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NEWS STORY
Michael Dynes July 18, 2003 Joseph Kabila, the President, backed by four vicepresidents, will attempt to lead the vast country, whose mineral resources make it potentially one of the richest in Africa, to lasting peace and its first democratic elections since gaining independence from Belgium in 1960. Mr Kabila’s deputies are Jean-Pierre Bemba, leader of the former rebel Congolese Liberation Movement, Azarias Ruberwa, leader of the former rebel Congolese Rally for Democracy, Abdoulaye Ndombasi, from the outgoing government, and Arthur Ngoma, from the political opposition. Mr Bemba and Mr Ruberwa led the insurrection against Laurent Kabila, the assassinated father of the present President, who had earlier led a revolt against Mobutu Sese Seko’s three decades of dictatorship. They agreed to put down their arms after protracted efforts by South Africa to bring an end to the conflict. Both insurrections were backed by neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, while Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia sent in troops in support of the beleaguered regime in the capital, Kinshasa. The two back-to-back wars were responsible for the death of more than 2.5 million people, mostly civilians. More than 3,000 spectators gathered in the vast hall of the People’s Palace in Kinshasa for the swearing-in ceremony. They erupted in applause as each vice-president pledged to respect the peace accord agreed in December. Mr Bemba, a former aide to President Mobutu, who was overthrown in 1997 after plundering billions of dollars from what was then Zaire, received a rapturous reception. The people of the DRC are desperate for peace, even if they do not quite believe that the fighting has come to an end. The transitional Government’s main challenge will be to preserve the territorial integrity of a country the size of Western Europe. Even as the vice-presidents vowed to honour the peace accord and new constitution, violence continued in the eastern regions. Ethnic militias and rebel groups are fighting in Ituri and Kivu provinces despite the presence of the French-led international peacekeeping force. Monuc, the UN Mission in the DRC, plans to boost its presence. It now has 7,000 peacekeepers deployed at a cost of some £376 million a year. Critics insist that the force, less than half the 17,000-strong one sent to Sierra Leone, is insufficient. story url
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