DR Congo: Gov’t to grant rebels amnesty

  1. Posted on Tuesday 24 March 2009 - 16:45
    Mforgham
    Image of Mforgham
    Solomon Tembang Mforgham, AfricaNews reporter in Limbe, Cameroon Photo: Christophe Rigaud
    The government of the DR Congo has accepted to grant amnesty to rebels of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). This follows an agreement signed between the government and the rebels. It is expected to pave the way for the rebel group to transform itself into a political party.
    DRCongo10_Christophe Rigaud
    The agreement also stipulates the release of former members of the rebel group captured by government forces and integrate them into various state security agencies.

    Desire Kamanzi chairman of the CNDP rebels and a signatory of the agreement is quoted as saying the rebels were demanding the release of all political prisoners during their insurgency.

    "In fact, you know there are prisoners who were arrested by the government because of them joining the CNDP. So if you want to harmonize and have everything under control, then you need to go the extra mile to ensure that happens. So we have our people to be released. We want the release of all those prisoners in different towns and cities of DRC," he said.

    Kamanzi said both parties agreed to begin within a period to ensure the agreement is fully implemented.

    He said there are reasons to believe that with the signing of the agreement, peace will finally be restored to restive North Kivu province.

    The agreement between President Joseph Kabila's government and the rebels was monitored by the African Union representatives including Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Tanzania's former President Benjamin Mkapa.

    Earlier this year, a joint operation by the Rwandan and Congolese military over five weeks drove Rwandan Hutu rebels of the Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) to the west and north of the province, but failed to end the threat they pose.

    Some political analysts believe that after the defection of the CNDP leadership and the arrest of renegade army General Laurent Nkunda in Rwanda earlier this year, the situation in North Kivu has improved significantly. But problems posed by other rebel groups remain.

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