Cablegate: Minister of Defense Rolls Up Ddr Agency, Gives

VZCZCXRO3516
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0751 1861042
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051042Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6440
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000751

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV MARR KPKO CG
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF DEFENSE ROLLS UP DDR AGENCY, GIVES
UNDP LEAD IN NEXT PHASE OF ITURI DEMOBILIZATION

REF: A. KINSHASA 377
B. KINSHASA 153

1. (SBU) Summary: Congolese Defense Minister Chikez Diemu
announced the dissolution of the DRC's disarmament,
demobilization and reinsertion (DDR) agency CONADER June 23
and transfer of its functions to his ministry. He previewed
the next phase of Ituri District DDR, which will emphasize
community development. He said new DDR funding from the
World Bank would likely come on line around November. DDR
will be on the agenda of the Contact Group meeting on SSR
with the GDRC scheduled for July 12-13 in Kinshasa. End
summary.

2. (U) Defense Minister Chikez Diemu announced the
dissolution of the DRC's National Commission for Disarmament,
Demobilization, and Reinsertion (CONADER) and the transfer of
its functions to the defense ministry at a June 23 meeting
with international donors active in DDR. He also removed
CONADER head Daniel Kawata, who had earlier expressed
optimism that he would retain some role in future DDR efforts
(ref A). Although Chikez clearly indicated his intention to
subsume the DDR process into his ministry, no supporting
declarations have yet been signed by President Kabila.

3. (SBU) Chikez provided no details on the successor
organization, referring technical questions to Vice Minister
for Veterans Affairs Yvonne Iyamulemye Kabano. He introduced
Ntumba Luaba, a lawyer who previously served as human rights
minister under Laurent Kabila, as head of the ministry's DDR
programs. (Note: In 2004, Luaba was captured and held
hostage by one of the Ituri armed groups, leading to a
week-long crisis; he was subsequently released unharmed. End
note.)

4. (SBU) Chikez also discussed an additional $50 million in
funding from the World Bank's Multi-Country Disarmament and
Reintegration Program (MDRP) Trust Fund -- with a focus on
conditions for its disbursement -- scheduled to be available
as early as November. The transfer of CONADER's functions to
the Ministry meets the Bank's first key condition. The
second condition is redesign and significant staff reduction
of the successor organization. The third, and most
contentious, condition requires that the GDRC return $9
million in MDRP funds already disbursed by CONADER but
subsequently determined not to have conformed to established
World Bank procedures.

5. (SBU) As he has elsewhere, Chikez championed a community
development-based reinsertion model. He distributed a new
Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) which outlines the next phase of
DDR engagement in Ituri. The MoA gives UNDP the lead in
demobilizing an estimated 4,500 Ituri ex-combatants, of which
it estimates 3,150 will opt for community reinsertion and
1,350 for integration into the armed forces. It also
transfers a commensurate number of contested entry and exit
"kits" (reftels) from CONADER to UNDP.

6. (SBU) Comment: CONADER's demise is not unexpected, after
numerous allegations of mismanagement. On the one hand,
there was good reason not to continue supporting a system
which was clearly broken. On the other, however, the GDRC
now faces a significant delay in setting up a new DDR
structure. It is hoped that the ministry's efforts result in
a functional DDR program that corrects CONADER's most glaring
inefficiencies in the shortest time possible. End comment.
MEECE

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