US embassy cable - 05KINSHASA1923

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INTER-PPRD RIVALRY BRINGS NEW GOVERNOR TO KINSHASA

Identifier: 05KINSHASA1923
Wikileaks: View 05KINSHASA1923 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Kinshasa
Created: 2005-11-21 09:04:00
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL
Tags: PGOV PINR CG
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

210904Z Nov 05
C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001923 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/18/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, CG 
SUBJECT: INTER-PPRD RIVALRY BRINGS NEW GOVERNOR TO KINSHASA 
 
 
Classified By: PolOff TJNaber, reasons 1.4 b/d. 
 
1. (C)  Kimbembi Mazingi, a little-known politician not 
involved in government since the late 1990s under former 
president Laurent Kabila, was appointed Governor of Kinshasa 
November 15.  He replaced Jean Kimbunda, a close ally of PPRD 
Secretary General Vital Kamarhe.  (Note:  The PPRD is the 
 
SIPDIS 
political party of President Joseph Kabila. End note.)  The 
shuffle in part signaled Kabila's displeasure with a recent 
incident involving Kamarhe, Kimbunda, and PPRD Deputy 
Secretary General Marie Ange Lukiana, and may also be partly 
 
SIPDIS 
a response to mounting rumors of Kimbunda's corruption. 
Kamarhe, who is rumored to have wanted the job of Interior 
Minister Theophile Mbemba, recently encouraged Kimbunda and 
Lukiana to attend a road opening in Bandundu province in 
defiance of the Interior Minister's authority to authorize 
all such travel.  Kimbunda was also roundly criticized for 
his ineffectiveness in providing services and improving 
conditions in Kinshasa during his tenure. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Pascal Tabu Ley, a well-known Congolese musician, 
was appointed Vice Governor of Kinshasa also on November 15. 
He replaced Laurent Batumona, a fellow RCD party member. 
Members of some of the other political parties have mocked 
the appointment of a singer/dancer to the Vice Governorship. 
 
3.  (C) Comment:  Although a number of new governors and 
mayors were announced November 15, the change in the Kinshasa 
governorship speaks directly to the power struggles within 
the PPRD.  The rivalry between Mbemba and Kamarhe has drawn 
the attention of the President, who appears to have come down 
on the former's side, both in this case and also in not 
replacing Mbemba as Interior Minister in the November 18 
cabinet shuffle (septel).  End comment. 
DOUGHERTY 

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