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Congo-Brazzaville Will promises made, be adhered to? |
PEACE
The Inter-Congolese Forum has now ended. But what has been achieved?
Picture the scene: It’s 14 April 2001. The place is Brazzaville’s Boulevard des Armées. For nearly half-an-hour, an enormous fire called «the flame of peace», blazes. The flames are stoked by more than 800 light weapons taken from former fighters. It’s a symbolic ceremony organized by the United Nations, and shows that once again peace has returned and Congo will never again resort to an armed situation in order to resolve political problems. It also marks the end of the all-inclusive Inter-Congolese Forum launched on 17 March by the international mediator, Gabon’s President Omar Bongo. He called on all Congolese «to turn their backs on hatred and revenge».
The Forum’s first stage took place in the country’s various regions and districts, and lasted until the end of March. It was intended to involve as many ordinary citizens as possible and had one main aim — to draw up a preliminary draft of a new Constitution. Unlike the 1992 Constitution, Congo-Brazza’s new Constitution is intended to be essentially «presidential», in that the President of the Republic will have full powers. The President will not be able to dissolve the National Assembly arbitrarily, but neither will the National Assembly be able to dismiss the President from office. All shades of political life in Congo unanimously accepted this new Constitution and all are of one mind — Congo’s new Constitution will be the guarantor of peace and stability. All the ethnic conflicts which have torn the country apart from 1959 until the 1990s, stem from the fact that in one form or another, one-party rule was the order of the day — there was not much by way of a constructive Opposition in Parliament. The President will now remain in office for seven years which will give him the opportunity of carrying through his projects.
The Opposition in exile took part in the Forum’s second stage. Many had fled the country after Sassou-Nguesso’s victory, following the terrible war of the summer of 1997. Pascal Lissouba, who had been democratically elected in 1992, had also left. Likewise Bokamba Yangouma, Augustin Poignet, André Milongo, Claudine Munari, amongst others. They were all in African and Western capitals. Bongo did everything he could to ensure they could get back to Brazzaville. He was convinced they should take part in this second stage.
The Opposition
What did the Opposition want? The Brazzaville weekly Les Echos, which reflects the government’s point of view put it this way: «The Opposition outside the country were looking for something approaching the 1991 National Conference. In this way they would be able to share power with President Sassou-Nguesso. So they attempted to multiply the conditions for their effective participation in the national dialogue. They were adamant that the Inter-Congolese Forum should be held in Gabon or elsewhere — anywhere except Brazzaville. Also, the exiles’ return should take place under the watchful eye of United Nations, Organisation of African Unity, European Union, and non-governmental organisation observers. They also called for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in Congo before the Forum got underway».
In fact, the Forum proceeded without Pascal Lissouba. Lissouba’s Finance Minister Moungounga Nguila, and his one-time prime minister Bernard Kolelas, were also absent. It should be noted that Kolelas tried to return to Brazzaville but the Congolese authorities were having none of it. Even the international mediator didn’t want to take the responsibility of seeing Kolelas in Brazzaville. In 1999, Kolelas had been found guilty in absentia by the Brazzaville High Court of several charges relating to: «Illegal seizure of property, rape, torture, and violence». He was sentenced to death. Lissouba had been sentenced to twenty years in jail, having been found guilty, together with his Finance Minister, of plotting to murder the Head of State, Sassou-Nguesso.
Will the Inter-Congolese Forum have any real effect? Nobody really knows. One thing is certain, the Congolese people are tired of useless wars. And President Sassou-Nguesso concludes: «The Congolese people are fed up with this incessant tribal rivalry and jealousy which makes us the laughing stock of the whole world».
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PeaceLink 2001 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement