected a traditional battle between governors and the provincial parliament over power. Mondombo criticized Baende's "non-constitutional behavior," labeling him as the PPRD's stooge in Equateur. Baende, according to Mondombo, was seeking to buy votes for the expected election in the Provincial Assembly for a new governor. ¶8. (C) Mondombo fervently defended Bemba (in contrast to his ringing silence on Makila),arguing that the MLC leader should not be responsible for war crimes, as his troops had been "under CAR command." Many Equateur residents, in Mondombo's view, believe there is some kind of GDRC/international community conspiracy to keep Bemba in The Hague through the 2011 elections. Mondombo candidly admitted that "Bemba was done politically," but he lamented Kabila's unwillingness to allow a vibrant political opposition to develop. Underdeveloped, Even By DRC Standards -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Members of MONUC Mbandaka's Country Team emphasized to polcouns the underdevelopment and lack of capacity in all sectors in Equateur, a marginalized province even within the DRC context. Poverty, lack of infrastructure and adequate health care, insecurity, and sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) are all tremendous problems in the province. MONUC claimed that there were only two employees in the provincial administration who knew how to use a computer. Only three out of the 108 parliamentarians were women, a statistic that MONUC hopes to help raise in the 2011 elections. On the security front, unpaid police and soldiers, demobilized combatants without jobs, and "lots of arms depots" represented a dangerous combination. Without MONUC's "eyes and ears" in the province, our contacts predicted that "anything could happen" without the knowledge of the international community. ¶10. (SBU) Representatives of Equateur's civil society echoed the sentiment that the province was a "victim" because it was viewed as the epicenter of national opposition to the Kabila regime. When one interlocutor lamented that Equateur was "an orphan," another participant claimed it was not even that, as there were "no parents," i.e., Mobutu had not even developed his home province. Another common theme was the idea that the international community was obsessed with eastern DRC, KINSHASA 00000652 003 OF 003 resulting in scant development for Equateur. One participant noted that SGBV occurred throughout the DRC, not just in the east. Protecting the Environment versus Subsistence Livelihoods -------------- -------------- ¶11. (SBU) There was a strong consensus among government, parliamentary contacts, civil society, and religious leaders that the international community should find a better balance between environmental protection and economic development. All complained that, because international environmental organizations had managed to designate several large areas in Equateur as protected parks, many local residents could not continue their subsistence lifestyle of hunting and fishing. The provincial Minister of Economics suggested better coordination between groups such as WWF and local stakeholders. ¶12. (C) Comment: The political battle between the impeached governor (Makila) and the acting governor (Baende) is being played out on both the local and the national levels. Makila, it appears, is finished politically, so the real battle is between the MLC faithful and Baende, who is almost certainly Kabila's preferred candidate. Equateur is the only province that does not have a PPRD governor, so an independent, yet PPRD-close, governor would give the PPRD a clean sweep ahead of the 2011 elections (and for 2010 local elections if they are held). Makila's problems have handed the PPRD an opportunity and the presidential majority seems to be making the most of it. ¶13. (C) Comment continued: Equateur is indeed a very different province. It epitomizes the widespread discontent in western provinces that the East receives disproportionate international and national attention because of armed conflict in the Kivus. One interlocutor even wondered aloud whether the international community would pay more attention to the West, if more groups took up arms. While it is understandable that the international community should first deal with the hemorrhaging in the East, we should not forget that many of the same ailments (poverty, lack of infrastructure, collapsed education and health care sectors, corruption, human rights abuses, and SGBV) are equally prevalent throughout the DRC. End comment. GARVELINK