JMC weaknesses a source of concern

The continuing absence of a full-time chairman for the Joint Military Commission (JMC) has been identified as a considerable cause of concern by the political committee ovserseeing the Lusaka peace process in the DRC. The JMC continues to operate, in a limited manner in any case because of resource limitations, under the guidance of its acting chairman, Brig-Gen Timothy Kazembe of Zambia, but would benefit from the appointment by the OAU of a full-time chairman, diplomatic sources told IRIN. The first OAU-appointed chairman was General Rashid Lalalli of Algeria, but the parties involved in the Lusaka process believe that an appointee from a country in the region - Kenya, perhaps, as it is not involved in the DRC conflict - would be better placed to fill the vacant position, they said.

Inadequate resources continued to dog the JMC’s operations, negating its potential to deploy observers to monitor or verify ceasefire violations - one of the primary tasks for which it was established, the sources added. The JMC, in concert with the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC), would also have an important role to play if the disengagement of forces agreed by the combatants’ defence chiefs in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, on Wednesday comes to pass.