“Tatort Kongo – Prozess in Deutschland”, or a history of the FDLR
Below is a guest feature on the new FDLR book by Johnson, Schlindwein & Schmolze: “Tatort Kongo – Prozess in Deutschland”, or a history of the FDLR Usually, starting with the worst point is not how one would begin a review – but this great book so far only exists in a German version, and it … Continue reading
Main takeaways of the new Group of Experts report
This year’s final report of the UN group of expert monitoring the Democratic Republic of the Congo has just been released As in previous years, it contains a lot of important and relevant information on current developments in the country. In terms of armed groups, FDLR and ADF are under increased scrutiny like in previous years, … Continue reading
Courts and technocrats in Congo?
Over the last few weeks, Congo’s embattled political arena has seen a gradual shift of issues outside the playgrounds of pre-electoral competition and into the – in parts more shadowy – world of legal and technocratic procedures. On May 11, the Constitutional Court of the DRC expressed its verdict over the question whether or not … Continue reading
Mujyambere’s arrest & the politics of tackling FDLR
Early last week, the chief of staff of the FDLR’s main military wing, FOCA, Brig.-Gen. Leopold Mujyambere (also known under the following aliases: Petrus, Achille, Musenyeri) was arrested when he was allegedly on his way back from Zambia into the thick forests of Northern Masisi – where many of the militia’s key leaders and troops … Continue reading
Mining cooperatives (Suluhu Working Paper 1)
(ENGLISH BELOW) Comme de nombreux observateurs intéressés le savent, il n’est toujours facile de démêler la dynamique complexes politiques, sociales et économiques dans la région des Grands Lacs de l’Afrique, en particulier en République Démocratique du Congo (DRC/RDC). Dans cette région, marquée par les conflits récurrents et l’insécurité, un travail minutieux et à long terme est souvent … Continue reading
Tensions abound in Masisi
Much attention on the Congo was monopolised by continuous debates over the mounting pre-electoral controversies in the past few weeks. At the same time, a set of events much more immediately impacting the lives of many Congolese went largely unnoticed outside local media and the notable exception of one Reuters report: in northern Masisi territory … Continue reading
Rift Valley Courses 2016
In roughly, two months, the Rift Valley Institute – a London- and Nairobi-based non-profit think tank – will launch yet another series of its annual ‘field courses’, intense one-week summer schools on three of the institute’s core areas of research: the Horn of Africa, the Sudans, and the African Great Lakes region. The Great Lakes course … Continue reading
The new Security Council resolution 2277 on MONUSCO
A few hours ago, the UN Security Council has unanimously adopted – under Angolan presidency – its resolution 2277 extending MONUSCO’s mandate for another year (the 17th) and outlining the grand lines of UN politics on the Congo for the coming twelve months, a period arguably to be marked by heavy contestation at various levels. … Continue reading
Tit-for-tat violence spreads in southern Lubero
2016 has begun with little calm in North Kivu as reports over the Miriki massacre made the headlines in early January. Since November 2015, FARDC-led Sukola II operations marked an effective military campaign against FDLR in North Kivu (the South Kivu string of operations ended very quickly in mid-2015 and ever since, FDLR are reported to … Continue reading
On the emergence of Mayi Mayi Oregon
With recent massacres in Miriki (Lubero) and meandering political sparring around a potential ‘national dialogue’ in the headlines, the first weeks of 2016 followed the well-known mantra of ‘never a dull moment in Congo’. One other story, though, went almost unheard and continues developing with little attention from Congolese and Congo pundits: the first Mayi Mayi … Continue reading
