Wednesday 21 August 2013

NATIONAL CONSULTATIONS AND THEN WHAT?

This gentleman puts it quite clearly: http://www.congoindependant.com/article.php?articleid=8239. Kabila and his mentors are looking for a way of preparing his reelection into power and a distraction of the people from focusing on his failure particularly around Goma. We can actually say that these consultations are his last life-saver in power. However he cannot prepare them properly knowing the dark clouds over Goma are still there and getting darker. He cannot lie to anyone that he will get his adversaries to buy into his idea of consultations because they know those consultations are not about re-settling our people in the Kivu, those who are in IDP camps and those who are outside the country. North-Kivu fighters know that Kabila's consultations are not about rebuilding the ultra-dilapidated infrastructure: road, hospitals, schools, even markets. Indeed, the only roads known in the east of the DRC are those built by the belgians in colonial times. You can imagine what they have become after the FDLR  settlement in the Kivu by the United Nations and Mobutu. 

A few days ago, I warned that we might hear soon the ugly sound of weapons because our dearest president knows no other language. But there is some cacophony in his camp. His soldiers, commanded by the now famous Mamadou, failed to defeat Makenga's freedom fighters.  Actually Mamadou, according to credible sources, has fallen out of Kabila's favor because he precisely failed in that mission, which was meant to save the face of the rais. Now, the rais has called in forces from Kisangani. I talked about 20 trucks of soldiers who arrived in Rwindi last week. They are supposed to defend the front of Lubero, Kanyabayonga and Rwindi. Now more have arrived from Kisangani by plane and have landed in Goma. This commandant called Basile, who was in Minova, has also been instructed to bring down to Goma his battalion. However, things are not as smooth as they sound. The troupes, earlier commanded by Mamadou have been trained by the Chinese, are being accused by the new comers of having done nothing. Who trained the new comers? The belgians in Kisangani, see some coincidence with Reynders visit? Now these belgian trained FARDC are fighting with the Chinese trained ones. Basile's battalion, at the moment, has lost its commander because he has been accused of somehow sympathizing with Makenga's cause. He has been kicked out. His battalion isn't amused. Te result is that we have on the Goma front 3 different FARDC, equally disgruntled about each other. And those are the ones Joseph Kabila has put together to protect teh City fearing it could be run over by Makenga's fighters.

Why over-militarize Goma once again? The rais is afraid of a successful attempt to seize Goma now, which could complicate, jeohopardize his life-saver operation "consultations". The question is, of which use is the over-militarization of Goma without a commandant? I say this because Mamadou is right now a persona non grata to Kabila. And to my knowledge, no other commandant has been appointed. FARDC always run before their adversary when they have commandants. What will they do without a specified order of commandment? May be the rais will come to command his men in person. We shall see. In the mean time, we know his consultations are not about peace and much less development of our people.

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