Re-Open Kinshasa Mission

A 60-STRONG delegation from Kinshasa has transited through Uganda en-route to the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.Led by the interior secretary, and including the defence, social services and human rights ministers, the delegation is due in the rebel-controlled eastern Congolese towns of Beni and Butembo to harmonise positions reached at the recent inter-Congolese dialogue in South Africa.The Kinshasa government of President Kabila and Jean Pierre Bemba’s Congolese Liberation Movement reached a power-sharing agreement that will see the latter become prime minister and the eventual consolidation of vast territories in the east under one administration with the western part. The other major rebel group, RCD Goma that controls much of the east and south-east, has so far rejected the agreement.The use, by an official Congolese delegation, of Ugandan facilities is further indication of the rapprochement between the two countries. As Uganda has steadily disengaged from a relatively pacified eastern Congo, once-hostile relations have thawed.But for them to continue to warm, we need to have top level diplomatic relations. At the moment, Uganda has full diplomatic ties with neighbours Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and the recently re-established relations with Sudan. With Congo, the Uganda mission in Kinshasa is still closed, while the Congolese embassy in Kampala operates with only junior staff.Full diplomatic relations will help keep all channels open as we continue to iron out the sticking points. The benefits of such ties are evident in the current military offensive against Kony’s LRA, which would not have been possible had the respective missions remained closed. Ends