DATE=9/20/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CONGO / REBELS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254088
BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS
DATELINE=LODJA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Rebels in Congo have done a better job at
gaining ground in the civil war than they have
done gaining the trust of civilians. As V-O-A's
Scott Stearns reports, rebels are trying to
improve their image.
/// OPENS WITH CHURCH MUSIC, ESTABLISH AND FADE
UNDER TEXT ///
TEXT: Like any good politician, Lambert Mende
makes sure to stop by church. Shaking hands with
childhood friends and huddling with civic elders,
Mr. Mende is here in his hometown of Lodja to try
and drum-up support for Congo's year-long
rebellion.
As spokesman for one of the main rebel groups,
Mr. Mende has come to Kasai Province to explain
why the country is again in conflict.
It is not easy to sell war so soon after the
last one. Rebels dumped long-time Zairian
dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko, just two years ago.
Now they want to get rid of his replacement,
Laurent Kabila.
Many civilians resent this rebellion because they
see it as an attempt by Rwanda and Uganda to
expand their influence in Congo. Both countries
support rebels here and are actively involved in
regional mediation.
But most civilians are just tired, tired of war,
tired of struggling to earn a living, tired of
people telling them they are fighting to make
things better.
Mr. Mende knows that putting the best face on
this rebellion is not easy.
/// MENDE ACT ///
I think that one should not talk of
popularity or `inpopularity' as far as
liberation war is concerned. A war is not
an electoral process, is not an electoral
exercise. It is a decision that is taken
often by a minority of conscious people who
decide that a problem has attained a level
of blockade where only arms, only struggle
can resolve it.
/// END ACT ///
/// MUSIC, UP UNDER, ESTABLISH, AND FADE UNDER
TEXT ///
Mr. Mende's public relations campaign includes
its share of pomp - local leaders turning out to
give him some goats, holding a question and
answer session with women's groups, visiting his
old school. At each stop, Mr. Mende tries to
make the case that only this rebellion has forced
President Kabila to agree to political change -
that without this war, there would never have
been plans for a national political dialogue or
elections.
/// SECOND MENDE ACT ///
Now people are happy in Congo to hear that
there is going to be a national dialogue.
After that there are going to be elections,
free and fair elections. People are
enjoying it. But this is so because a group
of people, a minority, braved
`impopularity' by deciding to fight Kabila.
/// END ACT ///
Those elections are still a long way off and
Congolese want changes now. Martin Rogenda sells
rusty hinges in Lodja's central market.
/// ROGENDA ACT, IN FRENCH, ESTABLISH AND FADE
UNDER TEXT ///
Mr. Rogenda says he has not seen any changes from
any of Congo's rebellions. He says what people
need is a change in their standard of living.
Consumer prices are rising in Lodja. If rebels
want people to like them, Mr. Rogenda says they
should start by bringing those prices down.
Rebels are trying to do just that by increasing
air transport between Lodja and rebel
headquarters in the town of Goma. That should
improve the supply of consumer goods
traditionally found farther west in what remains
government-controlled areas.
Mr. Mende's biggest asset in boosting rebel
popularity may be the lawlessness with which
president Kabila's forces withdrew from Lodja.
Albert Mumbula is secretary of the Baptist-run
society for development in Sankuru District. He
says people here were relieved to see the rebels
if only because it meant that the government army
was gone.
/// MUMBULA ACT ///
When people were tired of Mobutu, then
Kabila's men came here, and people tried to
forget little by little the pain they had
during Mobutu's time. When the second war
started, then Kabila's men started to make
people suffer and loot things. We were not
at ease at all.
/// END ACT ///
It is Mr. Mende's job to put civilians at ease,
to reassure them that this war will deliver real
change. He has got a lot of work to do. (Signed)
NEB/SS/GE/LTD/KL
20-Sep-1999 08:11 AM EDT (20-Sep-1999 1211 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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