Central Africa: History Will Judge Those who Boycott Congo Talks - Kabila Minister

27 February 2002
allAfrica.com
interview By Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

Sun City, South Africa — The Inter-Congolese Dialogue, aimed at resolving the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, opened belatedly on Monday, in the South African resort of Sun City. But there were problems from the start. One of the leaders of the armed opposition, Jean-Pierre Bemba of the Uganda-backed rebel Movement for the Liberation (MLC) of Congo, boycotted the opening ceremony. Other key players from the Congolese political opposition were also conspicuously absent from the VIP podium.

Those who stayed away complain that genuine political opponents to President Joseph Kabila’s government in Kinshasa had not been included among the delegations in Sun City and that, instead, Kabila loyalists were masquerading as the opposition at the talks. Bemba’s MLC has added its voice to the growing demands for the list of political opponents to be reviewed.

So, on Tuesday, when the Congo talks proper were supposed to start, the facilitator Sir Ketumile Masire adjourned the proceedings to try to sort out the problems of representation. His office said the delay would last at least 24 hours. But Masire continues to stress that all Congolese factions should agree on who attends the Sun City negotiations; that the facilitator does not make such decisions and is only there to assist in reaching a peaceful solution to the Congo crisis.

Kikaya bin Karubi is Minister of Communications and the Press of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Sun City, he spoke to allAfrica.com’s correspondent, Ofeibea Quist-Arcton, aboutthe position of the Kabila government and their view of those who have stayed away.

Jean-Pierre Bemba, head of the rebel MLC was not at the opening ceremony of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue, others too are noticeably absent from Sun City. Why do you think they not show up?

It’s too bad that Bemba is absent from the proceedings, but we hope that he will join in, even at a later stage. We don’t know the reason why he’s not here. That’s probably a good question to ask the facilitators. They are the ones who are supposed to bring everybody here.

What concerns us is that the government is present, ready to go ahead in full with the Inter-Congolese Dialogue.

We were told that late on Sunday night, there were talks with Jean-Pierre Bemba of the MLC. Was the government involved? Were you talking to him, were you trying to convince him to take part?

No, we were talking to the facilitators. The facilitators were talking to us, bringing to us all the concerns that Jean-Pierre Bemba has been raising.

Which were?

He is concerned that some of the people will be coming here under the guise of the internal opposition, are people who are loyal to the government. What we are saying is that these people were chosen by the facilitators and not by the government.

And it’s not for Mr Jean-Pierre Bemba to look at how another component is organising itself. All that he has to be concerned with is the MLC, the delegates of the MLC. It’s not for him to judge who is coming as the internal opposition or not.

What do you think the prospects are for finding peace here in Sun City for the DRC, for finding a solution to the conflict which has, after all, divided your country over the past three and a half years.

It’s up to the international community to help us find peace. We, as the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, we are determined to bring peace to our country. But when people like Jean-Pierre Bemba don’t show up... you and I know that Mr Jean-Pierre Bemba is nothing if it’s not for troops from Uganda.

That is disputed. People say that if Bemba and the other absentees boycott, they will not be party to any agreement and therefore might not abide by any agreement. So how can you go ahead with peace talks without one of the main rebel groups?

Then it’s up to the international community to tell Museveni, "President Museveni, sorry, stop backing Jean-Pierre Bemba"; then you will see that Jean-Pierre Bemba will be able to do nothing. He doesn’t have an army. He is there because he is supported by the army of Uganda - and Rwanda to some extent. So it’s up to his backers to decide whether they want peace in the Great Lakes’ region or not.

This argument goes round and round and round in circles. Do you think you are going to find a solution here to get foreign troops withdrawing, and the government rebels and other Congolese groups talking? Do you think you will eventually talk?

Once again, as I’ve said, we haven’t given up hope. We hope that Jean-Pierre Bemba and everybody else who’s not here will join in at a later stage. Because, as most of the speakers at the opening ceremony said, the Congolese people have suffered so much that they don’t deserve what’s going on there. They deserve peace and stability. Now it’s up to us, the political leaders, to sort out our differences so that we can bring peace and stability to our country.

One issue that is likely to come up in the agenda at the talks, which government opponents will certainly want to bring up, is the presidency because, of course, Joseph Kabila is not the elected president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Is his position negotiable in a transition?

His position is not negotiable at all. There is a president in the Democratic Republic of Congo who is recognised by the whole world as the president of the Congo. If he is not elected, fine, then let us go to elections. Let’s go to elections and elect a new president. We are ready to go to elections. But, for the time being, the seat of the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo is not vacant. President Joseph Kabila is the president and he is recognised by the whole world.

If you have thrown up that hurdle already, before the Inter-Congolese Dialogue even starts in Sun City, surely people will say what are we negotiating for if we want to bring this up and the government says 'no’?

People have to be aware of the fact that we are negotiating here to give our country structures, long-lasting structures: I’m talking about, first of all, a transitional government, a new constitution, an electoral law and all these structures that will make us a democratic country, that will bring peace and stability to the country.

We are not here to talk about positions, who is going to be president, who’s going to be minister, who’s going to be this and that. We are here to discuss new structures for the country.

President Joseph Kabila’s job not negotiable at all. He is the president of the Congo and if he put his seat up for negotiation, he will be failing the Congolese people who have placed their hopes in him. He is the man who personifies the territorial integrity of the country and the national sovereignty.

Of course, a lot of Congolese might question that - those who are in rebel-controlled territory,for example, because the country is divided and your government only controls part of the country, the capital Kinshasa and some other cities.

Remember the Nyiragongo catastrophe?

You’re talking here about the volcano.

The volcano eruption in Goma (in eastern Congo). This was the stronghold of (rebel group) the RCD-Goma. The people of Goma ran away to Rwanda when the volcanic was erupting. The minute it stopped, there was still toxic gas in the air, the lava was still hot, but the people of Goma came back and they said "We are Congolese and Kinshasa is our capital city and the government which is in Kinshasa is our government." They said it time and again, and they said the people of RCD ran away, let them say in Gisenyi (Rwanda) and from now on they are RCD-Gisenyi.

You see, if the people who are at the border between us and Rwanda can say things like that, and this is the stronghold of the RCD, what about the people in the occupied territories who are fighting day and night? You have certainly heard of the Mayi Mayi phenomenon, these are people resisting the occupation of the country. And the rebellion, the so-called rebellion, is something that came after the occupation of our country. The occupation and the aggression predated all rebellions, whether it’s the RCD or the MLC.

You sound so belligerent, is this the sort of attitude, the sort of mindset to be going into peace talks?

If we do not go into the history and examine the causes of the war, we will not find a lasting solution. So we must go back to where it all started. I’m not sounding belligerent at all, I’m just setting the record straight and we must go through that exercise right here during the Inter-Congolese Dialogue. When we set the record straight, then we’ll find a lasting solution to our problems.

So do you predict a peaceful outcome, peace for Congo, to be decided here in Sun City?

Definitely, peace will be decided here. And, once again, I hope that those who are not here will realise that they are making a very bad mistake. Their place is here. There are 50 million Congolese people out there who are looking at them. So, if this fails because of one person, history will be the judge. But we are all, as government, we are ready to go to negotiations and decide on the future of our country.

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