Gazing in the Congo (DRC): the dark heart of Africa (new title)

[M-A Lagrange]

Firn,

Just as Stan said, you are most welcome to comment. My point was merely pointing out the fact that you and Stan are right but, as Stan said, this is sub-sahara Africa so they did the 2.0 revolution and you have access to modern communication. What was possible 30 years ago is just out dated today, even in the middle of the rainny forest (well, if you have the equipment).

Is it possible that the investors have encouraged the Mayi-Mayi Bakata to pay a visit? Or have the rebels simply spotted an opportunity to act?

David,

This is no opportunity act, in fact you have a complexe combinasion of events and "in the shadow" actors intervention which provocated the situation.
The Mayi-Mayi were litteraly invited in Lubumbashi by one of the secessionist politician leader, the actual chairman of the Katanga assembly who is against the decentralization and is from South where all the mines are located. But several high ranked individuals from Kabila ethnic familly (the balubakat) also helped the Mayi-Mayi because they want to oppose against the decentralization. Despite he denies it, General Numbi, who use to be head of air forces and police and is a Kabila close collaborator, is said to have host some of the Mayi-Mayi in his farm. The head of central bank, also a balubakat, is also said to have distributed money to the Mayi Mayi... That, because Balubakat are from Northern part of Kataga, a part of Katanga which has no mines. If decentralization is implemented, North Katanga will be left out with no mines revenues and the actual game for Katanga politicians is to access the mines revenues.

In addition, investors in Kataga are Chinese, US, UK, Indian, Canadian, French, Belgian... Basically messing with Lubumbashi is freaking out everybody. I think thatif investments are in danger Kabila believes the Legion will jump on Kolwezi once again to save his regime. I am affraid he got it completely wrong.

A ban on raw copper exports, without the necessary and efficient value-chain in place, which I highly doubt sets mighty incentives for all sorts of illegal activities both from the business side (smuggling & so forth) as well as the government side ( corruption & so forth). It did so in much more stable states, go figure what it could do in the DRC. Sounds like a pretty terrible and destructive approach for the (mining) economy, but I bet you are not surprised by that...

Firn,

Actually the Katanga governor, Moise Katumbi, one of the wealthiest man of DRC, just agrees with you:
UPDATE 2-Congo's copper province governor rejects export ban

The governor of Katanga, Congo's sole copper and cobalt mining province, said he would not enforce a new ban on the export of copper and cobalt concentrates, putting him on a collision course with the central government.

The mines and finance ministers signed a directive this month giving companies 90 days to clear their stocks of concentrate before the ban comes into effect, after which processing would have to be done in Congo or heavy payments made to the government.

"As the government of Katanga we reject this decision, and we will continue exporting," Moise Katumbi said by telephone. "Congo doesn't have enough electricity to process the finished product."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...0D53AN20130418

Who said once you touch the bottom you cannot go deeper down?

[Firn]

@Stan and M-A Lagrange, you do very well indeed to point out the situation on the ground as you witnessed it. I just try to frame the whole a bit mostly for my personal understanding.

Stan, I think your point about the lack of even relative weak political 'unit of action' shows the root cause of such surprising events like the takeover of an important city by a bunch of guys with AKs and machetes. As I said a small Greek polis would have been able to put, over 2500 years ago enough manpower into the field or on the walls to handle such an situation with great ease. In relative terms their capital spending on defense in general and equipment specifically would have been rather high but most important was the political will and (relative) unity.

Lagrange, if the political systems 'worked' in the way you described it the whole event is far easier to explain and fits well into the framework. In this case not only there seems to have been internal political disagreement but outright conflict with the infusion of (enemy) military means.

Nice catch about the copper ban. In our macro textbooks we have long discussion about efficient taxes with in modern market economies. In this case it seems more like an effort of the state to greatly weaken economically and politically the cobalt and copper reagion while getting some revenue in the short run. Moise Katumbi does certainly not want that and can support his refusal with obvious and sound economic thinking.

[M-A Lagrange]

From Stars and Stripes

Officers in Congo benefitting from mineral trade
Armed groups and high-ranking officers in the Congolese and Burundian armies are continuing to benefit from the illegal mineral trade in eastern Congo, despite international efforts to clean up the supply chain, according to a report published Tuesday by an environmental watchdog group.

Although there are signs of improvement in Congo's tin and tantalum sectors, the "progress remains localized," said the report by London-based Global Witness.

The gold trade in particular remains a problem. Because gold is easily smuggled across borders and proper checks are not carried out by local buyers in the Great Lakes region or by international traders, tons of the mineral mined in eastern Congo are smuggled to neighboring Burundi every year. Laundered through the Burundian local gold trade, the mineral is then exported to Dubai where it is bought by international traders, said the report.

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http://ap.stripes.com/dynamic/storie...m_medium=email

[Firn]

Manus manum lavat et aurum non olet. Some things will never disappear entirely from the face of this world.

Without knowing the situation on the ground I think that the chances to exclude especially gold from the supply chains running from eastern Kongo to Burundi are pretty slim. Demand and supply, easily ex- and interchangeable good. Kongolose gold once intermixed with one from Burundi won't smell much more differently and quite a few mine owners in Burundi might have found a quite distant gold mine on their own claim.

Lots of contacts and movement across the border which is certainly not under the central control of the gov. which should also have no power over the mines. Aren't they also rather closer to relative well internationally integrated market of Burundi? The infrastructure should be rather shabby and insecure in any direction raising transport costs a great deal.

[M-A Lagrange]

Without knowing the situation on the ground I think that the chances to exclude especially gold from the supply chains running from eastern Kongo to Burundi are pretty slim.

The funniest in that story is the fact that it is in Uganda that the real gold business is taking place. Gold in Uganda is supposed to come from Uganda and South Sudan, officially. They could also mention the moon, it would be as true.

Sad but true: training by the best of the best does not change anything in the field

US-trained Congolese battalion among units accused of rape

For U.S. diplomats and military officials who were involved in training a Congolese army unit, a troubling question loomed: Would the 391st Commando Battalion serve as protectors of the population or would they revert to acts of sexual violence once on the battlefield?

A United Nations report released this week indicates that their worst fears have been realized and that efforts at building up a Congolese unit of benevolent soldiers has failed.

The report, issued Wednesday by the United Nations Joint Human Rights Office, accused members of the 391st Commando Battalion — which was trained by special forces troops assigned to U.S. Africa Command — and other Democratic Republic of Congo troops of engaging in a range of atrocities, including the mass rape of women and young girls in eastern Congo.

http://www.stripes.com/news/africa/u...m_medium=email

[M-A Lagrange]

Or at least an end of the tunnel if no light.

Pressure Mounting on U.S. over Congo Violence

The U.S. House of Representatives is currently preparing to consider a bipartisan bill, unanimously passed by a subcommittee Wednesday, aimed at supporting international efforts to forge a peace deal in the long-running crisis in Congo.

The bill is an “important step forward in raising awareness within the U.S. Congress and among all Americans of this horrific and tragic crisis in the DRC,” Representative Karen Bass, one of the bill’s lead authors, told IPS.

“To date, this legislation has the support of nearly 60 Democrats and Republicans in the House and efforts are currently underway to introduce a similar piece of legislation in the Senate. It has also received significant support from the NGO community.”

Supporters say they expect that number to increase.

Recent months have also seen a strengthening of advocacy on the part of the Congolese diaspora here in Washington, as well as from the rest of the country and Canada. Legislators say this support has been key in helping the House bill gain the legislative backing it has.

One element of the new bill would respond to a longstanding key demand, urging the creation of a special envoy from the president to the DRC and the surrounding Great Lakes region.

“This legislation calls for such an envoy, and Secretary [John] Kerry, in testimony before both the House and the Senate, has indicated his plan to make an appointment,” Bass said.

“I am pleased that this effort is making progress and urge the secretary to move swiftly to make his decision and develop a comprehensive strategy that relies on diplomacy and engagement to address the complex set of issues that stand as barriers to peace and stability in the DRC and the region.”

http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/05/press...ongo-violence/

[carl]

Originally Posted by M-A Lagrange

Pressure Mounting on U.S. over Congo Violence

We will pass something that will make everybody feel very good about themselves, allow people to fly over and stay at that beautiful hotel on the lake in Bukavu (the name of which I forget) for weeks at a time and other than that nothing at all will change.

[carl]

Originally Posted by M-A Lagrange

Sad but true: training by the best of the best does not change anything in the field

US-trained Congolese battalion among units accused of rape

The problem is that training can't do it by itself if the leadership and entire ethos of the force remains the same. Stan mentioned an incident that illustrated this sometime back. It dealt with a guy who went to the States for training, did well and when he got back to Congo, he went back to being a Congolese soldier.

I flew some people into fairly remote spot once. They were going to conduct conflict resolution courses. I shook my head then and I had only been there a few months. But we continue to do the same. This quote from the Stars and Stripes story M-A cited.

"As part of the training effort, a sexual violence prevention program was created by a team of U.S. trainers that included AFRICOM experts."

We aren't really serious about doing something about the problem. We are serious about looking like we are doing something and feeling good about that. And careers. Somebody or several somebodys got promoted for creating and implementing that sexual violence prevention program.