Antoine Ghonda
DRC Transitional Foreign Minister (June 30, 2003-July 23, 2004)
Then MLC member
Photo: AFP
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Two cables created by the US Kinshasa Embassy are among the mass of cables recently dumped by WikiLeaks. Those two cables will soon cause a hoo-ha in the tense pre-electoral atmosphere prevailing now in the DRC: a) A cable created on August 9, 2004, that has the then just fired Transitional Foreign Minister Antoine Ghonda, an MLC member appointed to government by Jean-Pierre Bemba, who went to see then US Ambassador Roger Meece (currently UN Secretary General Special Representative to the DRC and head of MONUSCO); and b) a cable created on October 27, 2004, that recounts a meeting between Etienne Tshisekedi's political adviser Jean-Joseph Mukendi and the Embassy's political officer.
a) The first cable--with the subject heading: "Former FM Ghonda discusses his dismissal"--confirms the "nationalist" instinct of the Congolese who were convinced that the Transitional government was made of a bunch of recreants and treasonable bandits whose sole motive was to plunder and, in order to achieve this aim, had transformed their own country into a franchise micro-managed from Kampala and Kigali.
After being fired by Bemba on July 23, US-educated Ghonda went to see Ambassador Meece to update him on the reasons behind his dismissal by Bemba (a previous cable said that Ghonda was expecting being fired): 1) Ghonda's insistence to first report to Kabila as head of state before briefing Bemba on important business at his ministry; 2) his refusal to back up Bemba's illegal purchase of an airplane belonging to Charles Taylor; and 3) crossing President Yoweri Museveni in his designs over the Congo. In fact, Ghonda "believes that undoubtedly the Museveni complaint was a factor leading to Bemba's decision to change Foreign Ministers."
b) The second cable--with the subject heading: "Opposition figure Tshisekedi keeping his options open"-- is more damning as it demonstrates that even a vestigial opposition leader like Tshisekedi would readily send his "close [political] adviser" Jean-Joseph Mukendi to discuss sensitive plans involving his party and his country with an embassy's political officer (an underling) of a foreign power. This is a huge scandal Tshisekedi and Mukendi have on their hands.
WikiLeaks is definitely a treasure trove for the recent history of the Congo--an episode that would have otherwise been irretrievably lost.
Jean-Joseph Mukendi
Tshisekedi's Political adviser
2) ANCC Jean Andeka Djamba makes history: First candidate to file to run for president
Jean Andeka Djamba
Chairman of Alliance des Nationalistes Croyants Congolais (ANCC)
Filing to run for president
Kinshasa, CENI headquarters
Friday, August 2, 2011
Photo: John Bompengo/Radio Okapi
ANCC chairman Jean Andeka Djamba made history on Friday, August 2, by being the first candidate to file to run for president at the national headquarters of CENI in Kinshasa. Andeka is most certainly a true believer as the name of his party indicates ("croyants" = believers) to bet $50,000 of non-refundable deposit on this fool's errand.
Now, the comment I'm about to make has nothing to do with politics, it's about fashion, if that. If you look closely at the sleeve of the presidential candidate's suit, just above where the shirt sticks out, you'll notice that it still has the store tag of the designer's griffe. Congolese keep that tag to telegraph to people around them that they can afford to shop at expensive European boutiques! I've even seen young women and men keep the price tag at the collar of their blouses, shirts, and jeans to show that they weren't bought at some cheap thrift store...
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