VZCZCXRO9740
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0237 0691937
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 091937Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7645
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
UNCLAS KINSHASA 000237
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPKO CG UN
SUBJECT: GOMA NOTES 03/07/08 - GOMA PROCESS: ABBE MALUMALU ARRIVES
1. (SBU) Summary: Goma process talks resumed again March 7 in Goma
with the full CNDP delegation present. No sooner had the CNDP
announced it could proceed no further unless National Coordinator
Abbe Malumalu was present, did Malumalu call to say he had stepped
off a plane in Goma and agreed to join the discussions. Abbe
Malumalu proposed a day off in order for the CNDP to develop a
reasoned response to the issues at hand, so that these could be
resolved and the Joint Committee envisioned by the Goma accords
could be established by decree. Abbe Malumalu agreed to an EU
proposal to journey to Kirolirwe in the interim, and the group
proceeded by road early the following day. End summary.
2. (SBU) On March 7 at 0900, unsurprisingly, the CNDP asked for yet
another postponement of the Goma process talks. Since the
conference room at MONUC-Goma was reserved for the Nairobi process
JMG task force (celebrated for their marathon durations), and since
the CNDP team was attending the ILLCE leadership workshop at the
Karibu Hotel, it was decided that the talks would resume at the
Karibu during the workshop's lunch break at 1300. The meeting was
convened with the full six-member CNDP delegation (political - Rene
Abandi, Jean-Desire Muiti and Bertrand Bisimwa; and military,
including Major Seraphin Mirindi).
3. (SBU) Vice Admiral Didier Etumba, the GDRC delegation head,
proceeded to outline the agenda: position allocations, the CNDP's
proposals for wording of a new presidential decree (a pending agenda
issue that had not been raised on at the previous session), and
voting procedures within the Joint Commission (JC). The CNDP
replied by saying that its suggestions re: the basic structure
(sectoral vs. geographic) had not been taken into account. Cue to
wrangling.
4. (SBU) The CNDP then announced that it could proceed no further on
any of these questions unless recently-named Goma process National
Coordinator Abbe Apollinaire Muholongu Malumalu was present. Then,
theatrically, EU representative Jean-Michel Dumont's phone rang, and
he was able to announce to the attendees that Abbe Malumalu had just
stepped off a plane in Goma. Dumont (who was co-chairing the
meeting in the absence of MONUC's John Almstrom) urged Abbe Malumalu
to join the Karibu discussions, and he agreed, though he had prior
commitments, so the meeting was adjourned until 1500.
5. (SBU) Abbe Malumalu arrived shortly after 1500, greeted those
present, and then went into private conversations with the CNDP's
Abandi. This lasted until 1630 when the meeting reconvened in the
hotel's Karisimbi room.
6. (SBU) Etumba proceeded to review the agenda again, and Abbe
Malumalu (who had only been briefed very cursorily by Dumont and
Etumba and then by Abandi) proceeded to propose that there should be
a day off in order for the CNDP to develop a reasoned response to
the issues at hand, so that these could be resolved and the JC could
be established by decree. Abbe Malumalu said he would extend his
stay in Goma until March 10, making March 8 an "informal" day in
which off-the-record consultations could occur, and the meeting
would resume on March 9 and would reach closure on the issues at
hand. Abbe Malumalu could then take an agreement, including the
nominations of JC members, back to Kinshasa on March 10 and have it
processed into a formal decree.
7. (SBU) The CNDP readily agreed to this, but the visible relief of
most concerned was spoiled by Etumba, who insisted on summarizing
the "points on which there is already agreement". Since the first
of these was the question of the JC structure, and since the CNDP
felt very strongly that its views had been disregarded, wrangling
resumed. The question of the structure was debated, with Abbe
Malumalu (who was new to these discussions) defending the sectoral
subcommittee view, while the CNDP insisted on a geographic approach.
Abbe Malumalu finally cut off discussion, and the meeting
eventually ended with agreement to reconvene at MONUC March 9 at
1000.
8. (SBU) In side-bar talks following the adjournment, Dumont got
Abbe Malumalu to agree to a journey to Kirolirwe on the next day.
Since a helicopter could not scrambled in time, the team, including
Dumont and Weeks for the Facilitation, Abbe Malumalu, the three CNDP
political reps and Major Mirindi proceeded by road at 7 a.m.
GARVELINK