Rwanda & Congo Kinshasa
Investigations of resource exploitation in DRC war go ahead

afrol.com, 16 November - Rwandan President Paul Kagame yesterday evening met with Mrs. Safiatou Ba-N'Daw, Chairperson of a UN Panel of Experts investigating the connection between the war and economic exploitation of Congo Kinshasa (DRC). Kagame expressed his support and used the opportunity to clarify Rwanda's view on the war.

During the meeting, President Kagame expressed his appreciation of the fact that the UN investigation is taking place, according to Rwandan Government sources. 

In September this year, a UN panel of experts chaired by Safiatou Ba-N'Daw of Côte d'Ivoire started examining the illegal exploitation of natural resources and other forms of wealth in Congo Kinshasa (DRC). Especially Uganda and Rwanda have been accused by the parties of "looting" the far east of the country, while the Zimbabwe government is accused of supporting Kabila in exchange for resource exploitation concessions. 

The panel was named by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in mid-August, following a request by the Security Council. The Security Council had stated that it was "deeply concerned at the continuation of the hostilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the dire consequences of the conflict for the humanitarian situation and at reports of abuses of human rights and of illegal exploitation of that country’s natural resources."

Yesterday in Kigali, President Kagame noted that Rwanda "maintains a troop presence in the DRC in order to ensure the security of the country against cross-border attacks by militias based in the DRC." He repeated his earlier statements that Rwanda is committed to a complete troop withdrawal from the DRC once security guarantees have been provided in accordance with Lusaka Agreement. 

President Kagame challenged those who believe that Rwanda is in the DRC for economic reasons to address the security concerns to test Rwanda's commitment to a complete troop withdrawal. He accused those who are fueling the war and frustrating peace efforts of being the economic beneficiaries of the conflict. At earlier occasions afrol.com has reported about Kagame regretting that Rwanda's energies were still being diverted to security preoccupations. Six years later, after the genocide, "energies that should be focused on prosperity-creation and development are still drained by security preoccupations which stem from the misdeeds of yesteryear," the President told the OAU earlier this year.

Speaking to the press after the meeting, Mrs. Safiatou Ba-N'Daw pointed out that the UN panel hopes to complete and present its report to the UN Security Council within the mandate period of six months. She said that she would also be visiting Burundi, Zimbabwe and Angola to carry out investigations there. Ba-N'Daw has already headed visits by the panel to Uganda and the DRC.

Accusations of looting
Both sides in the conflict have accused each other for anything from exploitation of the Congo's resources to outright looting. In April, for example, the Zimbabwean ambassador to the UN, Tichaona Joseph Jokonya, accused Rwanda and Uganda of invading Congo and making her "the victim of armed violence because of the abundance of lootable resources". "Since August 1998, pillage of the country’s natural resources had been the major preoccupation of the Rwandese and Ugandan occupation forces in the eastern region," he went on.

Zimbabwe, a firm ally of Kabila's Congo, on the other hand is accused of being involved in the Congo fighting only because of the personal economic interest of president Mugabe and his closest. The powerful in Zimbabwe have indeed been given very lucrative concessions to exploit the natural resources in Congo by the contested president Kabila. Zimbabwe itself is spending enormous resources in maintaining heavy armed troops in Congo, at the increasing protest of local opposition.

Source: Based on Rwandan Government and UN sources

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