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Congo (Kinshasa): Who's Who from IRIN
Congo (Kinshasa): Who's Who from IRIN
Date distributed (ymd): 980903
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Central Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +security/peace+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains a Who's Who of the rebel forces in the current conflict
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from the UN's Integrated Regional
Information Network, and suggested links for additional current information.
The previous posting contains several statements on the escalating crisis
in Congo (Kinshasa), from the Inter African Network for Human Rights and
Development (Afronet), the National Council of Non-governmental Organizations
for Development (CNONGD), the Midwest Federation (USA) of the Union for
Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), and the Archbishop of Kinshasa.
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For additional information on this rapidly changing crisis, which has
provoked sharply divergent responses not only among Congolese but among
their neighbors, see also the following:
Africa News
http://www.africanews.org/central/congo-kinshasa
Includes news articles and commentary from African newspapers as well as
other sources.
Relief Web
http://www.reliefweb.int
Includes daily IRIN reports in French as well as English
Africa Policy Web Site Regional Links
http://www.africapolicy.org/featdocs/central.htm
Includes links to background data and to sites with more extensive lists
of country-specific links
Le Soir (Brussels)
http://www.lesoir.com
Daily coverage (in French) by the Belgian newspaper
Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - UN Mission
http://www.un.int/drcongo
Government information, including news
UDPS (Union pour la Democratie et le Progres Social)
http://www.udps.org
Information from the opposition party headed by Etienne Tshisekedi
UNITED NATIONS
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa
Tel: +254 2 622147; Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: [email protected]
[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN,
a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the
views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN Tel: +254 2 622123
Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: [email protected]
for more information or subscriptions. If you re-print, copy, archive or
re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations
or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports
are archived on the WWW at: http://www.reliefweb.int/
or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to [email protected].
Mailing list: irin-cea-weekly]
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO:
WHO'S WHO - KEY MEMBERS OF THE REBELLION
'RASSEMBLEMENT CONGOLAIS POUR LA DEMOCRATIE' (RCD)
Ernest Wamba dia Wamba - Chairman
An academic professor who taught at Dar-es-Salaam University (he also
taught in the USA) and is close to former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere.
He is a long-time opponent of former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. Since 1965,
he has lived in exile in Tanzania. He backed the rebellion against Mobutu
Sese Seko but didn't join DRC President Kabila's Alliance of Democratic
Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (ADFL). He criticised the way
the country was run under the Kabila government. Wamba is a member of the
Bakongo ethnic group, which lives around Matadi in western DRC. He is also
a member of the Pan-African movement.
Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma - Co-founder
President of the opposition party 'Forces du Futur', he is a well-known
opponent of the former Mobutu regime. He was arrested on 25 November 1997
in Kinshasa, during a political meeting, and convicted in May 1998 of violating
a ban on political activity for which he received a 12-month suspended
sentence. A former UNESCO employee, the UN agency had suspended its activities
in DRC until his release, when he was evacuated for medical reasons to
France. He comes from the eastern Maniema province. Goma radio said on
5 August he was the "coordinator" of the rebellion.
Moise Nyarugabo - Deputy chairman
Former head of the Office for Ill-Gotten Goods and presidential adviser,
he fell from grace over allegations of misappropriation of goods. He is
a Munyamulenge who reportedly fled before the fighting in Kinshasa early
this month which heralded the start of the rebellion.
Jacques Depelchin - Executive secretary
A Congolese academic who taught in Tanzania and in the US, he is also
a long-time opponent of Mobutu. He is very close to Professor Wamba. He
is an active member of the Pan-African movement and a Lumumbist. Depelchin
was teaching in Tanzania in the 70s, at Berkley University (US) and at
the Kinshasa Protestant University in 1996.
Lunda Bululu - Executive council coordinator
A professor of law, Bululu was cabinet director and prime minister in
the first transitional government under Mobutu. He is known for his public
apology to the Congolese people after "failing" in his official
duties. He later joined the opposition. He hails from Katanga province
and also presided over the Central Africa Economic Community (CAEC).
Tambwe Alexis Mwamba - Executive council member
A prominent Congolese politician, he held several ministerial posts
under Mobutu and was managing director of the Customs Office (OFIDA). But
he also participated in the opposition as president of the UDI (Union des
democrates independants). The Kabila regime was reportedly not favourable
towards him.
Bizima Karaha - Executive council member and head of external relations
department
He studied medicine in South Africa and was Kabila's foreign minister
in three consecutive cabinets. He is a Munyamulenge, and said to have close
links with Kigali and Rwandan Vice-President Paul Kagame. He was one of
the prominent Tutsis in Kabila's circle. He was on an official visit abroad
when the fighting started and reappeared in Goma on 5 August where he joined
the rebellion, accusing Kabila of "dictatorship".
Mbusa Nyamwisi - Executive council member
Brother of a prominent Congolese opponent to Mobutu, Nyamwisi Muvingi
(leader of the 'Democratie Chretienne Federaliste' party). His brother
later joined Mobutu and was consequently charged with liaising with Mayi-Mayi
forces in his home region of North Kivu. Since the murder of his brother
in the mid-90s, Mbusa Nyamwisi has been in contact with the Mayi-Mayi from
his base in Uganda. He is said to be in charge of convincing the Mayi-Mayi
to join the rebel movement against Kabila.
Kalala Shambuye - Executive council member and head of the mobilisation
department
Ex-ADFL official from Kasai, allegedly arrested several times under
the Kabila regime.
Emmanuel Kamanzi - Head of finance department
Former liaison officer between the ADFL and UN/NGOs, and President Kabila's
adviser.
Joseph Mudumbi - Head of the territorial administration department
A lawyer from South Kivu, he has been active in his region as a member
of civil society and of a human rights organisation (LDGL). A former official
under Kabila, he was nominated head of the immigration service.
Etienne Ngangura - Head of the communications department
Reportedly from South Kivu. Me Emungu - Head of the justice department
Ms Gertrude Kitembo - Head of the internal administration department
MILITARY
James Kabare
Kabare claims to come from Rutshuru in North Kivu, but many reports
say he is a Rwandan national raised in Uganda. He was the 'strategist'
in the 96/97 campaign against Mobutu. He was appointed acting chief of
staff under the Kabila regime, but was replaced by a Katangese gendarme
in early July 98, and then nominated 'special military adviser'. Reports
indicate he was in Cyangugu, on the DRC border with Bukavu, at the start
of the rebellion, and later led the offensive in the west of the country.
Jean-Pierre Ondekane
A 36-year-old army officer from Equateur province. Ondekane held several
key positions under Kabila, including in 1997 the command of the Congolese
10th brigade in North Kivu. He joined the rebellion in Goma saying: "We
are not politicians, we are soldiers. Our job is to liberate the country
and protect the population".
Sylvain Mbuchi (or Mbuki)
Commander of the 10th brigade in Goma. On Sunday 2 August, Mbuchi made
the first announcement of the rebellion against Kabila "on behalf
of government troops". Originates from Kasai.
Birunga Kamanda
Bukavu commander who made the same announcement in South Kivu.
Ilunga Kabambi
Commander of Bukavu 222nd battalion. From Bukavu, he announced the "South
Kivu Republic".
Jacques Malanda
Former Kabila lieutenant, Malanda led the operation to capture Kinshasa.
After falling from grace, he became the spokesman of the Convention of
Nationalist Reformers, an armed wing of the radical opposition, aimed at
toppling Kabila and establishing a law-abiding state.
LOCAL ADMINISTRATION
Jean-Charles Magabe - South Kivu Governor
He appears to have kept his post after the takeover of Bukavu despite
some press reports which said he had been "arrested" near Goma
during the first days of the rebellion. Magabe, who originates from South
Kivu, was UDPS regional representative during the Mobutu regime, and was
teaching in a Bukavu institute.
Benjamin Serukiza - Vice-Governor of South Kivu
A Munyamulenge. Stepped across to Cyangugu during the initial fighting.
Munyonyo Mutwale - Mayor of Bukavu
Also Munyamulenge. He too crossed to Cyangugu during the fighting. On
arrival back in Bukavu, he called on the population to resume normal activities
and declared that all armed forces in Bukavu were against Kabila.
OTHERS
Deogratias Bugera
A Congolese Tutsi from Masisi, Bugera is one of the four signatories
of the Lemera agreement in October 1996 which created the ADFL. As ADFL
secretary-general, he was a prominent representative of the Kabila movement
during the campaign through Zaire and the Kinshasa takeover. He reportedly
lost most of his power during the the first year of Kabila's regime, but
was nominated State Minister to the Presidency during the last cabinet
reshuffle in June. He escaped Kinshasa shortly after the Kabila's order
that all foreign troops should leave, and is now reported to be in Goma.
Emile Ilunga
Long-time political activist, from Kabila's home province of Katanga.
Ilunga is a veteran of two rebellions aimed at secession for the mineral-rich
Katanga region mounted in the 1970s and 1980s from neighbouring Angola
and Zambia.
Jacques Matanda-ma-Mboyo
Matanda leads the National Convention for the Republic (CNR), an opposition
party which joined the rebellion.
Nairobi, 20 August 1998
[ENDS]
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the Africa
Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational affiliate of the Washington
Office on Africa. APIC's primary objective is to widen the policy debate
in the United States around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa,
by concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant information and
analysis usable by a wide range of groups individuals.
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