UNITED NATIONS, March 8 -- Holding a glass of wine in front of a tapestry depicting the Great Wall of China, the corporate social responsibility director for Alcatel - Lucent Marie Royce Tuesday night spoke to Inner City Press about Rwanda and the Congo, Kabila and bonobos.
“My husband is a member of Congress,” she said, describing a trip by Rep. Ed Royce (R-California) to Kinshasa on the day that Mobutu was overthown by Laurent Kabila. “My husband was in a jeep, protected by a group of men with guns. He was able to say, for the first time in his life, 'Take me to your leader.'”
With that, Marie Royce laughed heartily. She said Alcatel - Lucent is in 45 countries in Africa, she has been to Rwanda and the war crimes tribunal in Tanzania. Rwanda, she said, has “better P.R.” in Washington, the Congo can't compete.
Inner City Press pointed out that while the DRC is Francophone, Rwanda has shifted to English. There is that, she said, adding that she has met twice with Joseph Kabila. Returning to the past, she said her husband spoke with Laurent Kabila when he first came to New York and stayed in the Waldorff = Astoria. “He had never seen snow,” she said.
She shifted to bonobos, how “a man named Antoine” gave her a tour and called up to the primates in the trees, who waved back. They were just like people, she said. And so it goes at the UN.
