VZCZCXRO5972
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0375 1141532
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 231532Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7920
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0038
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
UNCLAS KINSHASA 000375
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EMIN KDEM PINR CG
SUBJECT: NEW SOUTH KIVU GOVERNOR TARGETS SECURITY, GOVERNANCE,
POVERTY
REF: Kinshasa 315
1. (SBU) Summary: Governor Louis Muderhwa of South Kivu targeted
security, governance, and poverty issues in his April 8 meeting with
the Ambassador. He requested computer and communications technology
to extend provincial authority and accelerate the disarmament and
reintegration of foreign fighters. He called for an official Amani
Program representative in Bukavu. He said he intends to produce a
provincial mining plan to increase transparency in exports. End
summary.
2. (SBU) Recently elected South Kivu governor Louis Leonce Muderhwa
(reftel) highlighted security, governance, and poverty concerns in
his April 8 meeting with the Ambassador. Muderhwa was accompanied
by Congolese Ambassador to the U.S. Faida Mitifu and Phelps Dodge
representative Melissa Sanderson. PolOff sat in as notetaker.
3. (SBU) Muderhwa said the province's primary security concern is
the continued presence and destabilizing influence of
FDLR/ex-FAR/Interahamwe (IH) and demobilized but non-integrated
ex-combatants. He noted the importance of linking progress on
various agreements concerning armed groups, and referred
specifically to the Rome declaration, Nairobi communique, and Goma
accords. He said he had received correspondence from FDLR
leadership in Europe criticizing their exclusion from the Nairobi
negotiations and requesting participation in the Goma process.
4. (SBU) Muderhwa said he had raised the idea with President Kabila
of a establishing a national government representative in Bukavu as
part of the Amani Program; he said Kabila was receptive to the idea.
Muderhwa stated that a dynamic, credible official with experience
of the Rome, Nairobi, and Goma negotiations could push the Amani
Program forward. He envisioned the position as representing the
national government both regionally and provincially. The
Ambassador concurred in principle and said that he would raise the
issue with Interior Minister Denis Kalume, who chairs the Amani
Program steering committee.
5. (SBU) Muderhwa delivered two requests for security assistance.
He asked for U.S. funding to produce posters of wanted genocidaires
and suggested production of a film documenting the successful return
and integration of ex-fighters into Rwandan society. He said the
film would assist the DRC public awareness campaign to persuade
FDLR/ex-FAR/IH groups to disarm. The Ambassador said the requests
were timely, as the U.S. is in the process of concluding an
assessment for deployment of psychological operations against
foreign armed forces in the DRC.
6. (SBU) Muderhwa said the largest problem confronting the
provincial government was the projection of state authority, and
proposed that international donors fund VSAT communications
technology for border and customs control. (Note: USAID funded VSAT
satellite communications equipment for the Independent Electoral
Commission during the 2006 national elections. End note.) He cited
reducing corruption and completing integration of ex-combatants as
other governance priorities.
7. (SBU) Muderhwa said poverty in South Kivu fuels security and
governance challenges and intellectual capital flight from the
province. He stated that integrating ex-combatants into the
workforce is critical to attracting foreign investment. Muderhwa
noted that he was the former vice minister for mines and said that
he plans to develop a provincial mining plan that will include an
assessment of existing natural resources and aim to increase the
transparency of transactions across provincial borders.
8. (SBU) Comment: Muderhwa garnered the support of Kinshasa-based
PPRD leadership to overcome the candidacy of fellow PPRD member Aime
Boji, brother in law of National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe.
His interest in seeing a central government official installed in
Bukavu to represent the Amani Program appears aimed at focusing
greater attention on the South Kivu side of the Goma process. End
comment.
9. (SBU) Bio notes: Louis Leonce Muderhwa Chirimwami, an ethnic
Mushi, 45, was born in Bukavu. A lawyer, he studied at Kinshasa
University before teaching law at Catholic University in Bukavu. He
served as vice-minister of mines before being elected to the
National Assembly in July 2006 from Bukavu.
GARVELINK