DRC war figures disputed

Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister, Simba Makoni on Tuesday told parliament that President Robert Mugabe’s government had spent over US $200 million during its two-year military intervention in support of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Laurent-Desire Kabila.

In an announcement seen by analysts as a departure from normal practice, experts contacted by IRIN said the figures on the cost of Zimbabwe’s intervention to assist Kabila against a rebellion backed by Uganda and Rwanda should be viewed with caution.
Military analysts said the figures were too low as they excluded expenditure on military equipment acquired for the estimated 12,000 Zimbabwean troops in the DRC as well as the replacement value of losses to the equipment.

This was why, Michael Quintana, editor of Africa Defence Journal, told IRIN that government figures on the DRC involvement should be treated with caution: “Although it is impossible to calculate the actual cost of Zimbabwe’s involvement in the DRC, there is, however, an estimated figure of about US $281.5 million that has not been mentioned by the minister,” Quintana said.

He said the Zimbabwe Defence Force’s (ZDF) air bridge to DRC - at the rate of five flights a week - is estimated to have cost between US $30 and US $40 million over the last two years. Quintana also said ZDF had also acquired armed carriers, gunships and helicopters from countries like France, Russia and Libya. “These costs, estimated at US $73 million, have not been mentioned in Makoni’s answer in parliament.”

Colonel Martin Rupiya of the Institute of Defence Studies at the University of Zimbabwe, said Makoni’s figures only included costs that were easy to quantify such as food rations, salaries and basic equipment for the troops in the DRC. “The replacement value of equipment lost in the war is not included in the figure,” Rupia told IRIN, adding that this was an operational secret which the government would never disclose.

Rupiya said Zimbabwe has admitted the loss of 39 soldiers who were killed before the signing of the peace agreement in Lusaka, Zambia in July last year.