13 August 2007:MenelikMusic receives cheque
MenelikMusic Ltd receives a cheque for £240 from Everybodysalsa in Peterborough to support their good work in the DR Congo (Kinshasa).
Theodore Menelik, from MenelikEducation, received a cheque from Patti & Alan from Everybodysalsa, to carry out the good work in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo by Claudia Wassmann 13/08/2007
Theodore said; “I would like to express our sincere thanks to Everybodysalsa for their generous donation to MenelikEducation. MenelikEducation was set up to help children in the capital city of Kinshasa who have been neglected and abused during the long civil war, many of them have never set foot in a classroom. MenelikEducation is building a school that will cater for some 200-250. The school will not only provide education, but also therapy and counselling programs. With all the money we receive, we will be able to increase hope for children to experience the joys of learning and achieve functional literacy, decreasing their need for future services and support from the community”.
If you would like to donate to support our good cause, please address your cheques to MenelikMusic and post them to: MenelikMusic, C/o Centre at St Paul’s, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 1JP.
Alternatively, you could do a bank transfer to the following account:
MenelikMusic
Cambridge Building Society
Sort code: 20-17-22
Account No: 40338346
Ref: 1668546140
Thank you for your time.
All the best
Theodore
Photo: A Congolese soldier holds a RPG in front of the office of opposition presidential candidate President Bemba in Kinshasa, November 2006. Goran Tomasevic/REUTERS.
August 2007
1. Current Situation
While July 2006 elections were a milestone in the peace process, violence in Bas-Congo and Kinshasa in early 2007 with over 400 people killed, and renewed threats of war in the Kivus, show the country's fragility. A return to full-scale war is unlikely, but since Joseph Kabila's inauguration in December 2006 as the first democratically elected president since Congolese independence, security has been precarious. The new government's relations with the opposition have deteriorated sharply, raising the possibility of a drift to authoritarianism and urban unrest in the West, while militias continue to clash with the weak national army in the East, displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians each year, many of whom succumb to hunger and disease.
This deterioration followed what was in some ways a successful transition. The 30 July election in which 18 million Congolese went to the polls to choose a new president and national assembly were the first free and fair elections in over 40 years, part of landmark electoral process largely devoid of major violence or gross irregularities. After no presidential candidate received a plurality of the votes, a run-off between incumbent Joseph Kabila and Jean-Pierre Bemba was held on 29 October; Kabila won with 58 per cent of votes and was sworn in as president 6 December.
In addition the transition unified a divided country and improved security in much of its territory. The six main armed groups were integrated to form a national army, however flawed it remains. Foreign troops withdrew, and relations with Rwanda, one of the main sponsors of the war, improved dramatically. However, the new governing institutions remain weak and abusive or non-existent.
The integrated army has become the worst human rights abuser, and the corrupt public administration is unable to provide the most rudimentary social services. While the security situation in areas like Ituri is better, there is little progress in disarming militia groups in the Kivus, and new political tensions have come to the fore, in particular in the West, which voted heavily for the opposition. The government's use of force in Bas-Congo and the capital to crack down on its opponents instead of seeking a negotiated solution has entrenched animosity in those areas, creating the potential for further urban unrest.
Despite the Kabila government’s strong mandate, the opposition, with the support of over a third of the electorate, has a democracy-building role which must be protected if Congo is to be stable. Late efforts have granted it more space in parliament, but the opposition's capacity remains severely undermined by the recurrent use of force against its supporters and the exile of Jean-Pierre Bemba. The opposition's virtual exclusion from governorships despite winning five provincial assembly elections is another sign of shrinking political pluralism. The constitutional requirement to set up strong local governments capable of providing accountability for management of 40 per cent of national tax revenues is also at risk.
The peace process is not complete. Its successes have to be consolidated and its achievements safeguarded. To rebuild the state and augment its authority, the government must strengthen democracy or risk being paralized by recurrent unrest, structural impotence and renewed instability in ever more parts of the country. Only a change of governance can provide the legitimacy and capacity to raise the revenues necessary to distribute peace dividends to all sectors of society.
2. What Needs to Be Done
To major donors, including France, the U.K., the U.S., Belgium, South Africa and China:
- Condition aid on establishment of a new joint forum to address security and governance challenges, which should focus on peace initiatives in the East; overcoming differences of approach on security sector reform; and confirming opposition’s legal status and other democratic measures.
- Support government efforts to improve management of natural resources.
To the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC):
- Engage the government and parliament in discussion of comprehensive peace plans; and condition support for national army operations (FARDC) on their implementation.
To the regional governments of Rwanda and Uganda:
- Support Congolese efforts to prevent another Kivus crisis.
To parliamentarians:
- Challenge government to draw up comprehensive peace plans for several regions, consulting actively on this with MONUC.
- Work for secure and prompt return to Kinshasa of Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba, also ensuring that opposition rights are respected so that the legislative can check executive power.
- Press the government to improve management of natural resources.
To the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo:
- Launch with the support of MONUC and in collaboration with parliament a comprehensive peace initiative for the Kivus, emphasising diplomacy and dialogue, addressing relations with Rwanda and Uganda, inter-communal tensions, DDR of militias, the regulation of resource exploitation, and the need for justice for crimes committed by all sides.
- Ratify the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region.
- Prepare for a well-funded, independent oversight body of the army, start the drawdown of the Presidential Guard, and open judicial inquiries into the killings of security and civilian personnel in Bas-Congo and Kinshasa in January and March 2007.
- Introduce in parliament laws envisaged in the constitution to establish the Constitutional Court and High Council of Justice and ensure judicial independence; promote discussion of decentralisation issues and ensure that rules relating to its implementation are swiftly adopted; prohibit granting of resource concessions until establishment of watchdog.
- Reassert desire to work with international community, focusing on governance and security, with involvement of major donors as well as parliament and civil society.
3. What You Can Do
Inform yourself about the crisis. Tell a colleague - Email your friends and colleagues about the renewed conflict and threats to the humanitarian situation in DR Congo. Insert a message, or copy information from this page and paste it into your email. The more people that are aware of the deteriorating situation in the Congo, the better our ability to get the international community to respond.
Write to your newspaper - Write a letter to the editor of your national newspaper about the new dangers to the tentative peace in DR Congo. Write to your elected representative - Write a letter or email to advise your elected representative of your views of the crisis in DR Congo.
Donate to organisations working in DR Congo including MenelikEducation a branch of MenelikMusic who depends very much on your (public) support, as we do not receive grants from governments and foundations, to carry on our work in the DR Congo.
We welcome your feedback so please do write to:
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