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THE Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to Zimbabwe, Mwanananga Mwawapanga, has been recalled. President Joseph Kabila last week launched a crackdown on senior government officials linked to the plunder of diamonds and other mineral wealth during the four-year civil war in his country. Senior government and army officials in Zimbabwe were named in a United Nations’ report for plundering the resources of the DRC. But the government of President Mugabe has dismissed the report as British-orchestrated “ malicious rumours”. It emerged yesterday that while the Zimbabwean government was dithering over the detailed corruption and plunder report, Kabila had suspended his Harare representative and recalled him to Kinshasa. Yesterday, the consul at the DRC embassy in Harare, Richard Biladi, confirmed Mwawapanga’s suspension. “He was recalled home about a week ago following the inclusion of his name in the report by the UN panel. The ambassador was one of the officials suspended by President Kabila,” Biladi said. Kabila’s actions are in sharp contrast to the inaction by his allies in Harare, who have said they will not investigate the officials linked to the looting of “blood diamonds” during the four years which Zimbabwe committed nearly 11 000 troops to the Congo. Speaking from Kinshasa yesterday, Kikaya bin Karubi, the DRC Minister of Information, said five officials had been suspended, including Mwawapanga, who was then Minister of Finance. “The DRC government is conducting its own investigations. Our ambassador to Harare was mentioned in the UN report and he is on suspension pending finalisation of that matter – that is all I can tell you,” said Bin Karubi The Speaker of Parliament, Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Minister of Defence, Sydney Sekeramayi, and some of the country’s top military brass were implicated in the scandal. The two senior Zanu PF officials allegedly received payments from the playboy son of an Omani oil minister who is chief executive officer of Oryx Natural Resources, which jointly owns a diamond mining concession in Mbuji-Mayi with Zimbabwe. Last week, Patrick Chinamasa, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, completely dismissed the UN report. He said the government would not investigate the senior government officials named in the report. But Kabila is reportedly not happy that the DRC’s allies connived with DRC government officials to loot the country’s resources, taking advantage of their presence in the war-torn country to ward off rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Last week, Kabila fired three key government officials over the UN report. The suspended officials include National Security Minister Mwenze Kongolo, the government’s key negotiator at the peace talks, Katumba Mwanke, and the head of the national security agency, Didier Kazadi Nyembwe. Mnangagwa, the alleged mastermind of the transfer of “blood diamonds” and cash through couriers who bypassed customs officials at Harare International Airport, has confirmed he once dealt with Kongolo in order to facilitate the release of an Oryx employee from a prison in the DRC but denied being involved in any shady deals. |
