FORUM

List of local elites in the Congo who are part of the problem

I need some help to have a list of local elites who are destroying the country or not active enough in making changes in the Congo.

Here is what we have so far (may be you may want to add something on the list)

Who are the Key Players in the Congo?

Select Local Elites 

Joseph Kabila, President 
Adolphe Muzito, Prime Minister 
Léonard She Okitundu, Ambassador-at-large of the Head of State 
Janet Kabila, Sister of Joseph Kabila 
Jean-Claude Masangu, Central Bank Governor  
Kengo Wa Dundo, Head of the Senate 
Vital Kamhere, Head of Parliament 
Martin Kabwelula, Minister of Mines 
Victor Kasongo, Deputy Minister of Mines 
Moise Katumbe - Governor of Katanga 
André Kimbuta - Governor Kinshasa 
Paul Fortin, Head of State Mining Company, Gecamines 
Katumba Mwanke - adviser to Kabila 
Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi, former Foreign Minister and Vice President and current adviser to the President

International

United States - vested political, economic and strategic interests

Great Britain - vested economic interests

Belgium - former colonial power and vested economic interests

European Union - economic interests

Canada - huge economic interests via her mining companies and the involvement of former prime ministers

China - enormous economic interests especially with a recent $9 billion investment

Israel - Involved in business and arms deliveries

South Africa - large economic interests spearheaded by AngloGold Ashanti

Australia - substantial economic interests especially with BHP Billiton and Anvil mining

Multilateral Institutions

World Bank - wrote mining and forestry laws for the Congo that favors foreign corporations to the detriment of the people of the Congo

International Monetary Fund - sets financial terms for the Congolese government and economy

International Finance Corporation - has investments in Congo's mineral reserves in collaboration with foreign corporations

Paris Club - provide loans to the Congo

London Club - provide loans to the Congo

United Nations - provided several groundbreaking reports on the illegal exploitation of Congo's wealth by foreign corporations. The UN has 17,000 troops in the Congo at an annual budget of $1.1 billion. To date these UN troops have done little to disarm the rebel or foreign troops operating in the Congo.

Select Major Corporate or Multinational

Anglo-Gold Ashanti, South Africa 
Anvil Mining, Australia 
Banro, Canada 
Bechtel Corporation, USA 
BHP Billiton, Australia 
Danzer Group, Switzerland 
DeBeers, England 
First Quantum, Canada 
Freeport McMoRan, United States 
Heritage Oil, Canada 
Katanga Mining, Belgium/Canada 
Lundin Mining, Sweden 
Please go to the download section of our Congoweek.org website to obtain a comprehensive list of corporations in the Congo

Dan Gertler, Part owner of Nikanor formerly had monopoly of the diamond market in Congo. Back in 2000, former Congolese president Laurent Kabila offered a monopoly on Congolese diamonds, and 88% of the proceeds, to Gertler's International Diamond Industries (IDI) in exchange for Israeli military assistance to his new government

Benny Steinmetz, Israeli billionaire partner of Dan Gertler in Niaknor, which recently merged with George Forrest, Katanga Mining

George Forrest - His family has been in the Congo since 1922. He was named in the UN Reports as one of the figures illegally exploiting the Congo. He is a major player in the Congo, particularly in the province of Katanga and is owner of Katanga Mining  and George Forrest International of Belgium.

Walter H. Kansteiner, III is a founding Principal of The Scowcroft Group. He is also a director of the African Wildlife Foundation and the Corporate Council on Africa. He serves on the board of Moto Gold, which has mining interests in the Congo. Mr. Kansteiner is a former NSC staffer and served as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under George W. Bush. He is one of the main proponents for the balkanization of the Congo.

Maurice Templesman - Mr. Templesman is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Lazare Kaplan International Inc., the largest cutter and polisher of "ideal cut" diamonds in the United States. He also is senior partner in the firm of Leon Tempelsman & Son, a company active in mining, investments and business development and minerals trading in Europe, Russia, Africa, Latin America, Canada and Asia. Mr. Tempelsman serves on the International Advisory Council of the American Stock. Mr. Tempelsman served as Chairman of the Corporate Council on Africa until 2002 and is now Chairman Emeritus. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Africa-America Institute (and a past Chairman); Mr. Tempelsman is also a Director of the National Democratic Institute of International Affairs, the Center for National Policy and the Business Council for International Understanding. Mr. Templeman has been involved in the Congo since the early 1960s. He secured the monopoly of Congo's diamonds for the DeBeers Corporation following the assassination of Lumumba and the installation of Mobutu. He was instrumental in getting Joseph Kabila a state visit with President Bush in 2001 and still has business interests in the Congo.

Melissa Sanderson - Ms. Sanderson is the former political officer and charge d'affairs at the US embassy in the Congo and has recently joined FreePort McMoran. Dan Rather in his All Mine report on the Congo, claims that Ms. Sanderson's joining of FreePort McMoRan was inappropriate at best as she lobbied for the company to get what has been universally acclaimed as a lopsided contract with the Congolese government that works against the interests of the people of the Congo.

Paul Fortin - Mr. Fortin is a former General Counsel for Barrick Gold of Canada. He was appointed head of Gecamines, Congo's largest state-owned company.

US Ambassador, William J. Garvelink

Neighbors and Regional Actors

Rwanda - invaded Congo in 1996 & 1998 under the leadership of Paul Kagame

Uganda   - invaded Congo in 1996 & 1998 under the leadership of Yoweri Museveni. In 2005, the International Court of Justice ruled against Uganda in a case brought to the court by the Congo. The ruling sated that Congo is entitled to $10 billion in reparations due to human rights abuses and economic exploitation of the Congo. Rwanda would in all likelihood have received the same fate but they were outside of the jurisdiction of the court, hence, the court could not rule on the Rwandan case brought to it by the Congolese government.

Angola - collaborated with Rwanda and Angola in the 1996 invasion but sided with the Congo along with Zimbabwe and Namibia to resist the 1998 invasion of Rwanda and Uganda.

Burundi - joined with Rwanda and Uganda in its invasions of Congo but has played a limited role in Congo

Namibia - joined with Angola and Zimbabwe in coming to the aid of Laurent Kabila in 1998 when Congo called on its SADC allies to stave off the Rwandan and Ugandan attempt to remove Kabila from power

Zimbabwe - spearheaded the response to Laurent Kabila's call by utilizing its leadership role in SADC to come to the rescue of Congo. Unfortunately, the Zimbabwe military along with long-time capitalist magnates John Brendencamp and Billy Rautenbach took advantage of the situation to systematically loot Congo of its natural wealth to the point where Billy Rautenbach took over chairmanship of Congo's largest state mining company, Gecamines.

Main Rebel Groups Leaders: 
Laurent Nkunda - leader of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP in French). Mr. Nkunda is a former member of the Congolese army. He also fought with the Rwandan Patriotic Front in 1994 in their overthrow of the government in Rwanda. His raison d'etre is the defense of the minority Tutsi population in the Congo but recent UN reports have demonstrated that he is a part of a larger business complex connected to Rwanda that is exploiting the Congo's mineral riches. Nkunda's rebel group is estimated to be 6,000 - 7,000 men.

FDLR/Interahamwe - These rebel forces have been in the Congo since 1994 when they fled from the genocide in Rwanda. They are predominantly Hutu. They number about 6,000 and are often used as a pretext for the invasion of the Congo by Rwanda.

Mai Mai - is made up of several factions who all trace their roots to 1960s Congolese hero Pierre Mulele. The Mai Mai's resurgence is based on the invasions by Rwanda and Uganda. They have sworn to protect the interests of the people of the Congo against foreign invasions.