opposition political activist; an unidentified civil society actor;
me; USAID/DRC Acting Mission Director Catherine Andang; USAID/DRC
Mission Director Diana Putman; USAID Deputy Administrator for Africa
Earl W. Gast; Chief of staff of USAID Africa Bureau Sean Maloney; and
Angèle Makombo-Eboum, opposition leader)
***
For his first visit to Kinshasa, Earl W. Gast, USAID Deputy
Administrator for Africa, found time in the early afternoon of
Wednesday, April 10, to talk with a select group of representatives of
civil society—as well as a high-profile politician—of the Democratic
Republic of Congo about a rare commodity in this country: governance.
Gast was flanked by his own chief of staff, Sean Maloney; USAID/DRC
Mission Director Diana Putman; Acting USAID/DRC Mission Director
Catherine Andang; USAID/DRC Democracy and Governance Officer Theodore
"Ted" Glenn; and two unidentified USAID/DRC staff members, who sat in
the background.
The high-profile Congolese politician I just alluded to was Ms. Angèle
N. Makombo-Eboum, chair of the tiny political party called "Ligue des
Congolais Démocrates" (LIDEC).
In my view, at a roundtable where "governance" is the theme, a good
governance of one's own narrative has to be the leitmotif too.
By introducing herself as one of the presidential candidates in the
November 2011 election when in fact she wasn't on the official roster
of the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI), Makombo
failed miserably the test of what I'd call the "narrative's good
governance." At the end of the meeting, she gave me her business card
that read in parts: "Candidate at the presidential election of 2011 in
the DRC."
I don't understand why a leader of such national stature need to be
peddling such unnecessary untruths. No wonder then that Congolese
politicians have lost all political credit and are being looked down
with utter contempt by Residents of the Republic.
Well, two high-profile Americans in the room didn't need to brag about
their achievements. Gast has been all over the map as a USAID
official—from Kosovo, Colombia, Iraq, to Afghanistan.
Putman, described as a "Foreign Service Whistleblower," was honored in
2010 by the Foreign Service Association with the William R. Rivkin
award for dissent for challenging "the entire structure of AFRICOM,
[….] when she called them out on the way they were dealing with sexual
and gender-based violence victims."
(See: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2010/06/25/foreign-service-whistle-blower-gets-an-award)
In any event, Makombo's litany of the alleged electoral malfeasance of
CENI in the 2011 general elections was craftily used by USAID
panelists to segue into more substantial points—such as the following
ones:
1) The decentralization (or devolution) conundrum: Provincial
"decoupage" (carving out) vs. revenues. A bone of contention between
the central government and provincial entities--many among whom are
not even being financially and fiscally viable to begin with—is the
retrocession of 40% of revenues from the central government to
provinces. With additional provinces to be carved out (the country
will have 26 provinces), how this problem will be solved is anybody's
guess.
2) Politicians and civil society groups seem to be facing a tough
choice: Reform CENI first then go to local elections; or instead go to
local elections first then reform CENI afterwards. The law reforming
CENI, though voted in Parliament, has still to be promulgated by
President Joseph Kabila. According to civil society members present,
the law is stuck over the objections from Catholic bishops who want to
see more members of civil society in the revamped CENI.
3) Self-criticism by civil society groups: their strengths and
weaknesses. There seem to be tough challenges in building a strong
network and coalition of civil society groups. There are "pocket NGOs"
and a proliferation of NGOs (more than 9,000 and still growing)
stampeding for dwindling funds from Western donors.
One civil society heavyweight present, Baudouin Hamuli, wanted to see
more resources go into training election experts.
Hamuli also claimed that Congolese civil society is alive and vibrant
despite its contradictions. According to him, civil society groups
have in fact wrested a vital space from the powers that be after 20
years of activism. He added that journalists' rights, especially the
freedom of expression, have dramatically been advanced by civil
society groups that include churches and women's organizations. He
acknowledged however that the coalition that would cement these groups
has to be strengthened.
***
PHOTO CREDITS: Courtesy USAID/DRC
0 comments:
Post a Comment