An armed attack against the residence of Mr. Kabila revives concern.
Less than a month after the armed attack of the airport in Lubumbashi, capital of the mining province of Katanga, February 4, a new armed assault took place on Sunday at 13:40 in Kinshasa.
According to information collected by "La Libre Belgique" in Kinshasa, 20 to 30 men in army uniform tried to pass a barrage of Republican Guard (presidential guard) of a villa near the Gombe - Kinshasa chic central district - occupied by President Kabila, who was not present.
Not allowed to cross, they forced the dam but the dam below, have been under fire for twenty minutes. The attackers used small arms, AK-47. There would be six to seven deaths.
Just after the attack, armed men - which is not clear whether they wore uniforms or not - tried to enter the military camp Kokolo, about five kilometers from the first armed incident and more specifically in its central logistics base - the largest in the country - which holds the arms. The attackers were repulsed by the military police of the camp.
According to our sources, it is likely that the attackers Kokolo camp were those of the Gombe, trying to return to their base after their failure. The serious armed incident would be a new manifestation of discontent because of their military lives.
In the absence of official explanations of events in Lubumbashi on February 4, the explanation is also circulating with the most credibility Katanga.
The peace process in Congo has planned integration into the army of a large number of former armed combatants, but stewardship is lagging behind. If President Kabila is attentive to the living conditions of its Republican Guard - a real army in the army, since it is not placed in the normal chain of command - it is not the same for most Armed Forces, which survive in miserable conditions.
With the support of the European Union, a process to identify each member was introduced, which provided an opportunity to realize that the army today has about 150,000 men - not 350,000 as claimed during the transition, the army soldiers "ghosts" (whose salary was not lost for everybody) was removed from the list of payment.
This process also allowed the military to get their salary, which rose from USD 10 per month (8 euros) in unpaid paid $ 50 (100 per officer) - but still insufficient to feed a family.
Powerless to voice their grievances, soldiers desperate attempt yesterday to Lubumbashi to Kinshasa today as, to shake off the power. Today, as Yesterday, the main problem remains the Congo army, responsible for numerous abuses.
The Congo can not afford to maintain a decent army of 150,000 men, but the Congolese authorities - and especially the army chief, President Kabila - consider reducing this figure would be unacceptable for a large country like the Congo . Play
also afraid of an army too powerful, so capable of organizing a military coup. Today, the Congolese army is in the same situation as under Mobutu: under-equipped, underpaid, underfed, with the exception of the presidential guard. We know that this has been fatal in Zaire.
Since Sunday night, rumors are multiplying in Kinshasa and in the diaspora, where some complain even in the event of Kinshasa installation "designed to allow a crackdown on opponents of the plan, nine months before presidential elections.
In fact, the Congolese authorities have announced more than thirty arrests following the events of Sunday and there is an inflation figures, the attackers are thought to have been Monday sixty (spokesperson of the Congolese government) or even a hundred (quoting UN sources Congolese officials of security). If these arrests were to confirm a purge, he should probably see the expediency of repression after an attack rather than an actual staging - already denounced by the governor of Katanga to the events in Lubumbashi, but without convincing.
Marie-France Cros (La Libre Belgique)
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