US embassy cable - 04KINSHASA1760

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001760 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PREL, CG 
SUBJECT: NORTH KIVU GOVERNOR HAPPY WITH STATUS QUO 
 
 
Classified By: Poloff Edward Bestic for Reasons 1.5 B and D 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  North Kivu governor Serufuli told the 
Ambassador Sept. 9 the FDLR remains a threat but Laurent 
Nkunda does not, and his policy is "good relations with all," 
Kinshasa and neighboring countries included.  He is keen to 
promote foreign business investment in the province, and 
traveled to the western U.S. in 2002 partly to do so. 
Serufuli appears quite happy with the political status quo, 
with his own position recognized by but not subordinate to 
Kinshasa and his potential rivals in the RCD-Goma all in the 
capital.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
I'm OK, You're OK 
----------------- 
2. (C) North Kivu provincial governor Eugene Serufuli told 
the Ambassador and poloff Sept. 9 that although FDLR 
guerillas do continue to commit acts of banditry and prey on 
the rural population, renegade former RCD-Goma officer 
Laurent Nkunda "is a myth" and poses virtually no threat 
whatsoever.  Serufuli said he communicates directly with 
President Kabila on a regular basis, and wants to maintain 
"good relations with all," the Congo's neighbors included. 
To this end, at Serufuli's initiative Ugandan and Congolese 
local authorities at several points along the border have 
begun to meet regularly.  Also, until Sept. 8 he was in Beni 
and Butembo in the northern part of the province, where he 
had traveled to coordinate with local officials.  (Comment: 
The Beni-Butembo area, also known as the "Grand Nord," is 
only nominally under Serufuli's control;  it remains 
essentially a fiefdom of Mbusa Nyamwisi's RCD-K/ML movement. 
End Comment.)  Indeed, he claimed credit by virtue of his 
presentations while on tour for having coaxed out of the bush 
600 Mai-Mai combatants.  MONUC and humanitarian 
representatives confirmed to us that 600 Mai-Mai had indeed 
presented themselves unexpectedly in Beni the previous day, 
provoking some consternation in the local office to come up 
with instant logistics and other arrangements to take care of 
them and transport them to a temporary camp. 
 
 
Open for Business 
----------------- 
3. (C) Serufuli also mentioned that he had traveled to 
Washington state and California in 2002, a trip partly for 
pleasure and partly to drum up business interest in his 
province.  Unfortunately, because U.S. businessmen continue 
to have a negative perception of the situation in the Kivus 
and the Congo, he failed to attract any interest.  Serufuli 
declined to name his U.S. contacts, aside from an NGO based 
in Santa Barbara, California with whom he had discussed the 
possibility of transporting quantities of medical supplies to 
the Congo.  (Bio Note:  Serufuli was trained and worked as an 
anaesthesiologist before embarking on his current career. 
End Note.)  He claimed that the NGO was on the verge of 
sending the supplies but in August 2003 decided not to, and 
inquired whether or not Embassy Kinshasa turned it off 
because the USG still considered Serfuli a rebel.  (Comment: 
The proposed deal was news to us.  End Comment.) 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
4. (C) Serufuli was prominently sporting a national DRC flag 
lapel pin, presumably intended to bolster his credentials as 
a loyal servant of the government, consistent with the 
language he used.  His accompanying chief of staff, however, 
appeared somewhat less nimble, occasionally lapsing to heap 
blame on Kinshasa for all manner of ills, likely a somewhat 
accurate reflection of prevailing sentiment within the 
current North Kivu provincial government.  Serufuli, a North 
Kivu Hutu, appears a clever politician but his rosy picture 
of the security situation and downplaying of the Nkunda 
threat did not ring true.  Nor for that matter his assertions 
that he no longer controls any militia force, a position at 
odds with reports from virtually all other observers 
including locally-based MONUC staff.  Our sense is that he is 
relatively happy with the status quo.  Kinshasa has formally 
recognized him as governor, but has little control over what 
he does, while other rivals in the RCD-Goma are all now back 
in the capital thousands of miles away from constituent 
support in the Kivus.  We suspect that Serufuli would like to 
keep everyone slightly off balance, with neither Kinshasa nor 
Kigali, much less any local forces, gaining a decisive upper 
hand in his home region while he seeks to continue to build 
his own base and maintain a juggling act with other competing 
forces.  END COMMENT. 
MEECE