Congo-Kinshasa: Vital Kamerhe - Kabila's Public Enemy Number One?
Analysis
On Friday 7th and Sunday 9th of February, the
Congolese opposition leader Vital Kamerhe and a delegation of his party
tried to take a plane from Kinshasa to Goma, to complete a tour through
eastern Congo.
The authorities prevented his departure twice. There was also a strange indictment against him for an old case of defamation brought by MP Wivine Moleka. It's possible that Kamerhe will now face a trial and up to 3 years imprisonment. Is Kabila's former right hand man now becoming public enemy number one?
The break from Kabila
I first met Vital Kamerhe in November 2009, eight months after he resigned as the President of National Assembly and two years before the pivotal 2011 elections.
His position in Parliament had become untenable after he openly criticized the government's alliance with Rwanda which included the integration of the CNDP in the national army and a joint military campaign (with Rwanda) against the FDLR ('Umoja Wetu'). Vital Kamerhe did not believe that the alliance and campaign would bring sustainable peace.
He remained very quite after his departure. Both the international crowd in Kinshasa and Congolese public opinion speculated whether Kamerhe would decide to start a genuine opposition party.
He told me he would, but the time wasn't yet ripe to make his plans public. He made very few public appearances or statements but spent his time reading, mainly focusing on two subjects.
First, he wanted to deepen his political vision (which I found very refreshing, in all those years of talking with would be politicians, I hardly met any who bothered much about political visions) and studied contemporary Latin American left-wing populists (especially Lula). Kamerhe saw a lot of parallels between Congo and Brazil. Second, he studied rhetoric and the great speeches in history - Lumumba of course, but also Lincoln and Churchill.
Presidential candidate for the UNC
In mid December 2010 Kamerhe organised a press conference in Kinshasa to announce that he would run for the presidency as candidate of the Union pour la Nation Congolaise (UNC).
The next day he flew to Goma and then traveled to his hometown, Bukavu. A huge and noisy crowd gathered at each of these three occasions. That didn't mean he would win the elections, but at least he had made clear that the 2011 elections would be entirely different from what we had seen in 2006.
The authorities prevented his departure twice. There was also a strange indictment against him for an old case of defamation brought by MP Wivine Moleka. It's possible that Kamerhe will now face a trial and up to 3 years imprisonment. Is Kabila's former right hand man now becoming public enemy number one?
The break from Kabila
I first met Vital Kamerhe in November 2009, eight months after he resigned as the President of National Assembly and two years before the pivotal 2011 elections.
His position in Parliament had become untenable after he openly criticized the government's alliance with Rwanda which included the integration of the CNDP in the national army and a joint military campaign (with Rwanda) against the FDLR ('Umoja Wetu'). Vital Kamerhe did not believe that the alliance and campaign would bring sustainable peace.
He remained very quite after his departure. Both the international crowd in Kinshasa and Congolese public opinion speculated whether Kamerhe would decide to start a genuine opposition party.
He told me he would, but the time wasn't yet ripe to make his plans public. He made very few public appearances or statements but spent his time reading, mainly focusing on two subjects.
First, he wanted to deepen his political vision (which I found very refreshing, in all those years of talking with would be politicians, I hardly met any who bothered much about political visions) and studied contemporary Latin American left-wing populists (especially Lula). Kamerhe saw a lot of parallels between Congo and Brazil. Second, he studied rhetoric and the great speeches in history - Lumumba of course, but also Lincoln and Churchill.
Presidential candidate for the UNC
In mid December 2010 Kamerhe organised a press conference in Kinshasa to announce that he would run for the presidency as candidate of the Union pour la Nation Congolaise (UNC).
The next day he flew to Goma and then traveled to his hometown, Bukavu. A huge and noisy crowd gathered at each of these three occasions. That didn't mean he would win the elections, but at least he had made clear that the 2011 elections would be entirely different from what we had seen in 2006.
Congo-Kinshasa
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