Opinion: Is Kabila planning a diarchy?

Calvin is hammering nails into coffee table.

Mom: CALVIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THE COFFEE TABLE?!?

Calvin: Is this some sort of trick question, or what?”Bill Watterson

Merriam-Webster explains diarchy as “a government in which power is vested in two rulers or authorities”. This means that Majorité Présidentielle (MP) and the People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) the ruling party will put someone they trust, as they plan to current President Joseph Kabila as the Vice-President. While their stooge for a term and trusted bedfellow will rule one term from the beginning of 2019. President Kabila’s second term was supposed to end on 19th December 2016. That has however not happened, as he is still the almighty President and shown no signs of stepping down.

That is why the reports that M.P. are planning a tandem leadership, a dual leadership, one where they keep Kabila as a high ranking and top official, while having a stooge in on top for a term. That so they legally make sure Kabila can run for his “fourth term”, when the stooge term has ended. Since technically Kabila is done with third term and sort of started his fourth. Even as he just been elected through the polls twice. Kabila came first to power in January 2001, but was first elected in 2006 and ran again 2011. The last one, which he is still clinging on too.

The magic second stooge, whose will be part-time President, before ushering in an official third term for Kabila is either Matata Ponyo, Adolphe Muzito or Olive Lembe. That is if the reports are true and the rumors are real. If so, then Lambert Mende should be insulted. Also the MLC President and jailbird Jean Pierre Bemba, who was the last VP until the Constitutional Changes.

But if they do this and tries to figure this out, then they are still risking the Republic. AS they are thinking that the Republic cannot be ruled without Kabila and the M.P. Like there is no other party, which has the possibility to reign. This is risky as they have to really trust in the other candidate that they pull up and that one will step down. To again let Kabila run. The person could also create issues and no will to step down. As none in the state has done that, without eating a bullet.

We don’t know if this is a real plan or not, if they are planning to use CENI and the Constitutional Court to legalize this. They are surely using all tricks, maybe even first using Kabila as pawn to stall for time as the main candidate for M.P. The party might do other foolery, they might use other tricks. But the tandem leadership makes sense. As this would give Kabila space to take total control like Putin has done in Russia.

This would also put relief and stop the sanctions, this would give the regime a break. As they need to bleed the money out of the country and make deals, which the central government head honcho’s eats from, but leave nothing left to the Republic itself. That is what the M.P. wants and to secure the future of Kabila. They are only doing this in self interest and that why Kabila is still there. Lingering like a leach to power.

This story does not die, because Kabila isn’t planning to go anywhere. He wants power by any means. That is proven by now. Peace.

RDC: Declaration No. 001/2018 De La SYMOCEL Appellant a la Consience Citoyenne Pour un Processus Electoral Inclusif (30.05.2018)

RDC: Communique Officiel de la Presidence de la Republique (29.05.2018)

RDC: Declaration Commune de l’Opposition Congolaise en Rapport Avec l’Audit du Fichier Electoral Conduit Par l’Oif (28.05.2018)

Central African Republic crisis ‘breaks my heart’ says senior UN aid official (29.05.2018)

The already serious humanitarian situation in Central African Republic (CAR) has worsened amid a spike in violence which threatens to overtake almost every area of the country, a top UN aid official said on Monday.

NEW YORK, United States of America, May 29, 2018 –  One in four people has been displaced, according to Najat Rochdi, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for CAR, who said that this included areas that were formerly peaceful, such as the north and central zones.

Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, Ms. Rochdi warned that severe acute malnutrition in six administrative regions is higher than 15 per cent – the emergency threshold – and infant mortality is at 18 per cent.

And amid severe funding shortages which have meant aid cut-backs, she told journalists in French: “It breaks my heart every time a child comes to me and says I’m hungry.”

Speaking later in English, she said: “Where you have kids, those little girls and little boys coming to you and looking at you and telling, ‘I’m hungry, I’m starving,’ it’s horrible, really horrible. Unfortunately the situation has worsened because we had in one year’s time an increase of 70 per cent of the internally displaced people. Meaning more children, more little girls and more little boys, meaning also that it’s a whole generation that is sacrificed because they are not going to school.”

She said it was very important to keep providing them with humanitarian assistance, which meant going beyond food distribution, beyond the access to water, beyond the access to health. “It’s just access to hope.”

Of the more than $515 million aid requirement needed in CAR for 1.9 million people, less than 20 per cent has been provided so far this year.

Fighting between the mostly Christian anti-Balaka militia and the mainly Muslim Séléka rebel coalition has plunged the CAR into civil conflict since 2012. A peace agreement was reached in January 2013, but rebels seized the capital, Bangui, in March of that year, forcing President François Bozizé to flee.

Concerned with the security, humanitarian, human rights and political crisis in the CAR and its regional implications, the Security Council authorized the deployment of a UN stabilization mission, known by its French acronym, MINUSCA, in 2014 with the protection of civilians as its utmost priority.

The humanitarian community distributed high-energy biscuits to 1,500 children and debilitated adults who suffered from starvation and thirst for more than 72 hours during an outbreak of violence in Mbomou Prefecture, Central African Republic in May 2017.

The country’s huge natural wealth – in the form of diamonds, gold and uranium – continues to fuel the fighting, Ms. Rochdi explained, adding that there was “absolutely no problem” in areas “where you don’t have that much to steal.”

The violence reached the capital, Bangui, at the beginning of the month after almost a year of relative stability.

In that incident, 70 people were killed in clashes between security forces and armed militia, and thousands were displaced.

Ms. Rochdi said that UN troops had to intervene after Muslims were denied healthcare access.

The town of Bambari has also seen armed groups return, despite becoming a “safe haven for all communities” since last year, the UN official added.

The militia aimed to put pressure on the government to grant them an amnesty but this would be a “disaster” for the country, Ms. Rochdi insisted, before adding that efforts to prevent impunity had been stepped up and had resulted in a Special Criminal Court, which is due to start work in CAR next week.

Some of its “first clients” would be “high-profile leaders of armed groups,” Ms. Rochdi said, adding that CAR was one of the most dangerous places on earth for humanitarians, with six people killed this year and attacks on aid workers and looting happening on a “regular” basis.

Yet despite the instability and fact that funding levels in 2017 were only 40 per cent of what was requested, she maintained that it still made a substantial difference on the ground and had helped to prepare communities to withstand future shocks too.

It meant that more than one million people had access to water, that 7,000 tonnes of humanitarian assistance were delivered and more than 60,000 children were given an education.

In addition, the aid ensured that more than 70,000 farming families received a vital seed allocation, helping them to become more self-sufficient.

More than 17,000 children from six to 59 months suffering from severe acute malnutrition were also given support.

The most important thing was that the people of CAR had some sense that they had a future, Mrs Rochdi said, adding that humanitarian assistance “is making the difference between life and death”.

Aid is also “the best way for all of us to sustain peace in CAR”, she added, since the funding gave communities hope.

RDC: Declaration Conjointe de New York (25.05.2018)

RDC: CENCO – Appel a la Responsabilite – Point de Presse du Secretariat General de la CENCO sur le Processus Electoral (24.05.2018)

Hon. Otto Odonga: Notice of Motion to Censure Betty Amongin over abuse of Office (23.05.2018)

A brief look into how similar Museveni’s rule is de facto the same as Mobutu!

In a clear reference to the team effort to dethrone Mobutu, the 53-year-old Museveni asserts that “for the first time since independence {in the 1960s}, the African intelligentsia, in partnership with the peasants, are assuming leadership.” This is an era of “new independence in decision-making. We don’t decide on matters because foreigners want us to decide.” He suggests that African leaders must push their countries toward “modernization and industrialization,” with special emphasis on infrastructure, education and health care. “If that doesn’t take place, the new order will be as empty as the old one,” he says” (Buckley, 1998).

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was supposed to be a liberator, a reformer and Marxists leader who rose from a Bush-War in the 1980s to change the state of Uganda. However, with time he has shown his true character, maybe that was the reason why he went rogue from being a minister to become a rebel. Maybe it should have been a visible sign from day one, as the National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M) leaders of 1980s has gotten a vital space from then until now. None of them has given way and are entitled because of what they fought for, which is non-existence.

Mobutu was supported and had a coup against the leader who liberated the now Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). President Museveni had a coup and a war against the first Prime Minister and President Dr. Milton Obote. Even on that level, Museveni has actually copied Mobutu. I’ll show parts of other articles that was written int the time of his reign, Mobutu, as it shows how he did it and then. It can show the similarities, and it shows that we haven’t gotten further than this. Museveni has become Mobutu in the flesh, he has become the ones that he fought against and isn’t funny. It is a tragedy, that to many people are living through and that should be shed a light on. Because the silence and the continued support of this sort of leadership and administration should stop. It doesn’t make sense.

Growing loans in 1980s:

Although the details of possible corruption and massive personal profit have captured most attention, the major portion of the report deals with Zaire’s $4.1 billion international debt. On this subject, Blumenthal bluntly says: ‘‘There is no – I repeat no – chance on the horizon for Zaire’s numerous creditors to get their money back. . . . There has been and remains only one major obstacle to annihilate such prospects – the corruption of the team in power.” He concludes that ‘‘Mobutu and his government show no concern about the question of paying off loans and the public debt. They are counting on the generosity of their creditors and the indefinite renewal of the loans and their repayment.” (Fouquet, 1982). So as the news of growing debts to the Republic of Uganda, don’t expect him to be in a hurry to repay the debts to the international creditors or anyone. As he taking out debt, to repay debts and money gets lost along the way. Even the accountability and transparency is lacking, as there are many ghosts, projects without any signs of change or building the infrastructure as promised. The money just vanish. It is just like Mobutu, everyone expect handshakes, all business-deals and corrupt affairs has to get a thumbs-up from the State House. It is just made like a rewind of the Mobutu rule.

How the Political Elite is eating:

Mobutu and his inner circle sit atop a social ladder of corruption. Everyone is forced to take from those less powerful, both to survive and to meet the demands of more powerful people above. Almost all of Zaire’s wealth stays on the upper rungs, in the hands of powerful politicians and politically-connected businessmen. The enduring symbol of this social stratum is the Mercedes-Benz. Zaire reputedly imports more Mercedes than anywhere in Africa and Kinshasa’s Mercedes dealers prosper while all around them crumbles. The Mercedes-riding class have made smuggling and black-marketeering Zaire’s leading industries. By paying bribes to customs agents instead of taxes to the Government, they have elevated illegal gold exports to ‘several times the (official) national production,’ according to a confidential World Bank report. While discreetly avoiding identification of the culprits, the World Bank also notes that theft and smuggling of Zaire’s most vital strategic mineral, cobalt, ‘is primarily carried out by some of the most powerful individuals in the country’” (New Internationalist, 1990). The richest people in Uganda, are the ones connected with the political elite, that get funds from the state, get license to do business and also lands. The businesses are getting back-door agreements with the government to do business. Even all investors are connected somehow and their deals are done in favor the President and the State House. If not Ministers and others close connected with the family, as the Operation Wealth Creations are giving state funds to favorable companies that are accepted by the General Salim Selah, which happens to be a brother of the President. The same thing is that Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kuteesa are having business-deals with government and also all-over, while being in office and profiting on his position. That is just natural in the state of affairs. Just like during the times of Mobutu!

Not possible to get rid off:

“The one thing that everyone agrees on is that we’re a long way from getting rid of Mobutu,” an opposition leader said. “He’s incredibly tenacious, and appears determined to hold onto power at any cost.”” (Noble, 1992). Museveni are using all tactices, rewriting laws, making the constitution to fit his life. He is rigging elections, he is fixing the Parliament and also the institutions, all to go around him. He sends the Special Forces Command into Parliament to install fear and let know how important it is to him to get the law passed. There isn’t anything the President will not do, he will kill you if your becoming to close to him. If not he will house-arrest for just being a viable Presidential Candidate like Dr. Kizza Besigye. He will put your trial for treason, he will send you from court to court only malicious charges with no criminal intent.

Making political enemies into criminals, damaging their homes, charge them and hold them in contempt. Destroy and allege that Civil Society Organizations are using bad methods and disorganizing society in general, therefore, it has to stop. That is why the Army and the Government are used as tools to keep Museveni in power. Nothing else. Mobutu would be so proud!

Stalling Tactic:

Yet it is precisely these conditions that have made Mobutu’s tactics effective. Most Zaireans see a method in his seeming madness, a deliberate strategy of destabilization as a means of discrediting the movement toward democracy and undermining the capacity of the people to mobilize against him. “Mobutu tries to keep the population in fear,” a lawyer in Kolwezi told me. “The population is traumatized. Mobutu wants to keep them in this position for a long time. That’s how he maintains his position.” Foreigners living in Zaire often marvel at the “passivity” of the Zairean people; one I spoke to speculated about a version of the “battered-woman syndrome.” But Zaireans point out that Mobutu and his allies still have all the guns and all the money. Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Kinshasa, they reminded me, and more than thirty of them were shot dead. In any event, a clergyman said, “when the population is hungry and tired, it doesn’t have the energy to go into the streets.”” (Berkeley, 1993). It is not strange that Museveni does this, he has used the army all his life and his ego of being a General. His generals and his closest associates are usually connected with the army. He even shown up to Budget Speech with full army-fatigue. When the NRM shows up, he is either in a suit or army fatigue.

Museveni has used the army and spread fear, they are targeting people and arresting people. They are creating unknown militias, that comes and goes. The army is all out during elections and campaigns to install fear. Make people worry, as it was full-war, when it is really just dropping ballots into buckets. Seemingly, the army is used to do police work and everything else. The military are used in any sort of work, to prove the power of the army and capabilities.

So that the people knows, that if they are having trouble with the NRM, then they might meet the power of the Army. The army will kill and show no mercy, like they did in the recent time in Kasese against the Rwenzururu Kingdom. As this crime hasn’t been solved and neither has anything positive come out of it. As well as the rising levels of kidnappings, killings of woman in Entebbe and so on. The Police and Army are not able to contain the violence, as the corruption and lack of accountability has hit the security organizations. Which is like a wet-dream from the legacy of Mobutu, that lives-on with Museveni.

31 Years of Mobutu:

Once there, the strongman who, his opponents say, has beggared and brutalized Zaire for 31 years pledged that he was again ready to solve the country’s myriad problems. “The enemies of our country have chosen when I was sick to put a sword in my back,” Mobutu, 66, said in a nationally broadcast speech interrupted by applause, singing and the loud cawing of nearby peacocks. “I’m not going to disappoint you. I know your expectations and your hopes. I will act rapidly and positively.””(LA Times, 1996). Just like Museveni is saying anyone who questions his vision, his methods and policies are enemies of the state, so did Mobutu. Even after 30 decades of Mobutu, he did that and now we know that Museveni does the same. He says he will fix everything and he has the solutions, it is just that ones he orders to do it, doesn’t know how to do their job. That is just like a mantra he got from Mobutu.

We can see that Museveni has become a twin-soul of Mobutu. Everything Mobutu did, Museveni are doing. Both having amazing levels of cronyism, corporate politicians, bribes, corruption, spreading of fear and making people believe that Museveni cannot step down. The similarities are two alike. The same with the massive bank-accounts, while the state in rapid poverty, the lack of the accountability and transparency, all control from the State House and none in the institutions. Museveni and Mobutu are so the same.

Museveni forgot the peasants or he didn’t care about their participation, since he is the only man with a vision. That has he said all along. But that he has now become everything he was supposed to fight. Shows how bad it is for leadership to linger in power, because it evaporates and eat your soul. You loose everything in the hinges of staying in power. There is now nothing left for Museveni to do and that he hasn’t done. He can only eat, steal and spread fear, because he doesn’t have to deliver. He takes, he took and he continues to loot. There is no mercy, there is only thieving.

Museveni is now the Mobutu in the flesh, he is acting like Mobutu and talking like Mobutu. The difference is that is in Uganda and not the DRC. The DRC has the issue of Joseph Kabila, but Uganda has the issue of Museveni. Museveni, Museveni and Museveni is the problem.

This is just tragic and it should be known. Peace.

Reference:

Berkeley, Bill – ‘Zaire: An African Horror Story’ August 1993, The Atlantic

Buckley, Stephen – ‘AUTHORITY’S CHANGING FACE IN AFRICA’ (02.02.1998), Washington Post

Noble, Kenneth – ‘As the Nation’s Economy Collapses, Zairians Squirm Under Mobutu’s Heel’ 1992, New York Times

Fouquet, David – ‘Corruption charges swirl around Zaire’s President Mobutu’ (08.10.1982), The Christian Science Monitor

New Internationalist – ‘Zaire’s Den Of Thieves’ (05.07.1990)

Los Angels Times – ‘Mobutu returns to Zaire, but reveals no solutions Ailing strongman vows to fix myriad problems’ (18.12.1996)

RDC: Ensemble – Le President Declaration sur le Virus Ebola (20.05.2018)