7A
NEWS/ The Charlotte Post
Thursday, May 29,1997
Kabila bans political activity in Congo
By Karin Davies
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KINSHASA, Congo - The
government of President
Laurent Kabila on Monday
Banned political party activity
in the capital, further under-
tnining confidence in his
promises to liberate the coun
try from years of dictatorship.
Because most opposition
groups are based in Kinshasa,
the restrictions effectively bar
political parties from organiz
ing or meeting anywhere in the
country.
The move is reminiscent of
those imposed by Mobutu Sese
Seko, the dictator Kabila oust
ed eight days ago, and is likely
to anger Western nations that
had pressed him to introduce
democracy.
Kabila banned political peu"-
ties outright in some other
parts of Congo during his
seven-month sweep across the
country, which culminated in
his declaring himself president
on May 17.
Monday’s announcement,
made on national radio, did not
say how long the ban would
last or go into details on what it
entails.
In the same broadcast, the
government announced that
soldiers of the ruling Alliance
were prohibited from appear
ing in the streets of Kinshasa
without written orders - a
response to complaints by some
Kinshasans of petty harass
ment by Alliance soldiers.
The broadcast also repeated
earlier bans on public meetings
and protest, and called on peo
ple holding unregistered
weapons to surrender them
immediately.
“Any violators will be consid
ered enemies of the liberation
of the Congolese people and
will be punished to the fullest
extent of the law,” the radio
' announcement said.
Earlier, opposition leaders
'had promised to press ahead
»with a planned protest.
* Dominique Kankonde, a
spokesman for the opposition
Democratic Union for Social
Progress, said a march against
Kabila would go ahead
Wednesday.
, , “We weren’t afraid of Mobutu,
' and we re not afraid of Kabila,”
J lie said.
J There had been speculation
■ that supporters of Democratic
Union leader Etienne
Tshisekedi - passed over by
Kabila in the government he
announced Friday - would call
a “dead cityae strike, which in
the past have completely shut
down Kinshasa.
;But students drifted back to
schoqls and workers returned
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ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO/REMY DE LA MAUVINIERE
Congo rebel leader Laurent Kabila gestures as he speaks at a press conference In Goma, east
ern Congo earlier this month. Kabilia led the overthrow of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
to their jobs in the capital on
Monday, the first work day
since the formation of the new
government.
A warning broadcast on state
television Sunday night said
absent workers would be
severely punished. It advised
government officials and
employers to compile lists of
employees who appeared at
work and those who did not.
Few complied.
The restrictions placed on
Kabila's soldiers are a response
to complaints from Mobutu-era
officers who said they have
been summarily kicked out of
their quarters in military
camps. The government
announcement Monday said
those soldiers should return to
their homes and even provided
a telephone number to call if
they encountered resistance.
Kabila has kept out of sight
since taking power. His only
public appearance so far was a
staged visit Saturday to a hos
pital where he said for the first
time that elections would have
to wait until after a two-year
transition period.
While Tshisekedi has been
denied a spot in Kabila’s
administration, the opposition
leader argues that his move
ment deserves some of the
credit for felling Mobutu with
a series of strikes and mostly
nonviolent protests.
Kabila has invited two of
Tshisekedi’s supporters to join
his administration. One of
them, Justine M’Poyo Kasa-
Vubu, said Monday she would
accept the post of civil service
minister despite Tshisekedi’s
objections.
Kasa-Vubu’s father, Joseph
Kasa-Vubu, became Congo’s
first president after the coun
try's independence from
Belgium in 1960. He was
deposed by Mobutu five years
later. Living in exile in
Belgium, his daughter has
acted as foreign relations
spokesman for Tshisekedi’s
movement.
Kasa-Vubu said she still con
sidered herself a party mem
ber and called Tshisekedi her
leader, saying there was still a
chance that Tshisekedi would
join Kabila’s government.
“The government is only par
tially formed. There will be
openings,” she said. “Anything
is possible.”
\^ile Kasa-Vubu made plans
to travel to Kinshasa, Finance
Minister Mwana Nanga
Mawapenga - also a member of
Tshisekedi’s party - moved into
his predecessor’s office and met
with top members of the previ
ous ministry.
He said he told them corrup
tion would no longer be toler
ated.
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Two
white South Afneans are imder
investigation for allegedly plot
ting to assassinate President
Nelson Mandela and President
Robert Mugabe during a state
visit last week, state radio
reported Monday.
'The radio quoted Acting
Police Commissioner Philip
Mhike saying the two South
Afneans, who were not identi
fied, were arrested in the cen
tral town of Kwekwe ahead of a
visit there by the two leaders
on ’Tuesday.
They were “suspected of hav
ing attempted to assassinate
the two presidents and investi
gations are continuing,” Mhike
told the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corp.
But South African officials
said Monday they received no
formal information from
Zimbabwean police or intelli
gence officers on the alleged
plot or subsequent arrests.
“We would have expected to
be informed. There has been no
formal communication on the
detention of South Africans,”
said Victor Mditshwa, the sec
ond ranking official at the
South African diplomatic mis
sion in Harare.
Monday is a public holiday in
Zimbabwe and calls to police
headquarters in Harare were
not returned.
An independent newspaper
on Sunday reported unidenti
fied South Africans arrested in
a security sweep in Kwekwe, a
mining and industrial town
130 miles southwest of
Harare, where Mandela had a
street named after him in a
public ceremony Tuesday.
'The date of the arrests was
not available.
Mandela paid a three-day
state visit to Zimbabwe before
opening a regional economic
summit in Harare on
Wednesday.
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