DRC: No luck for an agreement in Kampala between the Congolese government and the M23

French Translation of the Week

The governmental delegation of the DRC left Kampala on Tuesday, where negotiations with the rebel group known as the M23 were held.  The possibility of seeing these two parties sign a political agreement, for the moment, seems quite slim.

L'essentiel de la délégation gouvernementale de la RDC a quitté mardi Kampala, où se tiennent les négociations avec les rebelles du M23. Les chances de voir les deux parties signer un accord politique semblent pour le moment très minces.

This article has been translated from French. Click here to read the original version on Jeune Afrique.

Considered beneficial on Monday, the signature of a political agreement between the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the ex-rebel movement M23 appears, today, highly unlikely.

Once the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Raymond Tshibanda, returned to Kinshasa on Tuesday, a high Congolese official stated that "they were about to send money for the rest of the delegation could pay their hotel bills and return" to the country.

"No one is optimistic," confided a Ugandan diplomat, whose country has mediated the discussions on its soil since December.  "I'm giving it 24 more hours for this to happen," after which point it will be too late, estimates one of his analysts.

Ignoring strong international pressure, in particular from the UN Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, Mary Robinson, and her American colleague, Russel Feingold, the Congolese government clearly indicated that it did not plan to sign an "agreement" with an entity that it deemed no longer in existence.

The problem of reintegration

The text had, however, been signed by the two parties on November 4, but Kinshasa estimates that its victory changes the stakes.  According to the Ugandan mediators, this document created a plan for the reintegration of rebels of the M23 who wanted to be in the army (with the exception of certain individuals) and trials, either in the DRC or before an international tribunal, for all those who are accused of "severe crimes" such as crimes against humanity, genocide, or violence.

The government "had no desire to sign" this agreement into law, states a diplomat, according to whom Kinshasa remains nevertheless ready to draft a "declaration of commitments."  "The objective is for those who were discussed – and who are still in the news – to be put to the test," indicates a high Congolese official, leaving out that former rebels of the M23 can integrate or reintegrate into the army.

The spokesperson for the Ugandan government also mentioned that Sultani Makenga, the military chief of the M23, who had been staying in Uganda for the past few days, isn't a "prisoner" and remains under the protection of Kampala.

Mary Robinson, Russel Feingold, their colleagues in the European Union, Koen Vervaeke of the African Union, Boubacar Diarra, and the director of MONUSCO published a release in which they assert that it is still "important" to come to a "political conclusion" to end the conflict that has lasted eighteen months in the mineral-rich province of North Kivu.

Article translated by Allie Stauss, Staff Intern for the Program on Leadership and Building State Capacity at the Wilson Center.

Photo attributed to Matchbox Media Collective via Flickr Commons.