France’s ambassador to the United Nations has warned that drastic cuts to the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo would be tantamount to ‘playing with fire’ as the country faces election turmoil.

France has circulated a draft resolution to renew the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission, but is facing scrutiny from the United States which is seeking cuts to UN peace operations.

“The DRC is at a crossroads,” Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters ahead of a Security Council meeting on the situation in the vast, resource-rich African country.

The country’s first peaceful political transition through elections and the protection of civilians are at stake, he said.

“We should not be playing with fire when it comes to such high stakes,” said Delattre.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has asked the Council to boost the UN mission, known by its acronym MONUSCO, by up to 320 UN police and to maintain the current level of military troops.

The United Nations has 19 000 soldiers, police and military observers deployed in the DRC, its biggest and costliest peacekeeping mission.

Delattre said negotiations were under way on the troop levels. “Reform to make it more efficient, yes. Reform to break it down, certainly not,” he said.

The Council is scheduled to decide on MONUSCO’s mandate during a meeting on March 29.

The United States, by far the biggest financial contributor to UN peacekeeping, is seeking cuts to reduce its share of support for the missions.

This year, the United States will be providing nearly 29% of the $7.9bn budget for UN peacekeeping.

In his report to the Council, Guterres said 2017 will be a ‘crucial year’ for the DRC as it heads toward elections.

After months of violence, the influential Catholic Church brokered a deal in late December to pave the way for elections, but the agreement has been bogged down in disputes over the appointment of a new prime minister.

Elections would bring an end to the rule of President Joseph Kabila, in power since 2001.

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South Sudan has formed a technical committee that will review the rise in tax collection and fees, stating that charges and other fees including those of work permits should conform to regional rates.

Michael Makuei Lueth, the Minister of Information and the government spokesman said a committee had been formed to look into the matter, adding that the organisations along with anyone that was affected by the directives should wait for results before taking action.

“We want these rates to be in conformity with the regional rates. A committee has been formed and tasked to review the outcome, so that we can see if it is in accordance with the regional rates. The final results will probably come out next week,” said the minister.

Lueth’s comments follow a circular from the Ministry of Labour, which announced the changes in fees, stating they were in line with the Taxation Amendment Act of 2016/2017 and in accordance with the 2016-2017 budget.

The documents suggested there be a rise in charges to close the deficit after failing to secure funding from the donors. The Ministry of Labour was targeted by the circular. The ministry raised the work permit for foreign nationals from USD 100 to amounts reaching 10,000.

The Immigration and Aviation departments also had their charging fees increase: with aviation increasing their landing fees for international aircraft from USD 240- 4000.

The new changes sparked a public outcry and added diplomatic pressure on the government.

Observers say this would affect humanitarian work. They also expressed fears of donors being discouraged from funding the humanitarian activities in South Sudan, like the famine that has hit the country.

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The United Nations-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) has sentenced the former Congolese Vice-President, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, to another year in prison and about $325,000 in fines for interfering with his trial.

Judges ordered the that the sentence be served consecutively to Mr. Bemba’s existing 18 year sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Central African Republic between October 2002 and March 2003.

In their ruling, the judges ordered the fine to be paid within three months to the ICC and then transferred to the Trust Fund for Victims, according to a press release.

Mr. Bemba, along with two of the four other people accused, were found guilty in October ‘for having jointly committed the offences of intentionally corruptly influencing 14 defence witnesses, and presenting their false evidence to the court’.

Mr. Bemba was also found guilty of soliciting the giving of false testimony by the 14 defence witnesses and attempting to corruptly influence two defence witnesses.

These charges were in addition to the main ruling issued in March 2016, in which the ICC found Mr. Bemba guilty beyond reasonable doubt on two counts of crimes against humanity (murder and rape) and three counts of war crimes (murder, rape and pillaging) committed in the Central African Republic in 2002-2003.

Mr. Bemba had been the commander-in-chief of the former Congolese rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, as well as a vice-president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the 2003-2006 transition.

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