Congo neighbours hope for dividends from Kabila win
Source: Reuters
By Alistair Thomson DAKAR, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Congo's neighbours -- both friends and former foes -- welcomed President Joseph Kabila's victory in presidential elections, hoping the democratic mandate he had won would bring stability and prosperity to volatile central Africa. Congo's first free elections in more than 40 years crown a peace process following a 1998-2003 war in which half a dozen nearby countries sent in armies, looting Congo's mineral riches and creating a humanitarian catastrophe. Kabila's victory, announced on Wednesday by the electoral commission but rejected by his rival Jean-Pierre Bemba, drew nods of approval even from former enemies in the region. "We welcome the choice of the people of Congo on their new leadership," Richard Sezibera, Rwandan President Paul Kagame's special envoy to the Great Lakes region, told Reuters. "It's important for Congo to have an elected legitimate government, which we believe will be very important in improving the peace process within the Great Lakes region," he said. Tiny Rwanda, along with neighbouring Uganda, first helped Kabila's father Laurent topple veteran dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, but it later fell out with him and sent troops to help the biggest of several eastern rebel groups in the war. But after years of international mediation, analysts say Rwanda is reconciled to a Kabila-led Congo, especially given his reassurances of cooperation dealing with Rwandan "Interahamwe" militia who fled to Congo after Rwanda's 1994 genocide and gave Kigali the justification for its original invasion. "We will work with the new leadership to solve any outstanding issues including the Rwandan militiamen still hiding in the Congo," Rwanda's Sezibera said. Even Uganda, which backed Bemba's rebel faction in the war, was upbeat. "They've always had a problem of negative elements using their territory to destabilise their neighbours ... We hope they are going to work with us to neutralise these elements," Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa said. DEMOCRATIC DIVIDEND Kabila was installed with support from his father's allies Angola and Zimbabwe after Laurent's assassination in 2001, and regional analysts say those countries have maintained close links with the younger Kabila's court. "We played our role in mentoring Kabila so he could talk to his colleagues which culminated in a transitional government," said Paul Mangwana, Zimbabwe's acting information minister. Those ties could translate into a share in any democratic dividend in terms of increased investment and economic activity. "As long as Kabila wants to continue working with Angola, is someone who respects international law and the sovereignty of Angola, that's great for us," said a senior Angolan state official who declined to be named. "It is also good for us because there is potential for trade between our countries. A lot of trade has been stopped because of the potential for conflict in the DRC," the official said. With huge reserves of copper, cobalt, coltan and diamonds as well as timber and other natural riches, regional players and international investors are queueing up for a slice of Congo. But international donors and financiers have said plans for the giant Inga III hydropower project near the mouth of the mighty Congo river will stay on the drawing board until Congo's new government has brought peace and security. The elections themselves are no guarantee that will happen. Roving militias murder, rape and pillage in parts of eastern Congo and humanitarian workers say some 1,200 people still die every day from hunger, disease and violence. (Additional reporting by Arthur Asiimwe in Nairobi, MacDonald Dzirutwe in Harare, Zoe Eisenstein in Luanda, Tim Cocks in Kampala and Andrew Quinn in Johannesburg)
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