So many uninformed opinions getting posted here by people thinking Nigel should be in the DRC talking to Felix.
Felix has made himself unavailable while he goes about cleaning out conspirators and corruption from his advisors and his cabinet.
@Sammael deserves the credit for this information he shared with me and a few others last night, but I’m putting it here because I’m sick of all the bullshit that’s being posted here
Cabinet Tshisekedi: The secret story of the fall of the adviser Fortunat Biselele
The arrest of Fortunat Biselele, known as "Bifort", followed by the reshuffle of the presidential cabinet of which he was a pivot, augurs a change of course on the part of Félix Tshisekedi.
Africa Intelligence reveals behind the scenes of this political sequence and the investigation carried out by the Congolese services.
Fortunat Biselele, alias "Bifort", and his project manager, Pacifique Kahasha, who will be released shortly afterwards. At the same time, the Head of State signs the reorganization order of his cabinet.
Only his chief of staff, Guylain Nyembo, is taken into his confidence and ordered to keep it a secret. The next day, Tshisekedi flies to Switzerland where he is expected at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
On board the plane, with him, are several of his advisers, including Pacifique Kahasha, his private secretary Taupin Kabongo, and his special investment adviser, Jean-Claude Kabongo, known as “JCK”.
They don't know anything about the ongoing restructuring at the top of the state, and don't dare ask the president questions. On landing, they discover with amazement the new composition of the cabinet, of which they are no longer a part. JCK tries in vain to approach the Head of State. He is asked to leave the Congolese delegation. Taupin Kabongo resigns himself to taking a flight to Brussels. Bifort, he is still detained in the premises of the ANR.
Complaints and warnings:
At the origin of this upheaval within the first circle of the Head of State, there are first warnings about the presumed racketeering of certain advisers. They are formulated in particular by the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, during his interview with Félix Tshisekedi in August 2022.
Still skeptical, the latter wants proof and instructs in complete confidentiality a fringe of the ANR, led by Jean- Hervé Mbelu Biosha, to start investigations. The bank accounts of some advisers to the president are scrutinized in the DRC.
At the start of 2023, mining company bosses are taking advantage of the presentations of greetings to meet with high authorities. Several of them, including Sicomines, a company with majority Chinese capital (AI of 01/19/23), mention difficulties in dealing with certain authorities and in satisfying the financial demands of presidential advisers. Among the personalities cited: the itinerant ambassador of the Head of State, Dany Banza, Bifort and JCK. The latter has interfered, with Bifort, in most major business cases, establishing itself as an essential interlocutor for economic operators.
The miners' complaints, backed up by Gécamines executives, go back to Jacques Tshibanda Tshisekedi, who abhors these special advisers perceived as dangerous for his older brother, the president. Their practices with mining operators are confirmed by the ANR, which has an agent in most companies considered strategic. The Head of State is discreetly informed and goes through the banking files, as well as the financial arrangements analyzed by his services. Some suspicions of enrichment are confirmed.
Links with Kigali
Information can be used to complete these financial analysis notes. If Bifort's Congolese bank accounts are surprisingly credited with only a few hundred thousand euros, it is because the adviser favors cash, according to ANR sources.
In addition to the financial investigation, there is a security component. For a long time, Bifort has been suspected of collusion with the Rwandan power of Paul Kagame. Formerly part of
the RCD rebellion (Rassemblement du Congo pour la democratie) supported by Rwanda, which trained him in intelligence, he used this relationship to try to bring Kinshasa closer to Kigali at the start of Tshisekedi's mandate. He is credited with a certain closeness to the number 1 in Rwandan intelligence, General Joseph Nzabamwita, and one of Kagame's advisers, Patrick Karuretwa.
His good relations with Kigali, however, suffered from his role in the attempted rapprochement at the end of 2021 with Uganda by Yoweri Museveni.
While All-Kinshasa was buzzing with rumors about Bifort's links with the Kagame regime, Felix Tshisekedi has long remained deaf to the risk assessments issued by his own service officials. Starting with those expressed by François Beya, his former head of the National Security Council (CNS) who, after having wanted to prevent a Bifort affair, found himself accused of plotting against the Head of State (AI of 18/ 02/22).
Increased mistrust
At the start of the year, the Head of State avoids Fortunat Biselele, no longer takes him on the phone and is wary. His questions about the loyalty of his adviser become untenable after an interview by Bifort with Alain Foka, journalist from RFI, broadcast on the latter's YouTube channel on January 6. His equivocal remarks on an alleged deal between Tshisekedi and Kagame, so that the latter uses his "address book" to bring investors to the DRC, surprise All-Kinshasa. Jean-Hervé Mbelu Biosha, the boss of the ANR, reputedly hostile to Rwanda and its supposed relays in the DRC, is continuing his investigations.
According to several security sources, ANR agents searched Bifort's homes in Goma and Kinshasa, which the family of the person concerned, however, denies. Large sums of cash - in the order of several million dollars - were reportedly found in his luxurious house in Kinshasa, near the Marble Palace in the commune of Ngaliema. The security services also reportedly came across a valid Rwandan passport. Nearly a week after his arrest, Bifort is still in the hands of the ANR. Congolese agents also seized the phones and computers of the former private adviser. Their technical analysis would have brought to light allegedly compromising elements about his relationship with Kigali.
Trusted personalities
The head of state, who believes he has been betrayed, purged his cabinet and dismissed some of his advisers. The last of the witnesses to the agreement signed with Joseph Kabila at the end of 2018 to still be in office, Bifort suddenly finds himself devoid of influence and political future. A clear message addressed to his troops, his political partners and his government. But also to his traveling companions since the beginning of the mandate, such as Dany Banza, the itinerant ambassador now in charge of the mission for regional integration, and losing influence.
This new cabinet, the Head of State has refocused it on trusted personalities, whose loyalty has been proven. He favored relatives, like his new private secretary, Bony Mwamba Kitambila, and especially his brother, Jacques Tshibanda Tshisekedi, appointed internal security coordinator within the personal services of the Head of State. We also find Paul Mundela and Michel Mulumba, both appointed special assistants to Félix Tshisekedi and members of the family.
For the Bifort post, Tshisekedi has set his sights on Kahumbu Mandungu Bula, known as "Kao", until then executive coordinator of the Banana port project monitoring coordination office (AI of 12/07/22). The latter is also reputed to be the prime contractor for the partnership concluded in January between Kinshasa and Abu Dhabi, which will allow the transport of "certified" gold between the two countries.
According to our information, the restructuring of the presidential cabinet, particularly at the level of its management, should continue in the coming weeks.
Guylain Nyembo and his deputy in charge of economic and financial issues, André Wameso, remain in office pending the return of the president's trip to Europe, then to the United Arab Emirates, and the reshuffle of the government. Olivier Mondonge Mugabe, a close friend of the president with whom he has significant influence, has been appointed deputy chief of staff, in charge of social progress.
As far as regional diplomacy is concerned, Serge Tshibangu is kept in office. His post was once coveted by Claude Ibalanky, considerably weakened by his business past with Zoé Kabila and his uncoordinated initiatives in negotiations with the M23 rebels (AI, 15/11/22). He was dismissed this week from the head of the National Monitoring Mechanism of the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement (MNS).
Olivier Liffran, Joan Tilouine/Africa Intelligence
