Flood waters have made their way to Mbandaka and Kinshasa

As anticipated, the flood waters on the Congo River that have plagued Kisangani in the east have now made their way to Mbandaka and Kinshasa in the west according to an ACP release of December 31. The ACP report also indicated that the United States has provided $25,000 to help people in Kisangani and the World Food Program has provided some three tons of high energy biscuits. The Kabila government in Kinshasa appears to be continuing to play its coordination and monitoring role but is itself not providing any direct assistance, instead reliant on outside resources from international humanitarian aid agencies and the UN. In an interesting and perhaps related story filed by ACP on December 31, it has been learned that the special counselor to the general secretary of the ADFL, Mr. G. Weber Batoa Chengane, has complained that the ADFL leadership in Orientale Province, of which Kisangani is the center, are considered by ADFL headquarters to be lacking in their understanding of the ADFL's political and administrative systems. The ADFL has apparently sent a team to Kisangani for nearly a week, led by the ADFL's special counselor, to provide Kisangani authorities with some education about how the ADFL wants the country rebuilt. As an editorial comment, one has to wonder whether there is a correlation here between the lack of action by Kabila government authorities to provide disaster relief to Kisangani flood victims and the ADFL's assessment that Orientale Province authorities do not fully comprehend the ADFL system of governance.