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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

DRC: Swearing-in of transitional government delayed

KINSHASA, 29 May 2003 (IRIN) - The swearing in of a transitional government in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been postponed because of an argument over the composition of the national army, the government said on Wednesday.

The ceremony would have seen four vice-presidents installed to serve under President Joseph Kabila. It was due to have taken place on Thursday, 29 May, according to a timetable drawn up by the national follow-up committee, the body charged with the establishment of various institutions of a two-year transitional government.

The largest rebel group, Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), temporarily withdrew from the follow-up committee on 22 May after it accused the government of trying to keep the post of head of army for itself, and of wanting to control the majority of military regions.

Committee spokesman Atanase Matenda told IRIN that the swearing-in could not take place until the problem of the army was resolved.

"But we are obliged to reach an agreement," Matende said. "The absence of RCD-Goma representatives is a big obstacle to the process," he added.

Matenda said the committee had decided to send a delegation to Goma to reconcile the differences. But RCD-Goma leaders have yet to say whether they will meet the delegation.

"We have not yet been informed officially of the delegation's visit and we do not yet know what answer we will give," Jean-Pierre Lola Kisanga, the RCD-Goma spokesman, told IRIN.

All parties to the conflict in the DRC signed a peace agreeement on 2 April in Sun City, South Africa, designed to end more than four years of fighting. The agreement allowed for a two-year transitional period, after which elections would be held.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Governance

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