Provincial assembly installed in South Kivu

Members of the South Kivu Provincial Assembly assumed their posts on Wednesday in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) town of Bukavu, the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) armed opposition movement announced.

RCD head of delegation Joseph Mudumbi Mulunda outlined on Thursday the three primary responsibilities of the assembly as including oversight of actions undertaken by executive provincial authorities; restoration of peace to the province, as called for during September's inter-Kivu dialogue; and "education of the population to take their development into their own hands through concrete action," according to the statement.

South Kivu Provincial Assembly President Prosper Mushobekwa Nyalukemba promised to work for peace in the province by "drawing the Mayi-Mayi [Congolese militias] out of the forests" and "educating the population [...] that the Interahamwe [Rwandan Hutu militias] must return to Rwanda". Mushobekwa Nyalukemba also called on the leaders of the RCD "to do everything possible so that Kinshasa's delegates to the inter-Congolese dialogue adopt federalism as the means of governing the country".

In September, RCD-Goma appointed 70 members to the North Kivu Provincial Assembly as part of its plans to set up a federal system of governance in areas of the DRC under its control.

The future geopolitical structure of the DRC will be central to the national inter-Congolese peace and reconciliation dialogue due to begin on Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The dialogue is mandated by the 1999 Lusaka peace agreement, and will bring together representatives of the Kinshasa government, armed and unarmed opposition groups, and civil society. Modalities of incorporating the splinter rebel group RCD-ML (Mouvement de liberation) and the Mayi-Mayi are expected to be high on next week's agenda, before talks are expanded at a later date.