Press Worry About Uncertainly In DRC

The political uncertainty in DR Congo following the shooting of President Laurent Kabila and the controversial trip of President John Agyekum Kufuor to Togo last Sunday were the main issues discussed by the Ghanaian press this week.

Two days of uncertainty as the world waited for news from Kinshasa that Kabila had died after being fatally shot by a bodyguard is reflected in the Thursday issues of the state-owned Graphic and Ghanaian Times.

While the Graphic led its front page with the headline 'Kabila is Dead', the Times said in its Africa page that "Kabila is still alive, says government spokesman." The world was kept waiting for two days for news on Kabila although enough leads were dropped about what news to expect.

Two privately owned newspapers, the Ghanaian Chronicle and Ghanaian Democrat condemn President Kufuor for participating in the 38th anniversary of the rise to power of the Togolese president Gnassingbe Eyadema.

On 13 January 1963, Togo's first president Sylvanus Olympio was murdered in a coup led by President Eyadema.

In an editorial entitled 'No Sir, Mr President', the Ghanaian Chronicle, which leans heavily towards Kufuor, noted that the visit to "celebrate the day of infamy with the Togolese president...aroused so much passion."

Kufuor's New Patriotic Party has said it is vehemently opposed to military coups and has condemned former President Jerry Rawlings for staging two coups.

It called the visit "sacrilege" because of the timing and the award that was conferred on Kufuor. "What is the understanding between Kufuor and Eyadema that made it imperative that the Ghanaian leader had to be physically present in Lome on that day? What was the award for?" the Chronicle asked.

The Democrat, which is loyal to former president Rawlings, described the trip as President Kufuor's first faulty step" saying "It will not be long when the true facts of Mr Kufuor's visit to Eyadema will become public knowledge."