Anticipating a boom in the number of VIP motorcades with the formation of a new government in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United States on Thursday advised drivers there to steer clear.
Although civilian motorists are no longer required to get out of their cars and avert their eyes when an official convoy passes — as they were when the late president Laurent Kabila was in power — the US embassy in Kinshasa said it was still a good idea to look away.
The unusual advice was issued by the embassy in a notice to US citizens in the DRC on the same day that the ministers and deputy ministers of the country’s two main former rebel groups were sworn in, ending a controversy that had marred the first days of the nations large new transition government.
The government — the result of a peace deal to end a nearly five-year-old brutal civil war — includes 35 ministers and 25 vice-ministers, many of whom have demanded 15 bodyguards each as befitting their new status.
Of greatest concern, however, is the fact that the power-sharing cabinet also includes four vice presidents whose rank and attendant security and transportation needs the US embassy in Kinshasa seems to fear will complicate driving on the DRC’s already poor roads.
”With the arrival of the four new vice presidents, please note the following:” the embassy said in the notice.
What follows is a six-point primer on what a driver should do if an official motorcade appears, including a helpful tip that such convoys are usually preceeded by a ”motorcycle cop driving at a high rate of speed down the middle of the road.”
”The motorcycle is usually driven by a traffic cop dressed in a yellow uniform,” it said. ”When you see him, please get off the road completely — or as far as possible.”
The DRC motorcade-savvy motorist will then lock his doors and roll up his windows and then expect one or two more motorcycle cops to pass with the VIP vehicles immediately following.
”You do NOT have to get out of your car and face away from the street like during the Laurent Kabila days, but you should not stare/look at the motorcade when it passes by,” the embassy advised.
Only after the motorcade has passed should the driver return his or her eyes to the road and delicately continue on the way, according to the embassy. – Sapa-AFP