US embassy cable - 05KINSHASA1926

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001926 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, CG 
SUBJECT: CABINET SHUFFLE ANNOUNCED 
 
 
Classified By: PolOff TJNaber, reasons 1.4 b/d. 
 
1.  (U)  Summary: A long-expected cabinet shuffle was 
announced November 18.  New ministers include Finance, 
Economy, Industry, Energy, Agriculture, Primary Education, 
Culture and Arts, Higher Education, and Youth and Sports.  A 
new governor of Province Orientale has also been appointed. 
End summary. 
 
2.  (SBU)  The biggest news in the cabinet shuffle was the 
replacement of Finance Minister Andre Philipe Futa by Marco 
Banguli.  Although both are members of the PPRD, Banguli 
joined the political party only last week, switching his 
membership from Kengo Wa Dondo's Union des Democrats 
Independants (UDI).  Banguli is a former Director General of 
Imports and a wealthy businessman with extensive real estate 
and commercial holdings.  There is speculation that Banguli's 
appointment will help President Joseph Kabila in his election 
bid by potentially depriving Kengo of an important ally. 
(Note:  Banguli is a member of the Teke-Humbu ethnic group 
which is well-represented in the Kinshasa area. End note.) 
 
3.  (C) Five other ministries saw their chiefs replaced: 
    1) Ministry of Economy - Pierre Manoka replaced Floribert 
Bokanga, nephew of Senator Justin Marie Bomboko, a powerful 
politician since Mobutu.  (Comment: The Bomboko family 
political fortunes have been suffering somewhat in the 
transition, having been divided between the RCD and PPRD. End 
comment.)  Manoka, who is a member of RCD as is Bokanga, is a 
political unknown. 
    2) Ministry of Industry - Mukendi Tshiambula, a 
little-known PPRD member, replaced Jean Mbuyu, also PPRD and 
a former security advisor to Joseph Kabila. 
    3) Ministry of Energy (PPRD) - Salomon Banamuhere, 
Minister of the Environment prior to the last reshuffle in 
March 2005, replaced Pierre Muzyumba, formerly the CEO of a 
parastatal. 
    4) Ministry of Culture and the Arts - Philemon Mukendi, 
one of two Deputy Secretary Generals for the PPRD and a 
former Vice Minister of Defense, replaced Christophe Muzungu, 
a former Kinshasa governor. 
    5) Ministry of Youth and Sports (MLC) - Jacques Lungwana, 
a political unknown and the son of a recently deceased 
senator from Bas Congo, replaced Roger Nimy, also of Bas 
Congo.  (Comment:  The decision to replace Nimy, leader of 
the MLC Bas Congo contingent, caused such an uproar in the 
group that Vice President Bemba was forced to offer Nimy a 
parastatal position in compensation. End comment.) 
 
4.  (SBU) In addition to the replacements, two sets of 
politicians traded jobs in the shuffle.  Agriculture Minister 
Paul Musafiri (MLC) and Primary Education Minister Constant 
Ndom Nda Ombel swapped positions, as did Orientale province 
Governor Theo Baruti and Higher Education Minister 
Jean-Pierre Lola Kisanga.  Musafiri, the new Primary 
Education Minister, was previously the magistrate of Goma, 
North Kivu and the Vice Minister of the Interior before 
becoming Minister of Agriculture.  The shift to Education is 
another step in his rise up the MLC hierarchical ladder, but 
he takes over a thankless job, in light of ongoing labor 
issues between teachers and government. 
 
5.  (SBU) Ndom Nda Ombel, now Agriculture Minister, was a 
child soldier and Mobutu opponent turned Mobutu supporter in 
the early 1990s.  He was Education Minister under Mobutu and 
was appointed to the same job during the March 2005 shuffle. 
Kisanga, now Orientale Governor, was a spokesperson for the 
RCD during the mid-1990s war; he was the Minister of Labor 
and Social Welfare until the March shuffle.  Baruti, now 
Higher Education Minister, is also a member of the RCD and 
was sent by his party to the governorship in Province 
Orientale after accusations of mismanagement at the Ministry 
of Labor, his first post in the transitional government. 
 
5.  (C)  Comment: This will almost certainly be the last 
shuffle for the Transition Government; those who survived 
will be well-positioned for elections campaigns to begin in 
early 2006. For the PPRD, it was the final chance to create 
some semblance of party organization, as senior Kabila 
advisor Augustin Katumba has been advocating for months.  An 
interparty struggle between Minister of the Interior 
Theophile Mbemba and PPRD Secretary General Vitale Kamerhe 
was resolved in Mbemba's favor.  Contrary to Kamerhe's 
expressed desires, and due to strong advocacy on his own 
behalf by Mbemba, the Interior Minister position remains 
unchanged.  Instead, the PPRD removed unpopular Finance 
Minister Futa and replaced the Minister of Energy.  The MLC 
and RCD political parties also used the opportunity to make 
changes in important posts.  For the RDC, former Orientale 
Governor Baruti was a liability who had done little to 
advance the party cause during his fifteen-month tenure.  His 
replacement, Kisanga, will be much more active.  In contrast, 
the  MLC shuffle came at a poor time for Vice President 
Jean-Pierre Bemba, whose prospects were severely damaged last 
week when National Assembly President Olivier Kamitatu 
(second in the MLC) jumped ship to join a coalition to 
support Pierre Pay Pay's presidential campaign, with Kamitatu 
promised the prime ministership if Pay Pay wins. End comment. 
DOUGHERTY