25 May 2006: ISS Today: DRC: 32 `Mercenaries` Arrested in Kinshasa

25 MAY 2006: DRC: 32 `MERCENARIES` ARRESTED IN KINSHASA
IRIN NEWS

Security agents in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), arrested 32 foreigners on Tuesday for plotting a coup against the government of Joseph Kabila, Interior Minister Theophilus Mbemba said. “They came from Iraq, where they worked as soldiers,” Mbemba said on Wednesday from Kinshasa. The 12 South Africans, 10 Nigerians and three Americans – all of whom the government describes as mercenaries – were working in Kinshasa for a private security company called Omega.

Commentary

This incident comes at a time when the new proposed Mercenary Bill is about to be discussed in the South African parliament, and more specifically in the Standing Committee on Defence. The CEO of Omega International Association, the company whose employees were arrested in Kinshasa gave a presentation on the Mercenary Bill on Monday. Alex De Witt briefed the committee on the activities of his company and in principle supported the legislation with a few reservations. It is interesting that the employees from Omega were arrested with three employees from an American company preparing to undertake protection service for one of the presidential candidates, Dr Oscar Kashala. An evaluation of the available facts would suggest that in respect of this task, both companies were acting within the law. Omega, in common with certain other South African companies, also had a contract with the Congolese government to train harbour personnel.

It is not beyond reason that the arrest of the alleged mercenaries is linked to their involvement with an opposition candidate. On Tuesday, the Congolese Minister of Defence warned that presidential candidates would not be allowed to have more than 25 close protectors. Opposition leaders have long raised the question of the 10,000 presidential guard unit of Joseph Kabila. The international community in Kinshasa including the UN Mission, MONUC, has already stated that they do not believe that there were any plans to topple the Congolese government, and rather attribute the latest events to political rivalry. A Roman Catholic priest has described it as a joke: “ Which foreigner can try a coup in this country at a time when the international community is here with the 16,500 United Nations mission troops? This is, perhaps, a ruse to stop people exercising their vote on 30 July.”

To ensure stability in the run-up to the election it is important to ensure transparency in the DRC. This incident has to be resolved as quickly as possible, before it adds further to the ammunition of those who have already dismissed the election process as an illegal farce.

Henri Boshoff