Kabila sworn in Prez with Robert Mugabe in attendance

The swearing-in ceremony of Joseph Kabila as DRC president took place
this morning at the Cité de l'Union Africaine, in Ngaliema Commune, in
Kinshasa. The ceremony was carried out live by RTNC, the
government-owned broadcasting system.

Besides the Western ambassadors accredited to Kinshasa (including the
US Ambassador), Zim Prez Robert Mugabe was the only head of state in
attendance. The other remarkable guests included the South African
Foreign Minister, the prime ministers of South Sudan and Rwanda as
well as representatives of other African countries.

Presidential candidates Dr Oscar Kashala and Léon Kengo wa Dondo were
also present--the latter in the capacity of President of the outgoing
Senate. CENI board members were present--with the notable exception of
their chair, Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda.

Another glaring absence was that of Kinshasa Cardinal Laurent Mosengwo
who had deemed CENI results fake. The Catholic prelate is conveniently
at the Vatican on official Church business trip.

In his inaugural address, Kabila bemoaned the "wild promises inderlied
by heinous speeches" uttered by some presidential candidates. This is
a not so veiled allusion to presidential candidate Etienne Tshisekedi
who kept describing Kabila as a Rwandan citizen throughout the
preaidential campaign.

In fact, Tshisekedi doesn't recognize the re-election of Kabila and
has vowed to have his own swearing-in ceremony on Friday at Tata
Raphaël Stadium, the venue of the historic Rumble-in-the-jungle boxing
match. No one knows how Tshisekedi could possibly stage this Mexican
standoff. The stadium is surrounded by army tanks and his Limete
neighborhood is sealed by cops. Besides, Kinois, who paid a hefty
price in the wake of the publication of the election results (the
official death toll stands at 10 victims), want to put this election
controversy behind them and move on.