Africa News Digest
U.S. Asst. Secretary of State for Africa Kansteiner Is Out
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Walter Kansteiner has resigned. He "confirmed that he has informed Secretary of State Colin Powell of his intention to leave within the next few weeks," according to Reed Kramer, writing in allAfrica.com Oct. 1. But it looks like he was either fired or forced out: His reason for leaving is that "my two children need a father in their lives." And, his departure coincides with a change of ambassadors to Pretoria and Abuja.
Stephen Hayes, president of the Corporate Council on Africa, would "like to see increased focus on seeking better relations with two of the continent's big powers, Nigeria and South Africa," Kramer writes.
EIR notes that Kansteiner has strong ties with the neocon/synarchist crowd, and tension between him and Powell was visible at the time of President Bush's July visit to Africa: Powell was at first not scheduled to go, leaving Kansteiner as Bush's chief adviser.
Charles Snyder, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, is considered a leading candidate to replace Kansteiner, says Kramer. Snyder was an African specialist in the Army, and apparently later in the CIA. Snyder is "one of the few officials in the Bureau of African Affairs to have sound training in military and intelligence affairs," says Africaintelligence.com, a French firm catering to business. In contrast, Kansteiner came to his post from Tate and Lyle, the international sugar firm, and had been advising speculators in negotiations to buy up privatized, formerly state-run firms in Africa, EIR files show.
Kansteiner told Kramer he was proud of "how we've been able to help African countries court the private sector," thus convicting himself of playing a role like Halliburton's Dick Cheney is doing in Iraq, in Africa.
Zambian Government: Abandon World Bank and Turn to Asia
The only way out of poverty and exploitation is to get away from World Bank prescriptions, and try dialogue with the Asian economies that have thrived on private partnership projects (PPP), said Dipak Patel, Zambian Commerce, Trade, and Industry Minister, in an interview with The Post (Lusaka) Oct. 2. The economies to which he referred were Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, and India. Patel made this observation in Tokyo after his address at the third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which ended Oct. 1.
"The only window we have for cheap money for infrastructural development in the world is the World Bank, but from their pledge today, the World Bank's US $1.6 billion for 48 African countries is insignificant, and the World Bank cannot match money with their rhetoric," he said.
The Post continues, "Patel said most delegates applauded when the World Bank's vice-president for Africa Pamela Cox made the announcement, in a closed-door discussion with African ministers, without putting reality to the figure. 'But I put it to Pamela that if we divide that amount, it would be insignificant. It cannot even build a road from Kabulonga to the city center [of Lusaka],' he said."
Patel added that there had to be regulatory mechanisms for the private partners that should be fixed, competent, and strengthened.
World Bank Is Not the Place to Look for Help for Africa, Japanese Grant Shows
The World Bank can only offer Africa new loan money of US $1.6 billion, but Japan, by itself, is offering Africa a $1 billion grant and $3 billion in debt relief. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced the grant to Africa at the third Tokyo International Conference on African Development. Japan has also promised to cancel debts of African Highly Indebted Poor Countries in the amount of US $3 billion. In Tokyo, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa told the Times of Zambia (Ndola) Oct. 1, "I am particularly pleased to note that the money will also promote investment through the enhancement of Asia-Africa cooperation, to which I am very keen that Zambia participates." The Times added, "The President said he would continue to fight the plunder of the country's resources."
Zambia Invites Kubota to Open a Tractor Plant in Africa
Zambian President Mwanawasa has invited Kubota Tractor Corporation to carry out a market study in Zambia with an eye to establishing a plant to serve Africa, according to the Times of Zambia (Ndola) Oct. 2. Kubota Corporation Machinery International's Operations General Manager Makoto Ooka and two of his senior officials paid a courtesy call on Mwanawasa at his Tokyo hotel room. Mwanawasa said investment by Kubota in Zambia, or any other place in Africa, would promote the South-South cooperation advocated by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Mr. Ooka said his company currently has no plans for a plant in Africa because there would have to be a minimum demand of 50,000 tractors per year, which does not exist in Africa at present. Kubota at present only has one plant in Japan and one in the United States.
President Mwanawasa said that if companies such as Kubota declined to invest in Africa, it would be difficult for the continent to develop.
Mwanawasa also had meetings with officials of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and of Direct Action for African Development.
EIR notes that mechanizing agriculture in Africa is the obvious way to break the cycle of AIDS deaths, leading to fewer agricultural workers, leading to less food production and more malnutrition, leading to more AIDS deaths.
Kenyan President Feted in Washington, Gets Carrot and Stick
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki is the first African head of state to be honored with a state dinner by the Bush Administration, but the honor is a dubious one. Kibaki met Bush, Rumsfeld and other officials Oct. 6 in the Oval Office. Later he met U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios. He had separate meetings with Treasury Secretary John Snow and Colin Powell. The state dinner took place that evening.
The carrot: Kenya will get most of the $100 million earmarked for the East Africa counter-terrorism initiative. The stick: Despite all of the ceremony, Bush informed Kibaki that his Administration is not ready to lift the advisory against travel to Kenya (even though an independent security rating service gives Kenya a much higher score than many countries for which no travel advisory exists: is there a travel advisory against Israel?). Bush cited the Mombasa bombing of almost a year ago! For Kenya, tourism is a major source of foreign exchange.
No doubt, the travel advisory will remain until Kenya does the bidding of the Cheneyacs: What happened to the Kibaki government's bill for tearing up due process for those suspected of terrorism? Is it stuck in Parliament? A regular feature of Anglo-American wire stories on this theme is the line that, "Kenya has yet to convict anyone for the terrorist incident of last November or the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy."
Kenyan editorials have sometimes made the point that Kenya doesn't have a terrorism problem: The U.S., by its choice of policies, has made itself a target for terrorists, and is now trying to use countries like Kenya as human shields.
Congolese Patriot Throws Light on Kagame's Game in Congo
An interview with Mueller Ruhimbika, published by Digitalcongo Aug. 15, helps to put recent alarms and excursions in Congo in perspective. Ruhimbika leads the Forces Republicaines et Federalistes (FRF), an organization of Rwandan-speaking Tutsi who have lived in eastern Congo for 100 years, see themselves as Congolese, and wish to expel Rwandan forces and influence. Excerpts, translated from French, follow.
Q: How do you see the situation in Congo...?
MR: Kagame has succeeded in getting his pawns accepted as Congolese rebels, who will be at the head of an armed force that is properly Congolese. These pawns will be able to play Kigali's game at the highest level of the government.... We must attempt, by debate, to break up the alliance between the people in the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD the Kagame organization in the Congo) and Kagame's Rwanda.
Kagame and his men are in charge in the Congo, and at the same time, he retains his military potential intact in the Congo. His military men are still at work in the East of our country. So, a question arises: Can the RCD, the political movement, really direct its "militia" to integrate into the national army? .... Remember that nearly 40% of RCD officers [are] at the same time, officially recognized as officers of the Rwandan Army (APR).
Q: Some people suggest the possibility of a coup by Kagame's men in Kinshasa.
MR: ...I believe that strategy has been abandoned.... I think the RCD is going to raise the maximum number of questions that it thinks have no answer, to prevent us from having a normal transition.... They hope that eventually Congolese are going to become resigned to expecting nothing from this government. This, they hope, will create a situation leading to an implosion. Kagame has a strategy for chaos in the Congo.
Does Congo have the economic and political capacity to enable a governmental machine with 56 ministers and more than 500 parliamentarians to function? Does our country have the capacity to integrate the numerous armed groups? How are we going to avoid having groups of bandits on the payroll of other countries? I think that Kagame is counting on the decay of political and economic conditions for achieving his coup. He wants a chaotic situation to prevent the authority of the government from making itself felt on the ground. With the same end in view, Kagame can revive ethnic conflicts in Kivu, follow an ethnic and divisive policy, as we are already seeing in Ituri.
LM: Could Kagame attempt to assassinate President Joseph Kabila?
MR: If that were done, it would be the shortest route to the breakup of Congo. Because it must be said: Joseph Kabila is the man of the hour. He did not eat at the Zairian table [i.e., he was not a creation of Mobutu]. It is he who has protected a unified Congo. And he enjoys the sympathy of the international community. The Congoleseabove all those of the Easttreasure Joseph Kabila in their hearts. In this context, his assassination would be too easily identified as the work of Kagame. I think that the strategy of Kagame is to let the situation rot, to prevent Kabila from bringing about a successful transition, and thus to destroy the large fund of sympathy for him in the population that he currently enjoys.
LM: Recently there was a big offensive of the RCD's army and of the Rwandan army, at Uvira and on the high and intermediate plateaus of Minembwe. You have an abundance of information from the field. What happened?
MR: There was actually a big attack of two brigades of 1,500 men each. According to the commanders of the forces resisting them, they were using arms that have never before been seen in this war. Commander Aron told us that two helicopters were brought in on two occasions. Only the Rwandan army has helicopters. The attack began at Bibokoboko, an isolated ensemble of 30 villages.
This was undoubtedly a message to the political leaders of rebel movements in [the government in] Kinshasa. Rwanda's message was, Don't forget that we still have a military presence! At first, [RCD president Azarias] Ruberwa said that these were actions of "autonomous" brigades of the RCD, and so not bound by the Global Accord... Later, the same Ruberwa declared that the RCD had to defeat some Mai-Mai groups who are not signatories of the Accord that had undertaken some operations. Ruberwa said on another occasion that RCD troops must finish off negative forces, the Interahamwe and the Mai-Mai. It is clear that Kagame's objective is to liquidate all forms of resistance in the East. Then there will be no remaining obstacle to relaunching his aggression.
LM: Should Ruberwa be seen as the principal instrument of Kagame in Congo?
MR: I would not say that. I think that Ruberwa is actually the essential political instrument of Kagame in our country. Bizima [Bizima Karaha, Laurent Kabila's Foreign Minister, now a Deputy] has fallen into disgrace because he stole too much and because he is too unpopular in the Congo.... But in the military domain, Kagame relies on other RCD figures. And it was Kigali, not Goma, that decided to set up another militia, that of Mudundu 40.
Kagame has created a number of parallel political and military forces that are relatively independent of each other and whose strings are pulled from Kigali. Moreover, Kagame created the militias of Serufuli [Prof. Eugene Serufuli, RCD Governor of North Kivu Province] outside of the RCD.... Serufuli has 20,000 men under arms, of which a good number are Rwandan Hutus. A week ago, Serufuli received very sophisticated communications equipment. The person who sold it told one of our contacts, "These devices can only be intended for military use."
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