Annan holds wide-ranging talks to cement transition to democracy in DR of Congo

Secretary-General Kofi Annan conferred for the second day today with President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and held separate meetings with the four power-sharing Vice Presidents of the vast country, where the United Nations is heavily involved in cementing the transition from a bloody civil war to peace and democracy.

“The Congolese people have shown that they are determined to overcome the divisions of the past and build a future together,” he said in an address in Kinshasa which was attended by the President, other high officials and members of political parties and civil society.

“The political leaders owe it to themselves to rise to the level of these aspirations by never losing sight, during any stage of the electoral process, of the higher interest of the nation.”

Mr. Annan, on the fourth leg of his current mission in Africa, also met with the President of the Independent Electoral Commission, Abbe Malu Malu, ahead of the 18 June poll, which the UN is helping to organize in the largest and most expensive electoral operation the world body has ever undertaken.

He conferred, too, with the representatives of Angola, Nigeria, South Africa, Belgium, France, and the five permanent members of the Security Council, who make up a committee supporting the DRC’s transition to democracy.

In his address, Mr. Annan stressed the importance of creating an atmosphere of trust and security to enable the full participation of all political parties to reinforce the credibility of the democratic process. “It is essential, so that hopes are not disappointed, that these elections be perceived by all as free, open and transparent,” he said.

But he also looked beyond 18 June to the challenges lying ahead, such as the need for the efficient control of natural resources, good management of state enterprises, a fully national development policy that excludes no region and restoration of state authority over the entire country. There are still various militia groups fighting in the east.

He stressed the imperatives of bringing security to the entire population and stability to all regions, of setting up a truly integrated army and police force, and of re-establishing normal relations with the DRC’s neighbours for the sake of peace and stability in the whole of the Great Lakes region despite the rifts of the past that saw various nations supporting opposing armed factions in the country.

“Beyond the important challenges that remain to be faced, the international community can only be pleased at the progress made these last months in the DRC in the preparation for the elections. This evolution is the fruit of the efforts and determination of an entire people to express its collective will to live in peace. It redounds to your credit,” he said.

“I will conclude on this note of optimism, assuring you one again of the support of the United Nations in the quest for a better future for all the Congolese.”

He was also scheduled to speak with the staff of the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) in a town hall meeting. MONUC, set up by the Security Council to help foster peace and stability after a six-year civil war that cost 4 million lives, at present has nearly 17,000 uniformed personnel, including troops, military observers and as well as over 850 international civilian personnel, more than 1,400 local civilian staff and 470 UN volunteers.

Tomorrow, Mr. Annan travels to Kisangani in the east of the country and then leaves for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to continue his good offices effort in mediating a territorial dispute between the two neighbours. He will confer with the Presidents and other senior officials respectively in Libreville, Gabon’s capital, and in Bata, the main city in continental Equatorial Guinea.