Jean-Marie Rugina has never been DRC anti-corruption czar

One funny thing occurred the other day in eastern DRC amid the most

heart-wrenching stuff happening there these past few months.





It was the reappearance of gold-watch-dangler Jean-Marie Rugina (photo

above) as the spokesperson of M23, and also donning the mantle of "DRC

former top anti-corruption official."





This is a bold-faced lie!





There's never been a position of top anti-corruption anything in the DRC.





The truth is that in 2003, as the transitional

Parliament--representatives of: former rebel groups, the government's

side, civil society and of unarmed political opposition parties--was

convening in Kinshasa, there were other transitional entities been

assembled too.





Those entities were called "institutions d'appui à la démocratie"

[institutions supportive of democracy].





And the membership to those "institutions" were also based on strict

quotas earmarked for political parties.





There were 4 of those "institutions supportive of democracy": 1) The

Independent Electoral Commission; 2) The National Observatory of Human

Rights; 3) The Truth and Reconciliation Commission; and 4) The Ethics

and Anti-corruption Commission.





It's in the latter that we find one "pasteur Jean-Marie Runiga" as

"Third Deputy Rapporteur" sent to that commission by the rebel group

turned political party RCD.





A dead-end job at the time, showing that Jean-Marie Runiga was at the

bottom of the pecking order in RCD: at the time, leaders of political

parties were instead sending their cronies to manage (in effect, to

loot) state companies and parastals.





In fact, only one of those "institutions supportive of democracy"

really worked: it was the Independent Electoral Commission.





Here's the composition of the full board of the Ethics and

Anti-corruption Commission, as approved by the transitional Parliament

in August 2003 (the political affiliation of members is in brackets):





President: Pamphile Badu wa Badu

(Forces vives)





1st Vice-president: Kutumisa B. Kyota (Governement)





2nd Vice-president: Mbali Voto(Mlc)





3rd Vice-president : (Unarmed political opposition): Person to be designated





Rapporteur : Christophe Kambala (Rcd/N)





1st Deputy Rapporteur: Mamboleo

Lembelembe (Mai-Mai)





2nd Deputyrapporteur: Pr Muluma

Munanga A. (Rcd/K-Ml)





3rd Deputy Rapporteur: pasteur Jean-Marie Runiga (Rcd)





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PHOTO CREDITS: Reuters