Chinese whispers

In pure ‘Radio Trottoir’ tradition, Kinshasa is buzzing with rumour tonight. Nothing is swifter than rumour, they say (Horace, apparently), but I think Kinshasa may hold a world record. I’d love it if someone could invent a ‘rumometer’ to measure and chart the amount of noise generated by rumours at any one time: word of mouth, phone conversations, text messages, e-mail traffic, blog posts... I reckon we’d be off the charts, but probably I’m just new to the game. I wonder – if information is power, then what is rumour? Perhaps the more interesting question is, at what point does rumour become information, and information news?

So today’s jumble of news and rumour is this:

§ News: Following the trouble on Saturday, Bemba agreed to send his troops outside Kinshasa, and to accept UN protection instead. His troops were due to leave this afternoon.

§ Rumour: Throughout the afternoon, people witnessed lorries arriving full of FARDC (state army) soldiers and leaving empty, sparking rumours that soldiers were being deployed around the capital.

§ Rumour: Bemba’s soldiers refused to go.

§ News: The Independent Electoral Commission has been publishing results by constituency as and when they become available. Today they published the results of the final remaining constituencies. The press (along with the government, the opposition, embassies, observer missions and anyone else with a keen interest and/or time to spare) has been carefully compiling the published results, which show a Kabila win by some 60%.

§ News: In an interview with Radio France Internationale this morning, Cardinal Frédéric Etsou, Archbishop of Kinshasa, questioned the extent to which the elections in DRC were free, fair and transparent.

§ Rumour: The interview may have been leading, the editing sensationalist, and the Archbishop’s words consequently misrepresented.

§ News: This afternoon Bemba’s Union pour la Nation issued a statement claiming that there had been massive fraud and that their own compilation of the results given to them by their party witnesses showed a Bemba win by some 52%.

§ Rumour: Rumours that Bemba would appear on television at 7pm to proclaim himself President (and potentially spark the worst fighting yet) turned out to be erroneous. Current rumour has it that Bemba is distancing himself from the statement made by his political allies.

§ Rumour: Dozens of UN tanks line the road in front of Bemba’s residence.

§ Rumour: Ambassadors are currently ensconced with Bemba, and probably the other Usual Suspects.

§ Rumour: Bemba has made a secret deal with Kabila – Money? Ministry? Diplomatic immunity from an impending ICJ court case?

§ Rumour: Close Bemba allies, such as his spokesperson and party secretary, may break rank and denounce the deal he made with Kabila, despite having won the election.

§ News: Before proclaiming the provisional results, the IEC must respond to five counts of irregularities made by Bemba’s camp. Yesterday, the IEC claimed to have responded to two of these already.

§ Rumour: Bemba claims that he has received no response from the IEC.

§ News: Between 3 and 5 am on Sunday, the police rounded up 337 ‘shegues’ (street youth), including 35 women (and their 3 babies) and 87 minors. On instructions from the Minister of Interior, these people were due to be sent on Monday to national service camps in Katanga (men) and near Kinshasa (women), where they would be made to work in the fields and taught a trade.

§ Rumour: Following concerns expressed by different human rights groups, the minister subsequently agreed to let the minors and women at least remain in Kinshasa and, if charged with a crime (which none of them have been yet!), be tried according to normal judicial procedures.

“I cannot tell how the truth may be; I say the tale as 'twas said to me.”

-- Sir Walter Scott

P.S: A few more jumbled thoughts about rumours: I’m willing to admit that in this environment they can sometimes keep you out of trouble, but I also can’t help but feel that there’s something a bit sleazy about it all. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I know the way my heart accelerates excitedly when I am privy to a particularly juicy piece of information, unsubstantiated as it may turn out to be, and the distressing amount of self-control I have to exercise to stop myself from spreading it as quickly as possible, such is the lure of having two seconds’ worth of someone’s undivided attention, and the feeling of power that goes with it. And I have learned to recognise the sign in others – a pink flush on the cheeks, a twinkle of excitement in the eye… It is human nature, you will say, but I can’t help feeling uncomfortable at how eager some of us can seem as we transmit rumours of impending gloom to one another.