VZCZCXRO1296
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0535/01 1691241
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171241Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8133
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 02 KINSHASA 000535 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS KPKO CG UN
SUBJECT: GOMA NOTES 06/08/08: CONGOLESE DDR CHIEF BRIEFS 
INTERNATIONAL FACILITATION 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Congolese DDR chief Alphonse Ntumba Luaba 
briefed International Facilitation representatives June 7 and 8 on 
the ability of the GDRC's program to address Goma and Nairobi 
process DDR requirements.  The program is budgeted at $75 million; 
Ntumba anticipates that the World Bank and African Development Bank 
will begin allocating funds in the near future.  Mobile DDR teams 
should be ready to deploy around July 4 and begin processing around 
July 7.  Under an alternate proposal, the Facilitation will approach 
donors about funding fixed transit centers.  Ntumba expects an 
estimated 172,000 persons to participate in either brassage or DDR. 
Near-term challenges include:  initial funding of $4 million will 
only cover approximately 4,000 ex-combatants; and 1,000 people, 
principally Mai-Mai, have spontaneously congregated at MONUC bases 
in the Grand Nord region of North Kivu claiming they are ready to 
disarm.  End summary 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Alphonse Ntumba Luaba, head of the Congolese national DDR 
program (PNDDR), briefed representatives of the International 
Facilitation in Goma June 7 and 8 on the program's readiness to 
address Goma and Nairobi process DDR and brassage issues. 
 
Finance 
------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Ntumba reported that the Congolese program will cost $75 
million.  Most of the funding will be provided by two multilateral 
development banks:  $50 million in international development 
assistance (IDA) funds from the World Bank MDRP program, and $22.5 
million from the African Development Bank (ADB) for reintegration 
programs.  The Congolese government will provide $2.5 million in 
counterpart funds.  According to current projections, the MDRP plans 
to release a first tranche of $4 million in Project Preparation 
Facility funds during the last two weeks of June. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Ntumba noted that MDRP will not cover Congolese combatants 
on foreign soil (the World Bank has another fund for this caseload), 
FDLR combatants or transit and orientation centers (mobile DDR teams 
are envisioned instead).  Facilitation representatives agreed to 
approach donors in Kinshasa to determine interest in financing 
construction of transit and orientation centers.  Mobile DDR teams 
will be ready to deploy around July 4, with processing envisioned to 
begin around July 7.  However, Ntumba stressed that the Amani 
program's Joint Commission on Peace and Security (CTMPS) will make 
the final decision on when the DDR and brassage processes would 
begin. 
 
Numbers 
------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Ntumba estimated that a total of 172,000 combatants will 
participate in either brassage or DDR through the program.  He 
expects 132,000 will pass through a full cycle:  56,000 in DDR, 
79,000 in brassage for integration into the FARDC.  Of these, he 
anticipates 80,000 will come from the FARDC, 35,000 from Kivu armed 
groups, 2,000 from the FDLR (Congolese members), 9,000 Congolese 
combatants in foreign territory and 6,000 northern Katanga Mai-Mai 
fighters.  (Note:  Consensus in Goma is that armed groups in fact 
total some 20-25,000 fighters.  End note.)  The other 40,000 have 
already disarmed and demobilized, but yet to go through 
reintegration. 
 
Operations 
---------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In terms of how the program would operate, Ntumba 
explained that combatants would first present themselves at MONUC or 
FARDC bases where they would be disarmed and given a disarmament 
certificate.  Mobile teams would then deploy to areas with 
concentrations of disarmed combatants to process them for 
participation in the program.  Ex-combatants choosing DDR will be 
given $140 and told to return home to await additional processing by 
the mobile teams.  They will also receive stipends of $25 per month 
for 12 months as well as an individual reintegration package, the 
same as other ex-combatants have received in previous programs. 
Those choosing army integration will be transported by the FARDC to 
brassage centers. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Facilitation representatives presented various views of 
the proposal during the two meetings.  MONUC Eastern Division 
Commander General Bikram Singh advocated for fixed transit centers 
at the June 7 meeting.  He said that if combatants surrender their 
arms and are told to go home to wait for the mobile teams, they will 
refuse, citing security concerns.  It is more likely they will 
demand to stay at MONUC bases.  This would create a demand for food 
and shelter that MONUC can not accommodate. 
 
KINSHASA 00000535  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Singh noted that MONUC wants to encourage immediate and 
ongoing desertion from the armed groups, but this will not happen if 
their food, shelter, and security needs can not be immediately 
addressed.  On the other hand, as SRSG Chief of Staff John Almstrom 
and World Bank MDRP representative Harald Hinkel noted the expense 
of reorientation and transit centers and predicted that 
ex-combatants would often simply remain for lengthy periods there of 
time, creating additional food, shelter, and security issues. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Ntumba noted that the "one man, one gun" principle will be 
an eligibility requirement for the program; in fact, it is required 
under the government's DDR agreement with the World Bank.  Under 
this principle, only someone who surrenders a firearm in working 
order, a land mine, a grenade, a radio or a certain amount of 
ammunition is eligible for the program.  Presentation of a heavy 
weapon, ("collective" weapons, in the jargon of the program) can 
make 3-10 fighters eligible.  Those who do arrive for processing 
without any such weapons will be by definition presumed to be 
non-combatants. 
 
Challenges 
---------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Discussion at the June 8 meeting also focused on the 
problem of 1,000 people, principally from Mai-Mai groups, who have 
congregated at MONUC bases in North Kivu's Grand Nord region 
claiming they are ready to disarm and enter brassage or DDR. 
Facilitation representatives agreed on the need to come up with an 
emergency financial and operational plan to address this.  Ntumba 
said the mobile teams could be ready to deploy for this purpose when 
needed. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Discussion also highlighted a number of other issues and 
problems: 
 
-- MDRP's initial $4 million disbursement will cover only some 4,000 
ex-combatants. 
 
-- The defense ministry has informally agreed to eligibility of 
Congolese FDLR for the program.  Taking the decision public will 
probably require a more formal determination.  MONUC's DDRRR office 
strongly supports this proposal as a potentially powerful magnet to 
draw them away from the larger group. 
 
-- Facilitation representatives suggested asking Nkunda to send his 
fighters directly to a DDR or brassage center.  CNDP fighters would 
not then have to be processed by a mobile team or in an orientation 
center. 
 
-- A/S Frazer's Senior Adviser Tim Shortley highlighted the 
importance of calculating a realistic timeline for completion of 
brassage that can be presented to Nkunda.  This would recognize that 
each of the six brassage centers can accommodate only 3,500 people, 
which can include no more than 30 per cent from any one group.  In 
addition, it must account for the approximately three-month brassage 
process and potentially lengthy transport time to and from the 
centers. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Comment:  Mobile teams have been used successfully in 
past DDR programs in the DRC.  In the absence of fixed orientation 
and transit centers, they could be used in the Amani program for all 
groups except perhaps CNDP, PARECO, FRF and the Yakatumba Mai-Mai. 
The idea of "one-man, one-gun" has been applied in the DRC only in 
the case of Ituri DDR Phase 3.  If enforced rigorously, it could 
exclude many -- perhaps 80 per cent -- of claimed Mai-Mai members. 
End comment. 
 
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