In this issue:

Bukavu, Seized by Rwanda, Freed by Threat of French Troops

Was Congo Putsch Staged or Allowed to Unfold?

Afrikaners Welcome President Mbeki's Second Term

Zimbabwe Intends To Nationalize All Farmland

Access to Anti-AIDS Drugs Is Improving in Zimbabwe

G-8 Fails To Pressure African Leaders Against Mugabe

From Volume 3, Issue Number 24 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published June 15, 2004
Africa News Digest

Bukavu, Seized by Rwanda, Freed by Threat of French Troops

"The city of Bukavu is in the hands of the Rwandan National Army," DR Congo President Joseph Kabila said on national television June 2. Bukavu is the capital of eastern Congo's South Kivu province. He called for a "general mobilization" of the nation—as in wartime—of human, logistical, and financial resources to support the army, police, and security services. All media were ordered not to politicize the seizure of Bukavu—that is, not to blame parties or factions within Congo—but to focus on Rwanda.

Officers of the new, integrated Congo army, Brig. Gen. Laurent Nkunda and Col. Jules Mutebusi, both "formerly" of the Rwanda-controlled RCD-Goma militia, took the city June 2 with 2,500 to 4,500 troops.

Thousands of troops of the regular Rwandan army streamed across the border into Congo June 1 to support the insurrection, even before the seizure of Bukavu, according to Heritiers de la Justice, a Congolese NGO, and UN spokesman Sebastien Lapierre. Rwanda hopes to form a "Republic of the Volcanoes," as client state, from North and South Kivu provinces, according to Congo press.

Kabila asked French President Jacques Chirac June 5 to send troops to secure Bukavu and environs, on the pattern of Operation Artemis of June-September 2003, in which largely French troops were sent to secure Bunia under EU auspices. The French Ambassador to Kinshasa, Georges Serre, is supposed to have told Raga TV that Chirac had received the request "favorably," according to Kinshasa daily Le Potential June 7. Chirac is supposed to have discussed the request with President Bush at Normandy.

In an unprecedented step, a standing committee of ambassadors in Kinshasa accused Rwandan President Kagame of having sent troops to support the Bukavu insurrection. The statement also hinted at the RCD-Goma connection in the insurrection. The International Committee to Accompany the Transition—that is, the transition to an elected government in Congo—known by its French acronym, CIAT, issued a communique of this character June 5, after a meeting in which the Kabila government presented the evidence of Rwandan involvement. CIAT consists of the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Angola, Gabon, Zambia, Mozambique, EU, European Commission, African Union, and UN Mission in Congo (MONUC). The communique says, in part:

"CIAT strongly condemns the military insurgency led by mutineers Nkunda and Mutebusi, formerly of the ANC [Congolese National Army, the army of RCD-Goma], against the transitional government of DR Congo. In this context it condemns the pillaging and violations of human rights [i.e., rape, murder] committed by their troops and partisans, and reminds them that these deplorable acts will not go unpunished....

"CIAT expresses its great concern over numerous reports from multiple sources noting support by Rwandan troops in the aggression led by the military insurgents. In this regard, CIAT calls on neighboring states, notably Rwanda and Uganda, to fulfill their obligations under Resolution 1493 of expressing their support for the government of transition of DR Congo unequivocally and condemning the action of the mutineers...."

A UN Security Council Presidential Statement followed on June 7 that was almost as strong.

Nkunda abandoned Bukavu June 6, after telephone conversations with members of the government and William Swing. His convoy headed for Kavumu to the north, where the nearest airport is, taking 800 million Congo francs and US $600,000, stolen from the Central Bank branch.

According to an unnamed "observer of the Great Lakes region," cited by Agence France Presse June 9, the Bukavu operation was terminated by Rwanda's President Paul Kagame because of the threat of French intervention. "To withdraw like that, Nkunda has come under great pressure. Above all from Kigali [the Rwandan capital], with the threat of Artemis 2. And the French in Bukavu, that does not please Kigali," the observer said. AFP adds that Kigali did immediately object to the proposed return of European troops if they are "led by France."

Presumably, Kagame does not want the French to return to Eastern Congo because they would make a point of exposing continuing Rwandan intervention.

"The dissidents and Rwanda were taken by surprise by the reaction of Kinshasa—which immediately accused Rwanda of aggression—and of the international community," the observer added.

A day after the departure of Nkunda from Bukavu on June 6, a spokesman at the Quai d'Orsay, in response to questions from the press about the possibility of sending French troops to Bukavu, would only say that "We are seeking the most effective means for resolving this crisis, notably through diplomatic action."

The national army retook control of Bukavu June 9, without resistance, and was received by hundreds of people dancing and singing, according to an eye-witness report of an AFP journalist. Mutebusi—the insurrectionist who remained in Bukavu with his 300 troops when Nkunda left with his thousands—had departed in the evening of June 8.

With Bukavu retaken, "Goma must be liberated," wrote the Kinshasa daily L'Avenir June 10. Goma is the capital of North Kivu province. L'Avenir took as its point of departure a quote from Press Minister Vital Kamerhe from June 5: "We would be in bad faith not to acknowledge that Goma is in the hands of the Rwandans." The newspaper called the 8th Military District (that is, North Kivu) "a state within a state" and noted that during the Bukavu insurrection, the 8th Military District remained with arms folded. Nor did the central government attempt to make use of it in planning counter-operations. "All the news from this province notes the visible presence of the Rwandan soldiers in Goma and in other towns." It is urgent to get rid of Commander Obed Rwabasira, says L'Avenir, otherwise the retaking of Bukavu is meaningless.

Was Congo Putsch Staged or Allowed to Unfold?

In Kinshasa, 20 members of the Special Group for Presidential Security (GSSP), led by Major Eric Lenge, went through the motions of making a coup in the early morning of June 11. Lenge was a friend of President Laurent Kabila. There was no response from anywhere in the country to Lenge's national radio broadcast at 0100 GMT.

President Kabila later appeared in military uniform on public television to show that he was alive and well.

The New York Times June 12 reported that "there were some suggestions that the coup attempt might have been staged to demonstrate the President's grip on power. 'This could well be a piece of theater to show that the Presidential guard is strong enough to put down an uprising if it happens,' one military analyst in Kinshasa said."

There is also the possibility that the government had foreknowledge of an actual conspiracy, and allowed it to unfold, or even encouraged it. (In his broadcast, Lenge claimed that Armed Forces Chief of Staff Adm. Liwanga Mata-Myanumyobo was coming to join him. He did not.)

The press of Kinshasa of June 12 expressed doubts that the putsch could be taken at face value. Some articles compared it to Operation Pentecost a month ago, in which a mere 40 men crossed from Congo-Brazzaville and gave the appearance of attempting a coup. The official report on that development was promised within 72 hours, but has still not appeared.

The putsch may have been allowed, encouraged, or even organized to rid the Presidential guard of disaffected elements.

Afrikaners Welcome President Mbeki's Second Term

More than 100 prominent Afrikaners—white South Africans of Dutch and Huguenot descent—pledged their support to South African President Thabo Mbeki, on the occasion of his second term in office, the Johannesburg Sunday Times reported Jay 30. In a brief letter sent the last week of May, the Afrikaner leaders wrote, "We are convinced that your second term as President will be decisive for the continued deepening and broadening of our democracy, economic growth, sustainable development and the realization of the ideal of a better life for all.... We support your dream to make a success story of South Africa and you can depend on our participation and critical interaction to realize this dream."

Signatures include those of Ton Vosloo of the Afrikaans press group Nasionale Pers, Johannesburg Stock Exchange chief Russell Loubser, economist Rudolf Gouws, Potchefstroom University rector Theuns Eloff (Potchefstroom University used to be an ideological stronghold of apartheid), and Stellenbosch University professor Willie Esterhuyse.

Zimbabwe Intends To Nationalize All Farmland

The government of Zimbabwe has announced its intention to nationalize all productive farmland, according to statements by Lands Minister John Nkomo reported in the Herald newspaper June 8. "In the end, all land shall be state land and there will be no such thing called private land," Nkomo said.

Plans were already underway to abolish title deeds and replace them with 99-year leases, he said. "We don't believe that land should be used for speculative reasons. Title deeds are no longer issues we can waste our time on, because the 99-year leases will act as good enough collateral." Nkomo was referring to the chronic inability of farmers to get desperately needed bank credit; although they have land, thanks to the land reform, they do not have the title deeds to the properties.

Before land reform began four years ago, a small group of white commercial farmers owned almost 70% of Zimbabwe's arable land. Today less than 500 remain, owning just 3%, according to a government land audit report.

Access to Anti-AIDS Drugs Is Improving in Zimbabwe

Because of recent initiatives to roll out antiretroviral (ARV) therapy and to manufacture the medicines in Zimbabwe, the population's access to anti-AIDS drugs is improving. Tobias Dzangare, chief executive of Varichem, said his company would produce locally, nine types of generic ARVs, the United Nations IRIN service reported June 9. The generic drugs will cut the cost of ARVs, which are currently mainly imported from India.

A monthly cocktail of ARVs costs US$155 currently. With the manufacture of local generics, the price is expected to drop to between $27 and $30 a month. At the launch of the program June 7, Dzangare said his company hoped to ensure constant availability of the generic ARVs.

G-8 Fails To Pressure African Leaders Against Mugabe

Two senior U.S. officials, speaking anonymously, said that the Zimbabwe government's plan to nationalize Zimbabwe's arable land is "harmful," reported SAPA-AFP newswire June 9, just as the Group of Eight (G-8) meeting was beginning in Sea Island, Georgia.

The officials said that an attempt would be made to use the NEPAD card against President Robert Mugabe, by attempting to use the six African leaders attending the G-8 summit to pressure Zimbabwe. The U.S. officials said that there is "an expectation that the Africans would be much stronger at the outset in speaking out against Zimbabwe."

But statements by South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is attending, show the resistance to this pressure. In a June 10 op-ed in ThisDay, Mbeki said that the invited leaders from Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, and South Africa "will still be poor relations crashing the party." "Africans will be objects of compassion and contempt until such time as we have become demonstrable masters of our own destiny.... We must be able to set our own priorities," Mbeki added, "rather than those of foreign donors and the organizations through which they channel funds."

On a stopover in Washington June 9, on his way to the G-8 meeting, Mbeki spoke before a large CFR gathering and said that "American assistance to Africa is too focussed on individual countries and should be directed in large measure toward the continent as a whole," according to SAPA-AP June 9. He added: "We want to see a commitment to address debt more effectively than has been the case."

At the G-8 meeting, the African representatives foiled the plan to exert pressure through them on Zimbabwe by refusing to discuss individual African countries.

All rights reserved © 2004 EIRNS