Central Africa: Rival Congo Factions Head to S.Africa for Peace Talks

25 February 2002
allAfrica.com
By Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

Sun City, South Africa — Efforts to end three and a half years of civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) resume in Sun City, South Africa on Monday, with an attempt to jump-start the long awaited Inter-Congolese Dialogue.

On the eve of the peace talks, there were concerns that a key Congolese rebel group might boycott the meeting, but indications Monday morning were that, after late night negotiations, the rebels might yet show up.

The conflict in the DRC has been called 'Africa’s First World War' and has sucked in six other countries, including Rwanda and Uganda, which backed the rebellion against the late President Laurent Desire Kabila, but failed to oust the government in the capital, Kinshasa.

Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia rushed to help Kabila keep the rebellion at bay and Congo remains divided, with Kinshasa and other cities under government control, while other parts of the country are in the hands of various rebel factions.

Kabila’s successor and son, Joseph, is scheduled to attend the opening of the peace talks in Sun City, normally an entertainment and tourist resort, north of Johannesburg. The younger Kabila took over the reigns of power when his father was assassinated in January 2001.

Other factions in the DRC, including opposition organisations, rival rebel groups and representatives of civil society will also be at the meeting in South Africa. The talks, scheduled to last for 45 days, are organised by the office of the facilitator of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, the former president of Botswana, Sir Ketumile Masire.

Laurent Kabila was openly hostile to Masire and this antipathy hindered the peace progress, but his son, Joseph Kabila appears to have a better relationship with the facilitator from Botswana.

Asked recently about the prospects for the Sun City talks, Masire told allAfrica.com: "I very much hope that all Congolese realise the state in which the whole country is. The people, from the social point of view, the schoolchildren, the health of the people, the economy, everything. And therefore I hope they will seriously go into business when we meet in Sun City".

Masire said the solution was to agree on a peaceful transition to the democratic future of Congo, the former Zaire, and the third largest country in Africa. Divisively ruled for more than 30 years by the late President Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire’s name was changed back to the Democratic Republic of Congo by Kabila Senior who toppled Mobutu in a swift and effective rebellion, sponsored by Rwanda and Uganda. Laurent Kabila later fell out with both these allies, who then shifted to support his rivals.

Masire said of the current Congolese conflict: "After all, in what we thought were intractable problems, like the South African situation, people did make up their minds and did come to amicable solutions. So, why shouldn’t the Congo? And theirs is not as complicated as the apartheid regime in South Africa."

But the Inter-Congolese Dialogue could be stymied if boycotted by the main rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) led by Jean-Pierre Bemba. Bemba has complained that opposition political parties would not be sufficiently represented. Other opposition groups have also threatened not to boycott the Sun City talks.

The organisers said they were expecting all factions to arrive.

Among the issues to be resolved in Sun City are the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Congo, the creation of political structures to enable a multi-party system of democracy and the question of the presidency and the future role, if any, of Joseph Kabila who is currently the unelected leader of Congo.

The DRC's information minister, Kikaya bin Karubi told Reuters news agency that Kabila’s position was not up for discussion. "There are things that we will not negotiate, for example, the fact that Major-General Joseph Kabila is the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo."

Karubi concluded: "The president is there and he is the one who personifies the national unity and territorial integrity of the country. We will not negotiate the presidential seat, because it is not vacant."

It is estimated that two million people have died in Congo from violence, hunger and disease since the war started in August 1998. The country lacks even the most basic infrastructure and millions of its citizens are struggling to make ends meet in a collapsed economy.

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