VZCZCXRO7289
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0438/01 1400558
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 190558Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8005
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 000438 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS KPKO CG BE
SUBJECT: GOMA NOTES - PARTNER'S PLAN FOR AMANI PROGRAM MOBILITY AND 
SECURITY 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Concerned that a crippled transportation 
infrastructure will slow down implementation of the Amani Program 
and humanitarian assistance, Father (also French: "Abbe") 
Apollinaire Malu Malu convened partners from MONUC and International 
Facilitation on April 20 to discuss improving critical roads in the 
Kivus.  It was the Malu Malu's first meeting with General Singh, who 
opened with a detailed security briefing that stole the spotlight 
from roads but gave Malu Malu a chance to probe MONUC's battle 
strategy. Malu Malu fears that military pressure would incite the 
FDLR to attack civilian communities, and asked the General if there 
is a population protection strategy in place.  Singh answered that 
the military should move very slowly and be certain that the 
population is secure during all stages of an operation, which should 
also include "non-kinetic" options.  He agreed with the Abbe that 
all factions of PARECO and the Mai Mai are ready for brassage even 
if Nkunda does not move from his present positions.  As for roads, 
Malu Malu endorsed the partners' recommendations for urgent 
rehabilitation of the road between Sake-Masisi beginning early May, 
in large part to re-start the flow of blocked humanitarian aid.  He 
also urged immediate construction of a several barracks to house 
FARDC soldiers and their families.  In all cases, Malu Malu suggests 
that staff of provincial public works agencies be present when 
partners plan and execute road and related construction. End 
summary. 
 
The Threats to Order 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) General Singh drew a distinction between problems of law 
and order, and problems of public order. He believes the major 
problems of the present are in the law and order domain and require 
police attention more than military.  Yet the Amani program is still 
threatened by public order issues, including not only North and 
South Kivu armed groups but also the LRA.  In the event Joseph Kony 
does not sign any agreement favoring a peaceful resolution and if a 
breakaway faction forms and tries to return to the DRC, Singh said 
that MONUC would train a FARDC battalion to counter its advance. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Singh also has an eye on socio-economic factors that 
undermine stability, including a "youth bulge" of educated, 
frustrated young people in the population who could easily ignite a 
political brushfire.  Singh is less worried about Muslim groups in 
DRC, which he believes are probably not fundamentalist. 
 
MONUC's May-June Plan 
--------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Singh has prepared MONUC to act in the Kivus' four small 
theaters or triangles, using a three-pronged approach: 
"sensitization," DDR, and 8 FARDC battalions trained by MONUC and 
supported by 8 individual logistics/planning companies.  The 
battalions will stabilize the triangles and reassure the population, 
sowing new seeds of state authority.  He emphasized that no such 
operations can begin before the end of May, when all component units 
will have arrived in their areas of operation.  One concern that 
cannot be addressed during May is the return of demobilized Mai Mai 
and refugees from northern Katanga; these movements can add to 
public anxiety. Similarly, Amani sensitizers will not be able to 
reach out in underdeveloped areas west of the Kivus until the longer 
term. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Responding to Malu Malu's concerns, Singh said that MONUC 
will move slowly against the FDLR, being sure the population is 
secure at every stage of an operation.  He believes MONUC has not 
tried enough "non-kinetic" options to weaken FDLR in advance of any 
attack.  One approach is to isolate FDLR units, making them feel 
marginalized.  By this logic, Singh believes the proposed Kisangani 
meeting is counter-productive. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The General advised against sending untrained units into 
any area of responsibility at the present time.  Malu Malu nodded 
his agreement and used the opening to pitch his plan for 
constructing barracks for rehabilitated FARDC who should live, 
accompanied by their families, in the newly stabilized areas. 
 
Smoothing the Road 
------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Amani planners knew that the North Kivu government was 
already engaged on a roads improvement project when they met with 
the Roads Office on April 19.  They proposed collaboration with 
public authorities and told the Governor that the UN logistics 
cluster would bring needed technical cadre.  Malu Malu proposed that 
the provincial minister of public works participate fully and attend 
regular monthly meetings with the partners and Facilitation 
 
KINSHASA 00000438  002 OF 003 
 
 
beginning in June. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The first task will be a main road and secondary road 
mapping project.  Malu Malu realized that MONUC was the natural 
agency to solve some of the most pressing problems, notably security 
restraints that can not only block engineering work but also impact 
humanitarian measures.  Amani planners are paying most attention to 
the Masisi region, where the first job is to clean up priority 
stretches of road.  The team must be ready to begin clean up by the 
time of the June meeting, and must also outline a policy for 
long-term maintenance. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Malu Malu stated that repairing the roads is not just a 
matter of putting hardware and construction materials in place, but 
also is a challenge for inexperienced provincial administrators. 
Unfortunately, however, the existing provincial government plan for 
rehabilitating roads does not include any administrator training. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) A MONUC representative raised a further concern, pointing 
out that the current mapping exercise for armed groups reveals that 
the police and justice presence along the affected axis is very 
weak.  UN agencies may tap into Dutch funding to organize Security 
Sector Reform in Rutshuru territory. 
 
The Road Map 
------------ 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Malu Malu and the partners' top priority is access to the 
Sake-Masisi road because humanitarian assistance in Masisi is 
seriously blocked.  For funding reasons the solution might not be a 
new highway but a rehabilitated, existing road.  A USD 25 million 
grant from the Netherlands, and other aid from Sweden, will allow 
UNOPS to move forward quickly but that agency is still considering 
the best approach. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The Sake-Masisi road is virtually impassable beyond the 
20 km point.  Though the South African road battalion attempted to 
open it to trucks in the recent past, a north-south FARDC convoy 
from the 81st Brigade in mid-April took two hours to cover 8 
kilometers and one hour to negotiate the following 6 kilometers. 
Landslides block the road along its entire length.  There are ruts 
deep enough to hide a car.  The UNOPS representative believes that 
only a "heavy duty" contractor is equal to the job.  He proposed 
hiring such a company and arranging for it to give equipment 
training to local workers. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Elsewhere, work could begin immediately to restore a 
bridge on the Sake-Kichinga road.  North of Rutshuru town on the 
road to Ishasha, conditions are generally good but the program can 
employ local residents to correct some drainage problems using light 
equipment only, and should include a new building to house workers 
in Rutshuru. 
 
Hazardous Detour 
---------------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) UNOPS also advised that new police stations be built in 
Kindoni; in Bunia, where 600 prisoners occupy a space for 200; and 
in Masisi, where the police are now in borrowed facilities.  The 
existing construction plan calls for 22 police stations to be built 
from Ituri to North and South Kivu.  Malu Malu suspects that local 
officials might insert themselves in the land-allocation process for 
personal gain, and told UNOPS that he wanted to be present at any 
discussions involving the transfer of public land for road 
construction and municipal facilities.  Dishonest police officials 
pretend that they need to pay for their land to extract funds from 
donors.  Malu Malu said that such claims are not true. 
 
Gathering the Resources 
----------------------- 
 
¶15.  (SBU) The humanitarians' needs carry special weight for Malu 
Malu, and the WFP logistics coordinator named his three most urgent 
projects:  (a) Sake-Masisi, where  an emergency clean-up and repair 
operation should begin in early May, including heavy rocks for the 
roadbed. (b) A rehabilitation program for critical spots in 
collaboration with MONUC, drawing from USD 700,000 in South African 
funds.  The South African engineering force provides rock, culvert, 
and material for reinforcing slopes. (c) More extensive road 
rehabilitation addressing collapsed sections over which trucks 
cannot pass.  While waiting for this work to be completed, WFP is 
obliged to ask for airlift capacity. 
 
¶16.  (SBU) As there are today more than 400 metric tons of 
construction materials as well as humanitarian supplies to transport 
 
KINSHASA 00000438  003 OF 003 
 
 
on the Sake-Masisi axis and beyond, Gen. Singh proposed an 
unconventional solution.  We could revive the "lost art" of human 
portage over blocked areas, with local inhabitants earning a small 
wage to break down and carry even the heaviest materials in portable 
loads, though WFP might hesitate to entrust food to inadequately 
supervised porters.  A UNOPS engineer recalled that construction 
crews used this method along roads between Bunya and Kisangani in 
the last decade.  The participants agreed only to think about the 
plan. 
 
¶17.  (SBU) MONUC commented that above and beyond the USD 700,000 in 
funds, it is already working to provide support materials for both 
the South African and Indonesian engineering units.  Gen. Singh 
decided at once to create a regional engineering office at MONUC 
headquarters in Goma, to which RSA and Indonesian skilled personnel 
will be assigned to coordinate the urgent projects. 
 
¶18. (SBU) Abbe Malu Malu invited the participants to contact him for 
help in unblocking any problems.  He said that the Prime Minister 
puts a premium on state authority and the participation of the 
international community and traditional chiefs to restore it.  Malu 
Malu proposed a "sensitization" (awareness raising) meeting with the 
traditional chiefs to make them aware that they are the first line 
of state authority. 
 
¶19.  (SBU) Comment:  Not all partners found this meeting useful. 
USAID reps gave UNOPS low marks for a presentation that was random 
and incomplete, and did not inspire confidence that this project was 
in good hands. The UNDP rep did not have time to discuss critical 
infrastructure needs for restoration of justice and state authority, 
which are vital components of the Amani program.  DDRRR was not 
directly represented.  Yet General Singh's decision to create a 
centralized engineering office in Goma, already in process, signals 
MONUC's recognition that there are a few months left at best to 
accomplish Amani goals.  End comment. 
 
BROCK