DRC envoy raps Westerners, media

Lloyd Gumbo Senior Reporter
Democratic Republic of Congo Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mwawapanga Mwanananga has rapped Western countries and their media as well as some opposition forces here for misrepresenting facts about President Joseph Kabila’s presidency. The West, he said, sought to replace President Kabila with their stooge, Senate president Mr Kengo Wa Dondo, who served in government under the Mobutu Sese Seko regime.

The vast Central African country has been dogged by disturbances instigated by the opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) fronted by Mr Etienne Tshisekedi.

Mr Tshisekedi recently refused to take part in dialogue that was led by Catholic priests. The national dialogue between the ruling coalition and some opposition parties agreed to move elections to April 2018 to allow the country’s electoral commission to update the outdated voters’ roll.

“We have a constitution in the DRC which says once elected into office, the president can only hand over power to a duly and democratically-elected president,” said Ambassador Mwanananga.

“The Constitutional Court made a ruling that President Kabila should remain in office until the electoral commission has called for elections and there is a new President-elect.

“In this case, the electoral commission has made it clear that it needs to update the voters’ roll that has been castigated by many people because it was outdated to the extent that we have millions of youths who would have been disenfranchised if we had conducted elections this year.

“So, the electoral commission has requested more time and they hope that by April 2018, they would have updated the voters’ roll.”

Ambassador Mwanananga said Western countries and fringe opposition political parties in the DRC did not want to follow the constitution and the Constitutional Court ruling.

He said it was opposition political parties that did not participate in the national dialogue that were making noise.

“That national dialogue resolution was supported by the African Union, Sadc, the United Nations and the Great Lakes Region,” said Ambassador Mwanananga.

“This is what led to the appointment of a new Prime Minister, Samy Badibanga, from the opposition about two weeks ago, and a new Cabinet with 67 members was appointed last night (Monday), with half from the opposition and the civil society and the other half from the ruling coalition.

“The problem is the West and its media want to impose the Senate president who served under the Government of Mobuto, together with opposition leader Tshisekedi in the 1960s.

“The constitution says the Senate president can only take over for 90 days in the event that the incumbent President is unable to carry out his duties, maybe due to ill-health. But nothing of that sort has happened, yet they still want to impose their stooge.

“This is what the people of the DRC are rejecting. We follow our constitution and we are glad that Sadc, the AU and other regional groupings are fully behind us. We are confident that this difficult time will pass and peace will be restored.”

Ambassador Mwanananga described the situation in his country as tense, but calm because Government managed to deploy security forces at strategic places.

“The noise started on September 19 this year when the opposition requested to demonstrate and it was granted, but they went on to instigate violence and killing people,” he said.

“Government had to move in and stop the demonstrations for that reason.

“The opposition is now sponsoring some youths to destroy properties, loot shops and instigate violence, but the situation is under control because security forces have been deployed at strategic positions.”

Western media have sought to present an out-of-control situation in Kinshasa, amid indications that some Western countries had evacuated their diplomats.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Joey Bimha said Government had not yet received an SOS from its embassy staff in DRC, which meant the situation was calm.

“We believe they are still okay. I am on leave but we have not heard anything yet that the situation is out of control,” Ambassador Bimha said.