U.S. offers $30M to Congo for upcoming elections

U.S Secretary of State John Kerry, center right, meets with election
officials in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sunday, May 4,
2014. (AP / Saul Loeb, pool)
Lara Jakes, The Associated Press
Published Sunday, May 4, 2014 9:26AM EDT
KINSHASA, Congo -- The United States is prepared to give Congo $30
million in aid for stability and democracy-building -- but wants
President Joseph Kabila to agree to step down at the end of his
current term in office, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said
Sunday.
Kerry said Congo's government also needs to schedule elections soon.
The vote is tentatively set for 2016, although a firm date has not yet
been set.
In a private Sunday meeting, Kerry said he urged Kabila to follow
Congo's constitution in the upcoming elections, which would prohibit
him from running for a third consecutive term as president.
It was not clear if Kabila agreed. Kerry also said he urged Kabila to
lift a freeze on international adoptions of Congolese orphans.
"It is important to the people to be able to know what the process is,
to have confidence in that process," Kerry told reporters after the
meeting. "The sooner the process is announced, the sooner that the
date is set, the sooner people have an ability to be able to
participate. And we believe it ought to be done in keeping with the
constitutional process of the country."
Reached for comment, Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende said the
constitution would be respected, but also suggested it could be
revised.
"Concerning the deadline for elections, our constitution has articles
that can be revised in the case of unforeseen events," Mende said. He
added that it was too early to discuss elections.
"To speak of this now, it's a way of exploiting the next elections to
stop the holder of the current mandate from doing the work for which
the Congolese people have elected him," he said. "Why all this noise
just about Congo, when there are more than 15 countries that are going
to organize elections in the next year?"
The $30 million U.S. pledge would more than doubles the $12 million in
assistance given to Congo last year linked to elections and stability
assistance. Some of the money could go to non-governmental
organizations. Last year, total U.S. aid to Congo totalled about $210
million.
The funding would help further stability efforts in Congo, which has
been wracked by violence for two decades. Kerry said more must be done
to combat Congo-based rebels, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation
of Rwanda, known by its French acronym, FDLR, whose members are
accused of perpetrating the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.
Aside from the upcoming elections, Kerry noted continued challenges in
Congo's fight against several rebel groups. He commended government
and United Nations security forces for last year's defeat and
disbanding of the M23 rebel group but said efforts to disarm,
demobilize and re-integrate fighters from other opposition groups into
society "are the priorities of the moment."
"I need to be clear: Military force alone will not deliver stability
to the Democratic Republic of Congo," Kerry said. "Lasting peace will
not grow out of the barrel of a gun."
Most of Congo's violence has been limited in recent years to the
country's eastern borders with Uganda and Rwanda.
The FDLR is viewed by analysts as the greatest remaining menace in
eastern Congo. The group is led by Rwandan Hutus who helped commit the
1994 genocide and later escaped over the border. The presence of the
FDLR has prompted Rwanda to invade Congo twice before to try to wipe
out the group.
Additionally, Congo's government is grappling with the Allied
Democratic Forces, a group of Islamist rebels that is led by Ugandan
commanders. Experts believe the group begins military training for
girls as young as 15 and boys as young as 10.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/mobile/politics/u-s-offers-30m-to-congo-for-upcoming-elections-1.1805323
--
SIBOMANA Jean Bosco
Google+: https://plus.google.com/110493390983174363421/posts
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9B4024D0AE764F3D
http://www.youtube.com/user/sibomanaxyz999
***Online Time:15H30-20H30, heure de Montréal.***Fuseau horaire
domestique: heure normale de la côte Est des Etats-Unis et Canada
(GMT-05:00)***
| Reply via web post | • | Reply to sender | • | Reply to group | • | Start a New Topic | • | Messages in this topic (1) |
.To post a message: RwandaLibre@yahoogroups.com; .To join: RwandaLibre-subscribe@yahoogroups.com; .To unsubscribe from this group,send an email to:
RwandaLibre-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
_____________________________________________________
More news: http://www.amakurunamateka.com ; http://www.ikangurambaga.com ; http://rwandalibre.blogspot.co.uk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-SVP, considérer environnement avant toute impression de cet e-mail ou les pièces jointes.
======
-Please consider the environment before printing this email or any attachments.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sponsors:
http://www.afriqueintimites.com; http://www.afriqueintimites.com;
http://www.eyumbina.com/; http://www.foraha.net/
-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.