Namibia donates food to volcano victims

The Namibian government has donated food worth one million Namibian dollars (US $100,000) to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for distribution in the eastern city of Goma, where many thousands of residents were displaced by lava flows from Mt Nyiragongo volcano in January, the Namibian news agency Nampa reported. It reported on Tuesday that 60 mt of relief food, comprising 24 mt of dried fish and 36 mt of canned beef, had been airlifted from Karibib and the Namibian capital, Windhoek, to the DRC capital, Kinshasa. From there it would be flown to the eastern DRC area controlled by the Rwandan-backed rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), in conformity with an agreement between Kinshasa and RCD-Goma on easing the delivery of humanitarian aid from government- to rebel-held areas. Namibian Foreign Affairs, Information and Broadcasting Deputy Minister Gabes Shihepo and Deputy Permanent Secretary Nicky Nashandi delivered the relief food on behalf of the Namibian government. DRC Health Minister Mamba Mashaku received it on behalf of his government. Namibia, along with Angola and Zimbabwe, backed the DRC government during a war lasting some three years against Rwanda and Uganda-backed dissidents. An agreement was reached in April among Kinshasa, Ugandan-backed rebel movements, and a majority of unarmed political opposition and civil society groups during the inter-Congolese dialogue in Sun City, South Africa. However, RCD-Goma rejected the accord, and is seeking a resumption of the talks.