Pretoria - The United States has on Tuesday, called on South Africa to use its special influence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to prevent this week’s explosion of political violence there spinning out of control.
Tom Perriello, US Special Envoy to the Great Lakes said there was a brief opportunity between now and December 19 — when DRC President Joseph Kabila is supposed to stand down — for South Africa and other countries to try to influence events.
He noted that South Africa had extra clout in the DRC — and in neighbouring Burundi where a 17-month-long crisis is still raging — because of its long and active engagement in resolving previous conflicts in both countries.
This was the moment for South Africa and other African leaders to engage decisively in the DRC while there was still hope of resolving the crisis though the chances had diminished since Monday’s violence.
The opposition said about 50 people have been killed while the government has put the figure at 17, including some policemen, since violence erupted on Monday when the Congolese authorities failed to announce a date for new presidential elections.
They were obliged to do so on that date, which is three months before Kabila should stand down after serving his constitutionally-limited two terms.
Briefing African journalists by phone from Washington, Perriello would not say outright that it was now clear that Kabila had no intention of stepping down at all.
But he did say that Kabila could have avoided the violence which erupted on Monday if he had announced any time over the last year that he was ready to hand over power.
Perriello said the government’s crackdown on peaceful opposition protests had also helped provoke Monday’s violence. Perriello has just returned from ten days in Kinshasa where he tried to help the government and opposition negotiate a resolution to the growing crisis.
He was manhandled and insulted at the airport as he flew out, prompting strong protests from Washington.
Last week Kabila’s justice minister Alexis Thambwe Mwamba and some opposition members announced a plan to form an interim government, including members of the opposition, to run the country until elections were held mid-2017.
But the electoral commission’s failure to announce an election date on Monday suggested the plan had failed. Asked if the US had supported it, Perriello said there were many difference proposals and election timelines bouncing around in Kinshasa last week.
The US just wanted elections as soon as possible and its technical advisers had said these were possible in 2017. Elections should have been held by November to enable a new president to take office from Kabila by the December 19 deadline.
But the DRC government has been dragging its feet, claiming that an obsolete voters roll could not be updated by that time, or that local and provincial elections had to be held before the presidential elections, which would push back the timetable.
Perriello said the US was ready to impose sanctions on individuals responsible for violence or frustrating democracy.
But he also said the situation could be rescued and appealed to both sides to tone down their tactics and their rhetoric to make that possible. He held both sides responsible but attributed most of the blame to the government, mainly for its violation of human rights, including suppression of legitimate dissent.
African News Agency