Bemba still worries Kabila
Oct 02, 2007
On October 29 2006, the Democratic Republic of Congo went for an election runoff in which President Joseph Kabila and Jean Pierre Bemba contested for the presidency. This runoff was intended to produce a decisive winner who would take the Presidential Oath on December 10.
By Asuman Bisiika
On October 29 2006, the Democratic Republic of Congo went for an election runoff in which President Joseph Kabila and Jean Pierre Bemba contested for the presidency. This runoff was intended to produce a decisive winner who would take the Presidential Oath on December 10.
Although the media in East Africa did not show a deserving interest in the democratisation process in Congo, the outcome of this election was surely going to have far-reaching ramifications on the Great Lakes region’s geo-politics. The facts are telling: Almost the entire western border of the East African Community territory is shared with Congo. Plus, Congo’s economic potential alone offers the whole East African region enough reason to work for having a friendly or at least a stable government in Kinshasa.
The most significant aspect of the elections was that it represented what the international community viewed as the tail end of the civil war. Ironically though, after the announcement of the results, soldiers loyal to then Vice President Jean Pierre Bemba and government forces engaged each other in a battle that left many people dead.
The Kinshasa clashes were blamed on some article in the Lusaka Peace Agreement that allowed former rebel leaders to retain hundreds of armed loyalist fighters as their personal guards.
While the soldiers remained technically part of the national military establishment, their loyalty remained with their wartime leaders.
Now security and intelligence sources link the silly border clashes between Ugandan and Congolese armies to this incident. We shall explain.
As a national political player in the Congo, Jean Pierre Bemba was actually a creation of Uganda. A university educated man from former President Mobutu’s tribe (the Ngwande tribe of Haute Zaire Province) coming from a very wealthy family, Bemba held the right qualification for Uganda’s designs in DRC.
The irony of his father (Saolona Bemba) serving Laurent Kabila’s cabinet in Kinshasa demonstrated Jean Pierre Bemba’s ideological clarity. This was an added advantage in favour of his candidature as Uganda’s main man in the war against the Kabila regime. It would put Kabila in a funny situation.
The Bemba family made their wealth during the Mobutu regime. The Bembas are actually related to the Mobutu family through marriage. Saolona Bemba’s appointment in Laurent Kabila’s cabinet was intended to stem discontent against his government that found expression in the resurgent Mobutist nostalgia.
Worse, the rebellion against Laurent Kabila was tapping into Mobutist sympathy. For Uganda, Jean Pierre Bemba was the man; and Kinshasa thinks he still is to date.
Now outside the country, there is fear in Kinshasa that Bemba might be seeking to return to his old rebellious ways through Uganda or with Uganda’s help. Without even having to authenticate their fears, it is noteworthy that a war-weary DR Congo is always suspicious of Uganda and Rwanda. So, the FARDC’s (Congolese Army) continued clashes are viewed as acts of vigilance as in ‘once bitten by a snake; scary is the sight of a worm’.
The Writer is a journalist
On October 29 2006, the Democratic Republic of Congo went for an election runoff in which President Joseph Kabila and Jean Pierre Bemba contested for the presidency. This runoff was intended to produce a decisive winner who would take the Presidential Oath on December 10.
Although the media in East Africa did not show a deserving interest in the democratisation process in Congo, the outcome of this election was surely going to have far-reaching ramifications on the Great Lakes region’s geo-politics. The facts are telling: Almost the entire western border of the East African Community territory is shared with Congo. Plus, Congo’s economic potential alone offers the whole East African region enough reason to work for having a friendly or at least a stable government in Kinshasa.
The most significant aspect of the elections was that it represented what the international community viewed as the tail end of the civil war. Ironically though, after the announcement of the results, soldiers loyal to then Vice President Jean Pierre Bemba and government forces engaged each other in a battle that left many people dead.
The Kinshasa clashes were blamed on some article in the Lusaka Peace Agreement that allowed former rebel leaders to retain hundreds of armed loyalist fighters as their personal guards.
While the soldiers remained technically part of the national military establishment, their loyalty remained with their wartime leaders.
Now security and intelligence sources link the silly border clashes between Ugandan and Congolese armies to this incident. We shall explain.
As a national political player in the Congo, Jean Pierre Bemba was actually a creation of Uganda. A university educated man from former President Mobutu’s tribe (the Ngwande tribe of Haute Zaire Province) coming from a very wealthy family, Bemba held the right qualification for Uganda’s designs in DRC.
The irony of his father (Saolona Bemba) serving Laurent Kabila’s cabinet in Kinshasa demonstrated Jean Pierre Bemba’s ideological clarity. This was an added advantage in favour of his candidature as Uganda’s main man in the war against the Kabila regime. It would put Kabila in a funny situation.
The Bemba family made their wealth during the Mobutu regime. The Bembas are actually related to the Mobutu family through marriage. Saolona Bemba’s appointment in Laurent Kabila’s cabinet was intended to stem discontent against his government that found expression in the resurgent Mobutist nostalgia.
Worse, the rebellion against Laurent Kabila was tapping into Mobutist sympathy. For Uganda, Jean Pierre Bemba was the man; and Kinshasa thinks he still is to date.
Now outside the country, there is fear in Kinshasa that Bemba might be seeking to return to his old rebellious ways through Uganda or with Uganda’s help. Without even having to authenticate their fears, it is noteworthy that a war-weary DR Congo is always suspicious of Uganda and Rwanda. So, the FARDC’s (Congolese Army) continued clashes are viewed as acts of vigilance as in ‘once bitten by a snake; scary is the sight of a worm’.
The Writer is a journalist