Arms Exports to Zaire and the Trade of Zairean Women in Belgium

Lita Kamavuako and Mansoni Luvenga, GAMA, October 1995

Ladies and Gentlemen

On January 12th last a press conference took place on the occasion of the opening of the permanent mission of the transition governments national conference. During this we expressed our alarm at a possible worsening of the political situation in Central Africa, as a result of the destabilisation programme initiated by the government in Kinshasa. The aims of these actions are to cause unrest in this strategically important part of Africa. With this it shall be shown that black Africa is not yet ready for democracy, and that the only true alternative for Africa is a strong regime i.e. an autocratic one.

The emergency call was barely out when the latest unrest started in the Congo and Rwanda as concrete proof of politics aimed at the destruction and handicapping of the erection of a democratic state. We can now maintain that the massacre in Brazzaville, whose scope and suddenness both shocked and surprised passers by, was only possible by a massive arms injection from Kinshasa, to those responsible.

With this we enter the main theme of our presentation, arms exports to Zaire.

We have discovered two main arms rings. They are under the direct control of two of the main members of the last loyal circle of Mobutu.

In the course of our investigation we confirmed that Zaventem airport near Brussels, with the help of the cargo department head of Air-Zaire Belgium, in Bucargo is a turntable for arms exports to Zaire. In this presentation we will see that the Belgian authorities are informed that Belgium is on the verge of being the most important link in this secret and illegal weapons delivery to the Kinshasa regime's special forces.

On the edge of this arms trade is a disquietening element that increases our fears that this is to support and maintain a situation of chaos and insecurity in the heart of Africa.

It is about an attempt initiated by Ngbanda Nzambo, special advisor to the security of President Mobutu, to form something like an anti-reform international group. They should be an amalgamation of countries and movements fighting against democracy movements.

To achieve this, there was a secret mission last February by members of the special security office to South Africa. They formed contacts with the extreme right wing leader Eugene Terreblanche, with the Zulu chief Mangosutu Buthelezi and with the rebel leaders of RENAMO of Mozambique, who are supported by white South African right wing extremists.

The aim of these meetings was the basis for active political co-operation and to help each other. One can easily understand that help would be forthcoming from extremist right wing South African soldiers if the Kinshasa regime were in any trouble.

Zhe Zulu chief's strict rejection of integrating his Nkahata movement into the the democracy process in South Africa is partly understandable through Zaire's politics.

To come back to the arms rings in Zaire, here is the information that we have at present.

The first trading circle seems to be the most important, considering its operations structure and the high number of registered representatives. It is headed by Kongolo, the eldest son of Mobutu's first marriage.

He is the Chief lieutenant in the ,Dragons" division of the DSP (Special Presediantial Division). Kongolo works with General Nzimbi, the commander of the DSP and cousin of President Mobutu.

This elite division of ca. 100 soldiers, is equipped with the most modern weapons, and is also the best paid division of the DSP. It is composed primarily of the President's family, as well as Zaireans who do not come from his province who are married into the President's family.

A closer study of the structure of the arms trade network leads to the following observations:

1) The Chief Lieutenant Kongolo Mobutu, uses, post box" firms to help cover his tracks.

In Brussels we have found the names of two of these firms: Européenne Tours Voyages and Know Nedge Holding. They were founded with the help of Simba Kee, a lawyer. As we will see later he seems to be the co-ordinator for Kongolo's activities in Belgium.

2) The collaborators and members of the arms trade net are multiple people who are related to the Presidents councilors and officials. They have a personal interest in maintaining the status quo in Zaire. We have noted the name Aka Ndeba Marie Chantal in relation to the French part of the arms net. She is a relative of the advisor Aka, the general secretary of the SNIP, and a trusted one of Mobutu for whom he carries out secret missions.

3) We have the names of several Zairean students and asylum seekers who have in our opinion signed up?? With this they earn their living. As to the true nature of the business of the companies for whom they work, they do not seem to know.

4) The French section of the arms net have many West Africans working for them, probably in connection with Mobutu's marabut's.

5) The name of the Congo national Jules N'Guessan, who belongs to the movement of the former President Denis Sassou-Nguessou, has also come to our attention. His involvement in the unrest in Brazzaville has be proved.

6) In the list of sub handlers one finds the names of two of President Mobutu's nephews, Kadeba Manada and Movoto Sengu.

7) A worker at the Zairean embassy in Brussels shows a connection to Simba Kae, as well as to leading workers in G camines, a Zairean company in Brussels. This leading worker was involved in hemp trading between Belgium and Holland in 1978.

8) Two import-export firms in Antwerp are also involved in the arms rings.

9) The names of contractors, who specialise in air cargo to Zaire, are also to be found on the list, but at the present stage of our research we do not yet know if they are actively involved in this trade or not. The same goes for airlines such as Shabair and Scibe-Zaire who hold a flight licence from Air-Zaire, as well as for the Boeing 727's of the President, which often fly the Kinshasa-Brussels route.

The special advisor Ngbanda Nzambo himself commands the diamond trade between Kinshasa and Brussels, with which the countless destabilisation actions outside and the corruption of politicians in Zaire are financed. Two family in-laws who are resident in Brussels, oversee the voluminous trade business and commute regularly between Kinshasa and Zaire.

The second arms ring is personally led by the special advisor Ngbanda Nzambo, with the help of some Lebanese traders.

It involves a new generation of Lebanese from the Bekaa Heights, who landed in Zaire after April 24th 1990, with the aim of laundering opium money. They buy with the protection of officials, Zairean diamonds which they sell on in Antwerp, and with this they purchase surplus weapons in the Lebanon. From Kinshasa, the weapons are transported by two giant Russian transport planes, belonging to the fleet of Ngbanda Nzambo, to Bukavu and Goma in the east of the country. From there they are taken to Burundi and Rwanda, where contractors sell them on again.

A small parenthesis on the personality of the special advisors is necessary here to develop understanding for the situation in Zaire.

Through his fanaticism and in contrast to Mobutu, his religious devotion, as well as his terror, the special advisor Ngbanda Nzambo is a mixture of Goebbels and Himmler. He played a leading role in the massacre of students in the University of Lubumbashi in May 1990. He was also the then defence minister responsible for the bloodbath during the Christian demonstration of February 16th 1992. He is a friend of Dr. Jonas Savimbi and the Angola question lies exclusively within his competence. Despite all lies on the official side Zaire is deeply involved in the situation in Angola. Before the signing of the peace treaty between UNITA and the MPLA, he was responsible for the CIA delivering more weapons to UNITA. He is the one who improves and strengthens the co-operation between UNITA and Zaire. In Zaire itself Ngbanda Nzambo is the initiator of the handicapping politics of the democracy process.

The discovery of the special forces arms delivery network of Mobutu's dictatorial regime reflects at times the delays in political handling in Zaire. The significance of an alliance with extremist right wing parties in South Africa, the support of anti democratic regimes in the Congo and Rwanda mean above all that the dictator of Kinshasa is locked in with all means to hinder any form of Democracy. To achieve this, Mobutu and the extremists practise political chaos.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Peripheral to our research on arms exports to Zaire our attention was drawn to an apparent beginning of a trade in women. It is not yet known as to whether this trade in women is connected to the arms trade. In this activity the Chief Lieutenant Kongolo and Simba Kae are involved in a prostitution ring with young Zairean women and girls in Brussels.

It has been confirmed that the young girls who arrive in Belgium are accommodated by Simba Kae in apartments in the Fiat Hotel Continental in the area of Ixelles. This happens after their asylum claims have been rejected by the general Commission for Refugees and the eless. Simba Kae rents the apartments for these young women.

The permanent mission of the legal government of Zaire has placed much importance on making this form of business known to Belgian officials, and informing them of the activities of Mobutu's family on Belgian territory. The permanent mission hopes to show that the negative consequences of Mobutu are not confined to Zaire alone. The globalisation of world problems is a fact that cannot be reversed. The solution of the Zairean crisis is the support of the National Conference convened legal transition government as well as democratic strength through the international community.

The permanent mission of the Government of Zaire thanks you for your attention.

Brussels, March 29th 1994.

Contact:
Zaire-Informationszentrum in Deutschland
c/o AStA Uni Hannover,
Welfengarten 1, D-30167 Hannover, Germany,
tel.: +49-511-763 5063 or 7011485, fax: +49-511-717441,
e-mail: asta.unih@oln.comlink.apc.org