US embassy cable - 04KINSHASA1214

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001214 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PREL, MARR, CG 
SUBJECT: TENSIONS WITHIN CONGO'S RCD EX-REBEL MOVEMENT 
 
 
Classified By: Poloff Edward Bestic for Reasons 1.5 B and D 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  There is much frustration within the 
ex-rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), but members are 
divided on how best to proceed.  There are disagreements over 
whether to make more versus less concessions to their 
adversaries, how best to deal with current and future 
insurgents, and how "Congolese" the party needs to appear. 
We are more likely to see repeated challenges to Ruberwa's 
leadership rather than a formal split in the party, however. 
For now, membership in the RCD and its promise of possible 
largesse is more attractive than would be membership in some 
small, inconsequential breakaway group which is not part of 
the transitional government.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Former RCD Leader Criticizes Ruberwa, Rwanda 
-------------------------------------------- 
2. (C) Senate 1st Vice-President Dr. Emile Ilunga told poloff 
June 17 that current RCD-Goma president Azarias Ruberwa is a 
"prisoner" of Rwanda.  (Note:  Ilunga and Ruberwa co-presided 
over a June 13-16 meeting of senior RCD leaders.  Ilunga was 
RCD president from 1999-2001.  End Note.)  Kigali also has 
influence over top RCD officials Jean-Marie Emungu and Moise 
Nyarugabo.  These individuals represent Rwanda and the 
Banyamulenge community, not the Congo as they should.  This 
has weakened the RCD's political standing.  "If the situation 
continues," he declared, "the population will see us as 
nothing but subjects of Rwanda, and we will end up with not a 
single deputy" in parliament.  Ilunga said that during the 
mid-June meeting he and others argued against Ruberwa, who 
wanted the RCD to quit the transitional government. 
Currently, several members including himself are working to 
oust Ruberwa.  In their view, it is better to remain within 
the party and try to change it rather than split off. 
 
3. (C) Ilunga explained that when he was RCD president, 
operating from Goma, Kigali was able to exercise a much 
tighter grip over the movement.  If we were still there and 
not in Kinshasa, it would be unthinkable to publicly 
criticize the actions of mutineers Gen. Laurent Nkunda and 
Col. Jules Mutebusi.  While the Rwandans are "our friends, 
our allies, whose troops fought and died in the Congo," RCD 
leaders should not be "slaves" or "vassals" of Kigali. 
Ilunga added that Rwandan support for North Kivu Governor 
Eugene Serufuli is part of a deliberate strategy of 
sponsoring multiple proxies rather than a single ally in the 
Congo. 
 
4. (C) Speaking "as a Senator," Ilunga said the transitional 
government is a failure.  President Kabila and all four of 
his vice-presidents are corrupt and hopelessly incompetent. 
Meanwhile, most Congolese live in abject poverty, get 
absolutely nothing from the state, and are seething with 
frustration.  He asked pointedly, "What's more important, 
saving the country or respecting the Global, Inclusive 
Accord?"  The aborted coup attempt of June 11 shows how weak 
the government is.  MONUC forces can and should take over the 
Congo, and countries such as Angola, South Africa and Nigeria 
could then send additional troops to help the Congo get on 
its feet.  Dr. Ilunga said he has already spoken to the 
British and Angolan ambassadors about this, and asked poloff 
to deliver this message to the Ambassador. 
 
 
Senior RCD Military Official Pessimistic 
---------------------------------------- 
6. (C) Army logistics chief Brig. Gen. Malik Kijege, a Tutsi 
who was until 2003 the RCD-Goma's chief of military 
operations, told poloff on 29 June he is pessimistic about 
the transition in general.  Many RCD members have left 
Kinshasa for the east, because they are frustrated with the 
slow pace of the transition.   Some have actually stopped 
refurbishing homes they have purchased in Kinshasa, and even 
traded houses with people in Goma who wish to come to the 
capital.  Kijege criticized the anti-Rwandophone rhetoric of 
figures such as GDRC Vice-President Yerodia Abdoulaye and 
pastor Theodore Ngoy, and said he thought a repeat of 1998's 
witch-hunt against Tutsis is certainly possible since "the 
same people are in charge," but it would not be as systematic 
because unlike in 1998 there is a significant international 
presence in Kinshasa.  He himself was a battalion commander 
in Kinshasa at the time, and only narrowly escaped capture. 
 
7. (C) Kijege said that some of the officers in the east 
associated with Gen. Laurent Nkunda had previously been 
imprisoned not once but twice by Kabiliste forces, first in 
1996-97, then again after the second war began in 1998.  The 
February 2004 arrest of Maj. Kasongo in Bukavu was a harsh 
reminder of their potential fate.  "Laurent and his men are 
already in the bush," he explained.  "They are already 
excluded.  How can you solve the problem by further excluding 
them?"  They have no other choice but to fight.  All parties 
in the Congo have blood on their hands, Kijege asserted, 
including President Kabila.  It is both unfair and unwise to 
single out a particular group.  Commenting on relations with 
Kigali, he said people should recognize that because of the 
1994 genocide, Rwanda thinks and acts "like a wounded 
animal," and should not be backed into a corner. 
 
8. (C) Kijege was unwilling to venture an opinion of incoming 
armed forces chief Lt. Gen. Kisempia, but praised outgoing 
chief Admiral Liwanga Mata for being "above tribal politics," 
which remains a serious problem.  The Katangans, he said, 
still want to be in control.  They care nothing for the rest 
of the country, however, so the result is "secession at the 
summit of state."  Despite his official position as chief of 
logistics, Kijege said he has not been part of the weeks-old 
government effort to send troops to eastern Congo, and knows 
little about it. 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
9. (C) Many RCD members are frustrated and feel they have not 
fared well from the transition, but they are far from 
unanimous about how best to proceed.  Ilunga's and Kijege's 
views are representative of the two competing schools of 
thought within the RCD:  more versus less concessions to 
their adversaries, how best to deal with current and future 
Nkundas, how "Congolese" the party needs to appear.  We are 
more likely to see repeated challenges to Ruberwa's 
leadership rather than a formal split in the party, however. 
For now, membership in the RCD and its promise of possible 
largesse is more attractive than would be membership in some 
small, inconsequential breakaway group which has no seat at 
the table.  END COMMENT. 
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