The Courier

Supporters of the incumbent president, Joseph Kabila, at the voting station at St Anne Cathedral in Kinshasa.

Photo Tiggy Ridley. Credit IRIN news service.

The appointment of the new government on February 24 by 295 of the 397 elected representatives present in the National Assembly was a major event for the Congolese people. Firstly, it is the first democratically elected government in more than 40 years. Secondly, due to the internal tensions within the transitional team – some of whose members fought each other during the election campaign – the country had been without a cabinet for the previous six months.

A distinctive feature of this new government is that it brings together several generations of Congolese politicians. They range from the veteran of the struggle for independence, 80 year-old Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga (a compatriot of the late Patrice Lumumba) to the heirs of the leading players who helped shape an independent Congo. Joseph Kabila, son of the late Laurent-Désiré Kabila, was elected by 57% of the votes cast in the second round. He is now in the same camp as the son of former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, François Joseph Nzanga Mobutu, appointed Agriculture Minister in the new Congolese government.

A voluntarist policy

In bringing together the sons of figures who were as fiercely opposed as Mobutu and Kabila, the new government is the inevitable result of  compromise.

But it is a compromise in terms of the views expressed during the election campaign. Not surprisingly, the programme the Prime Minister presented to the National Assembly on February 22nd recognised that “the interaction of the free market can serve as an instrument for growth.” Given that the Finance Minister is none other than the former head of the Federation of Congolese Companies, Athanase Matenda, such an approach is what one would expect. At the same time, the government programme underlines that market mechanisms must be tempered by a political will founded on the “values of socialism”: solidarity, distributive justice and equal opportunity. The result is that the model advocated is markedly centrist – that of a “social market economy,” as described by the Prime Minister himself.

As a consequence of seeking to include several political persuasions, this new government was described as “overmanned” by its critics. It has 60 members, including six Ministers of State, 34 Ministers and 20 deputy Ministers. President Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) and its allies control a majority of the important economic posts (Energy, Finance, Industry, Economy, Infrastructure, Public Works and Reconstruction). However, Antoine Gizenga’s United Lumumbist Party obtained Mines and the Budget and the strategic Justice posts. To satisfy everybody, a large number of portfolios and a number of ministries (Energy and Hydrocarbons, Social Affairs and National Solidarity) were divided up. This brings the risk of overlapping responsibilities, which explains why in May the President of the Republic issued an edict to clarify the respective competences of each ministry.

That said, the mission assigned to the government is to get to work in the five fields of reconstruction defined by President Joseph Kabila in his inaugural speech of December 6th: infrastructure to open up the country and relaunch agriculture with a view to ensuring food security, education, employment, water and electricity, and health. The aim is to consolidate the peace, build State structures, relaunch the economy, combat poverty and social inequalities, and also restore “family and moral values.” In doing so, the Prime Minister plans to restore transparent management to the offices of public finances and natural resources. The revision of the ‘one-sided’ mining contracts concluded during the two wars (1996–1997 and 1998–2003) and the forest concessions awarded following the 2002 moratorium will serve as test cases of the ability to reform.

This leaves the issue of raising the resources for this ambitious programme. The government plans to increase expenditure from 15.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006 to 29% in 2009. The total costs of the programme for the 2007-2011 period is set at US$14.3 billion, US$6.9 billion of which will come from the Congolese State’s own resources and the rest (US$7.4 billion) from external aid.

Signs of easing tensions

The mobilisation of foreign aid is dependent on agreeing on a new programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that suspended its funding on March 31, 2006 due to the failure of the State to meet performance targets and the non-implementation of structural and sectoral reforms by the transitional government. The new government recognises that the economic reform programme (‘Programme relais de consolidation’), which aimed to put the Congolese economy back on track so as to reinitiate IMF funding under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Programme, was not executed satisfactorily. The new government believes that “very strong signals” must be sent to the population as well as its partners.

At the political level, the new government will have the task of easing a climate still under a cloud of the clashes of March 22–23 between the personal guards of presidential election loser Jean-Pierre Bemba – loathe to demobilise his men – and government forces. European diplomats in Kinshasa estimate that between 200 and 600 were killed in the fighting and condemned a “premature use of force” on the government side, after European Development Commissioner Louis Michel had said that there must be “no private militias outside the regular army”.

There have recently been some signs of an easing of tension. Since Jean-Pierre Bemba left for Portugal on April 11 – officially for health reasons – tensions have perceptibly decreased in Kinshasa. On April 25, elected representatives of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) and their allies from the Organisation for Democracy and Reconstruction (ODER) have put an end to their boycott of the National Assembly, which they had justified on the grounds of intimidation. While a section of the opposition condemned the presidential camp for taking control of the State on May 11, it was former President Mobutu’s former Prime Minister, Leon Kengo wa Dondo (an opposition candidate and Senate President-elect) who was called on to become interim Head of State in the case of a power vacuum. Seemingly, anything can happen in the Congo.

The Congolese government

President of the Republic: Joseph Kabila Kabange

Prime Minister: Antoine Gizenga Funji

Ministers of State:

Agriculture: François Joseph Mobutu Nzanga Ngangawe
Home Affairs, Regional Affairs and Security: General Denis Kalume Numbi
Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi
Higher and University Education: Sylvain Ngabu Chumbu
Infrastructure, Public Works and Reconstruction: Pierre Lumbi Okongo
Minister of State to the Presidency: Nkulu Mitumba Kilombo

Ministers:

Minister to the Prime Minister: Godefroid Mayobo Mpwene National Defence and Veterans' Affairs: Chikez Diemu Justice: Georges Minsay Booka Planning: Olivier Kamitatu Etsu Regional Integration: Ignace Gata Mavinga Finance: Athanase Matenda Kyelu Budget: Adolphe Muzito Portfolio: Jeanine Mabunda Lioko National Economy: Sylvain Joël Bifilwa Tchamwala Information, Press and Communication: Toussaint Tshilombo Send Industry: Simon Mboso Kiamputu Foreign Trade: Denis Mbuyu MangaSmall and Medium-sized Enterprises: Jean François Ekofo Panzoko Transport and Communication: Rémy Henri Kuseyo Gatanga Rural Development: Charles Mwando Nsimba Primary, Secondary and Vocational Education: Macaire Mwangu Famba Scientific Research: Sylvanus Mushi Bonane Public Health: Victor Makwenge Kaput Mines: Martin Kabwelulu Labilo Energy: Salomon Banamuhere Hydrocarbons: Lambert Mende Omalanga Employment and Social Security: Marie-Ange Lukiana Mufwankol Civil Service: Zéphyrin Mutu Diambu-di-Lusala Social Affairs and National Solidarity: Martin Bitijula Mahimba Women's Affairs: Philomène Omatuku Atshakawo Akatshi Youth and Sport: Pardonné Kaliba Mulanga Land: Liliane Pande MuabaUrban Planning and Housing: Laurent-Simon Ikenge Lisambola Postal, Telephone and Telecommunication Services: Kyamusoke Bamusulanga Environment: Didace Pembe Bokiaga Tourism: Elias Kakule Mbahingana Culture and the Arts: Marcel Malenso Ndodila Human Rights: Eugène Lokwa IlwalomaHumanitarian Affairs: Jean-Claude Muyambo Kyassa

New decentralisation in the Congo

Like some of its neighbours, the Democratic Republic of Congo has opted for the devolution of power as a way of ensuring grassroots development. However, the Constitution speaks of two types of States. It ushers in a kind of constitutional regionalism – a sort of disguised form of federalism – if the relationship between the central State and Provinces are analysed. It also refers to decentralised entities: the city, the municipality, the sector and the leadership, each of which has its own legal personality and enjoys more independence than previously in the management of their own resources.

Hand-in-hand with this constitutional regionalisation of the Congolese State is a plan to share out the funds available in the national treasury. This works out to be 60% for the central government and 40% for the provinces (which are entitled to retain their own funds). Under this system, the provinces can secure funding within a short space of time, whereas given that taxation is a national issue, the central State holds the power to ensure the revenue is fairly distributed.

There is nonetheless considerable concern that this revenue-sharing arrangement might create major disparities amongst the provinces. Of most concern is that the equalisation fund – enshrined in the Constitution – will not manage to bridge gaps in development between the provinces.

National before provincial laws

The power-sharing formula lists the responsibilities that are devolved exclusively to the central government or to the provincial authorities. This same constitutional text also specifies the concurrent competences of the central government and the provinces. In future, this detailed list of powers could run into trouble due to the precise definitions, particularly in ever developing sectors like telecommunications. Under the constitutional arrangements, a provincial assembly may not encroach upon the central powers, nor may the National Assembly or the Senate infringe upon provincial areas of influence. However, the National Assembly or Senate may devolve powers to the provinces or vice versa, while the authority to exercise these powers continues until the assigning power decides otherwise. Not an easy relationship! Then, any rules adopted from this delegation of authority continue to apply until new ones have been passed. In the case of concurrent jurisdiction, national legislation takes precedence over provincial, while any provincial laws found to be out-of-step with the national laws and regulations are automatically invalidated where there is inconsistency. Whatever form the State proposed by the Constitution takes under the Congo’s new decentralisation process (and as illustrated, it is extremely complex) it is still up to the men and women appointed to the regionalised or decentralised institutions to carry out their duties in the sole interests of the Congolese people.

Bob Kabamba*

* Bob Kabamba is a political scientist at the University of Liege and a visiting researcher at the University of Kinshasa's Research Centre in Constitutional Law.