From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:ZAIRE: MOBUTU CONFRONTED WITH POWER OF THE STREETS
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 23:09:32 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: ZAIRE: MOBUTU CONFRONTED WITH POWER OF THE STREETS


an inter press service feature

by tichaindepi hwacha

kinshasa, jan 4 (ips) -- the riots which rocked kinshasa at the
end of december could spell a new momentum towards popular
participation from the streets in the protracted process towards
democracy in this politically beleagured central african nation.

preoccupied with trying to make ends meet in the country's
strangled economy, ordinary people have played a largely
peripheral role in the politics of the country since president
mobutu sese seko allowed multiparty democracy apr. 24 1990.

in a document entitled ''mobutu must go now'', the radical
sacred union, a coalition of political parties agitating for
democracy, had called for the dec. 18 day of popular resistance
in a bid to peacefully force mobutu to relinquish his 24-year
grip on power.

mobutu is currently frustrating the democratic process by
refusing to allow prime minister etienne tshisekedi to form a new
government to run the country until the convening of multiparty
elections in 1994, as a logical conclusion to the national
conference for democratic reforms which formally ended dec. 6.

despite last minute attempts to cancel the protest march by
certain key figures in the sacred union, the people of kinshasa
came out in full force paralysing normal business in the city in
a move widely hailed as ''a victory of the people over the
dictorship''.

''although the sacred union union tried to call off the
protest at the last minute the people are so angry they could not
be held back,'' says  kasereka kavyayu leonard a demography
student at the university of kinshasa which has now been closed
for two years due to the political tension in the country.

some analysts here have interpreted the defiance of the people
in proceeding with the demonstration -- in which at least three
were killed by the army -- as step backwards in the gains of the
national conference and a sign of waning confidence in the
sacred union.

but a western diplomat here told ips that the gains of the
national conference can not be reversed because ''it has provided
zaireans, mainly those in kinshasa with an opportunity to sort
out their values, their priorities and decide what they wanted
to do as a people.''

he adds that the national conference has also served to focus
world attention on zaire and that what the events of dec. 18
represent is the extent of the unpopularity of mobutu rather
than the shortcomings of the national conference. (more/ips)


zaire: mobutu (2)

''here in kinshasa nobody wants mobutu. maybe they like him
in the interior i don't know. before democratisation we were
afraid to talk but now its become too much, we talk,'' says nkoy
ya kasende, a former school teacher.

despite mobutu's claims that he is still popular and could
prove this in an early poll, a mutiny by the disgruntled soldiers
of the 41st brigade of the army in kisangani calling for the
depature of mobutu proved that mobutu's hold over the army is
slowly slipping away.

the mutiny, which took place dec. 21, hot on the heels of the
demonstrations in kinshasa was one of a series of eruptions
within the army in recent months. in october, soldiers looted the
houses of officials in mbandaka 600 km north east of kinshasa in
mobutu's home region of equateur.

in a similar show of the waning of undying loyalty to the
''supreme guide'' the independent daily 'elima' ran a hats off
article commending the police for protecting the people during
the dec.18 protest.

although patience with mobutu's procrastination is obviously
wearing thin among the residents of kinshasa, some believe the
forced removal of mobutu at this stage in the game is not the
answer to the crisis in zaire.

''until there is reconciliation between him and the sacred
union there will be no peace here,'' predicts leonard adding that
the high council of republic (hcr) which will serve as the
supreme body of the state during the transition, should foster
this reconciliation.

the hcr is presided over by the tireless archbishop monsengwo
who who also chaired the sovereign national conference and has
been widely commended for his diplomatic success in renewing
international attention over the zaire crisis.

apart from increased popular pressure, the rumbling among the
military and the continued role of the radical sacred union, the
attitude of the international community will also be deciding
factor in the fate of this former begian colony of about 35
million inhabitants.

already the u.s., belgium and france, one-time strong backers
of mobutu, have warned him to allow the democratic process to
take its course. the parliament of the european community
decided dec. 17 to seize the dictator's property in europe in a
bid to force him to give up his attempts to sabotage the popular
will of the people. (end/ips/tvh/oa/93)