Kabila Vulnerable After Turning Away From the West

Posted to the web 13 October 2008 Fred Oluoch Nairobi The persistent rebellion in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo calls into question Joseph Kabila's presidency and who wants him out. It appears that the forces that were behind the assassination of his father, Laurent Desire Kabila, are regrouping after realising that he is asserting himself. Kabila was pushed into the leadership of Africa's third largest country in 2001 at the age of 31 following the assassination of his father, who owed his ascent to power to Uganda and Rwanda. But it is the same forces -- who perceived him as a transitional president -- that have kept Kabila busy. He has always maintained that Rwanda and Uganda, who have maintained a presence in the eastern Congo, either directly or by proxy, have to leave to allow an inter-Congolese dialogue. But... [read full story]