In this issue:

Congo: Rwanda Jerks Leash of Attack Dog Nkunda as Pressures Mount Against Rwandan Designs

Congo's RCD Splits Over Leadership's Loyalty to Rwanda

SADC Sends Mission to Congo and Rwanda

South Africa, Congo Sign Major Defense Agreement

Zimbabwe Buys New Jet-Fighter Fleet from China

Sudan Orders Mobilization To Disarm Darfur Militias

Sudanese Vice President: West Creating Darfur Insurgency

South Africa: Knives Out To Derail SWAPO Succession Plan?

Namibia Development Bank To Finance Infrastructure

From Volume 3, Issue Number 25 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published June 22, 2004
Africa News Digest

Congo: Rwanda Jerks Leash of Attack Dog Nkunda as Pressures Mount Against Rwandan Designs

Less than a week after threatening to immediately resume aggression in South Kivu province, Congo, if the Congo government did not set up an inquiry into "genocide" against the Banyamulenge (Congolese Tutsi) in Bukavu, Gen. Laurent Nkunda has reversed himself. Nkunda told AFP June 17, "We are not going to fight and we are not going to leave our positions, provided the army doesn't attack us." Nkunda's troops are encamped at Minova in South Kivu province, where they received additional Rwandan soldiers, arms and munitions June 12. The Congo government never responded to Nkunda's June 13 ultimatum, in which he also said, "I think we will soon liberate Eastern Congo," and "We are in a regional community of interest with Kigali," AFP reported June 13.

Nkunda's claim of "genocide" against the Banyamulenge is a hoax—he said himself it wasn't true less than a week before his June 13 ultimatum. Nkunda is himself accused of war crimes for executing 160 pro-government fighters in revenge for an attempt to oust him from Kisangani in May 2002, not to mention the rampage of rape and pillage by his troops in Bukavu this month.

Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Murigande told the press in Kigali June 15 that "One can say that there has been an attempt to commit genocide in Bukavu.... And if Gen. Nkunda intervened to stop it, his intervention was probably justified."

But a UN inquiry has concluded that there was no such genocide, and Human Rights Watch drew the same conclusion June 13, Radio Okapi, UN radio in Congo, reported June 15.

Congo's Minister for Regional Cooperation, Mbusa Nyamwisi, at a press conference in Dodoma, Tanzania, with Tanzanian Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete June 19, said, "We have need of you [Tanzania] and the region to discourage those who want to overturn [Congo's] transition process.... This support can be diplomatic or military." Nyamwisi delivered Congo President Kabila's written request to Kikwete, who stood in for President Benjamin Mkapa, who is recovering from a hip operation.

Nkunda's partner in crime, Col. Jules Mutebusi, is still occupying Kamanyola, south of Bukavu, with the help of Rwandan armored vehicles, even though his forces are "surrounded" by government troops. Between June 10 and 19, more than 30,000 Congolese from the Kamanyola area have taken refuge in Cibitoke province in Burundi. Provincial Gov. Antoine Buzuguri told AFP June 19 that there was a site for Banyamulenge and one for the other communities.

Congo's RCD Splits Over Leadership's Loyalty to Rwanda

The Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) has split over the leadership's loyalty to Rwanda. The split has emerged since the June 2 seizure of Bukavu by one of Rwanda's Congolese generals, Laurent Nkunda, AFP reported June 16. The members of parliament leading the party's new "courant renovateur" (renewal tendency) announced in Kinshasa June 16 that the tendency "reaffirms its commitment to defend the territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of Congo and its national unity." They denounced "all interference in Congolese national affairs" and strongly criticized RCD President (Congo Vice President) and Rwandan agent Azarias Ruberwa "who still has not condemned the aggression" of Rwanda in Bukavu. The tendency is not planning to leave the party; instead, it demands "the immediate and unconditional dissolution" of the RCD leadership clique and calls for an extraordinary party congress "without delay." The RCD, it says, has become "a propaganda tool ... of foreign powers."

SADC Sends Mission to Congo and Rwanda

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will send a mission to Congo and Rwanda to "evaluate the situation," the Foreign Minister of Lesotho, Mohlabi Tsekoa announced June 16. The two-day mission was to begin June 20. "We hope to meet [Congolese] President Joseph Kabila and others who he would like us to meet. At Bukavu, we will meet the Governor of Bukavu and others," Tsekoa said. He added that the team will also go to Rwanda, since "there are strong suspicions that Rwanda supports the rebel troops that are disturbing the peace process in Congo." "In Kigali, we have asked the Foreign Minister to arrange a meeting with the President of Rwanda," he said.

South Africa, Congo Sign Major Defense Agreement

The defense ministers of South Africa and DR Congo signed a major defense agreement in Pretoria June 18, providing for close cooperation in training, cartography, military health, technical consultation, and procurement. It provides for the exchange of personnel at all levels and regular visits of high-level "military and industrial" delegations, and South Africa will sell its military equipment to Kinshasa.

Its primary objective, according to AFP June 18, is to aid in integrating all of Congo's armed bodies into a unified defense force, "an exercise in which South Africa has some experience, with the integration after 1994 of the apartheid army and the black liberation movements into a single army."

The agreement follows bilateral accords on diplomacy, administration, health, and fiscal matters, all signed in March. Accords on commerce, agriculture, mining, transport and communications are to follow. AFP comments, "These accords confirm the position of Pretoria... as the preferential partner of Kinshasa for reconstruction."

Zimbabwe Buys New Jet-Fighter Fleet from China

Zimbabwe has purchased 12 FC-1 jet fighters from China, Shadow Defense Minister Giles Mutsekwa told AFP June 13. The FC-1, a lightweight, multi-purpose fighter, is based on the Russian MiG-33. He said the purchase was disclosed in a quarterly Defense Ministry budget review, and was defended by Defense Ministry Secretary Trust Maphosa on the grounds that it was impossible to get spare parts for the fleet of Chengdu F-7s (also Chinese) now in use, and that the arms embargo against Zimbabwe by Europe and the U.S., reinforced the choice of China as a supplier.

Zimbabwe provided critical support with troops and jets for the Congo government in August 1998.

The Zimbabwe government is sponsoring the study of the Mandarin Chinese language. Chinese tourists have been coming to Zimbabwe since the their government gave Zimbabwe "approved destination status" in December 2003.

Sudan Orders Mobilization To Disarm Darfur Militias

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir ordered a "complete mobilization" to disarm illegal armed groups carrying out attacks in Darfur "including Janjaweed" that have been attacking insurgents and civilian populations, according to a statement released by the Presidency June 19. The government has been accused of backing the Janjaweed Arab militias.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said that, "the government of Sudan did provide support to these militias" who are accused of ethnic cleansing or genocide in Dafur, in a telephone interview with the New York Times June 11. The Bush Administration was considering a tougher policy toward Sudan, according to the Times article.

The Times report acknowledges that the situation is extremely confused, with conflicting stories describing the situation in Dafur as "calm," or as "genocide." This is in contrast to most media reports, such as those of BBC, which assert that over a million people are dying in refugee camps, and that the Sudan government is preventing access.

Sudanese Vice President: West Creating Darfur Insurgency

Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha accused the West of creating the insurgency in Darfur. While speaking before a gathering of Egyptian and Sudanese intellectuals and politicians in Cairo June 10, Taha said that the insurgency was "fabricated" by the international community, and the West in particular. According to Arab News, he said that the same parties that were responsible for creating war in southern Sudan decades ago, are the ones responsible for the conflict. Taha also said that the international media have created an image of genocide or ethnic cleansing in Darfur to gain leverage in the final negotiations between Khartoum and the SPLA, in favor of the SPLA.

At a Cairo press conference with his Egyptian counterpart, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mostafa Osman Ismail said, "There are pressure groups, some of them used to operate in the south and now they are becoming active in Darfur.... These groups want trouble," and want to create a situation similar to that in the South. "We are not saying that there is no problem in Darfur," he added.

South Africa: Knives Out To Derail SWAPO Succession Plan?

"Some African nation states are headed back to big man tribal leadership: Nujoma has followed Mugabe's lead of late in several distasteful ways," insists Roger Bate, a visiting fellow at American Enterprise Institute, in an op-ed in South Africa's Business Day June 9. Bate continues that although the mines continue to pump out the diamonds, "[Namibian President Sam] Nujoma's violent threats and obvious desire to emulate Mugabe's land grabs are more worrying as they would destabilize the country and prevent inward investment." Bate adds that a "revival of the big man syndrome" would be a disaster for Africa and "would be a threat to those fighting terrorism by potentially providing a safe haven for evildoers."

The London Financial Times June 18, not quite so rabid, nevertheless attempts to make a similar case. The FT quotes Sigi Eimbeck of the Namibian Farmers Support Initiative that "Everybody is contemplating a Zimbabwean scenario, and that's the government's fault." The FT adds that the "expropriation drive is being led by Hifikepunye Pohamba," the Lands Minister. The South West African Peoples Organization (SWAPO), the ruling party, which led the country to independence, nominated Pohamba in late May to run for President in the November elections when President Nujoma will step down. Soviet-educated Pohamba won the nomination over U.S.-connected former Foreign Minister Hidipo Hamutenya, in a move seen as keeping Namibia moving in the same policy direction as Sam Nujoma. At the SWAPO congress, the land-reform policy that Pohamba has championed with Nujoma's backing was solidly supported. The land reform policy emphasizes redistribution of massive blocks of white-owned land to poor black farmers, with compensation for the owners.

SWAPO Youth League Secretary-General Paulus Kapia June 18 blasted the media campaign against President Nujoma and the ruling party. Kamia singled out the U.S., the UK, and Germany as using "white-owned" media in Namibia to attempt to "rubbish our President." According to Kapia, "We have established that the white-owned media outlets have been given sizeable resources to demonize, cause confusion, and plant seeds of division within the SWAPO party."

Namibia Development Bank To Finance Infrastructure

The April launch of the Development Bank of Namibia has meant a change in the financing of development projects. The Development Bank Act of 2002, stated the bank's CEO David Nuyoma, provides that, "The focal areas are to provide long-term finance to large types of industries and infrastructure projects. Second, it is to mobilize financial resources towards development projects in the country." He continued: "The bank is literally an investment bank with a heavy emphasis on development. The ultimate impact of this intervention will benefit Namibia in terms of those functions to facilitate other developments to unlock the development potential and contribute to the increased welfare of Namibians."

The main business of the bank is to provide capital and services to large scale, viable and sustainable public and private enterprises and development projects, especially infrastructure projects.

"We have noticed that one of the fundamental weaknesses in financing projects in Namibia is the long-term financing beyond five years or so. Here the bank can come in and finance projects in a way that they are able to breath instead of being pressured to pay back loans," the CEO said.

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