Congo’s Army and the Death of (US) Sanctions
Last Friday, Congolese president Felix Tshisekedi ordered the first major army reshuffle since he assumed office in early 2019. Read as part of a four-hours live-televised litany on national TV, the main outcome is a heavy rotation through numerous army branches and command posts. Perhaps most relevant is the dismissal of long-standing Inspector-General John Numbi, … Continue reading
General Mudacumura – The Death of a Most-Wanted
This morning, around 5am, the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda’s (FDLR) long-standing overall military commander Lt.-Gen. Sylvestre Mudacumura (also known by his noms de guerre Bernard Mupenzi and Pharaon) has been killed in a raid near Bwito-Monument, a small locality in southern Bwito chieftaincy roughly situated between Bukombo and Bambu. Mudacumura has been one … 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
How John Kerry could help bring peace to Congo (…by questioning constructed and patchy arguments)
Once more, a disingenuous op-ed on eastern Congo comes up with a brittle bricolage of little evidenced clichés. On MSNBC, Mr. Prendergast and Mr. Lezhnev (for whom I have highest personal respect, which does not exclude the possibility to scrutinise their claims in a critical manner) try to give advice to the John Kerry and … Continue reading
The drama of post-colonial governance in contemporary African politics
Today’s global discourses feature a large variety of thoughts relating to current governance in many places in the world. In an age of globalisation and concurrent modes of governance, statehood, administration, and society organisation have emerged. The African continent, despite its massive variety of political culture and governance modes, prominently shows up as a place … Continue reading
When the big ones meet… – UN Security Council on the Congo
On 25 July 2013, the recently reopened UN Security Council chamber held one of its most high-profile attended meetings on the ongoing turmoil in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. (see here for the official wrap-up press release) Announced as a “ministerial meeting”, the Security Council’s 7011th session hosted US Secretary of State John Kerry … Continue reading
Kony 2012 revisited: A short bibliography on opinions worth taking into account
Without any longer comment, a couple of pieces (in random order) I may not all endorse at a 100% but I deem absolutely worth and important to read when it comes to the phenomenon of the Kony2012 campaign by Invisible Children finding its continuation in yesterday released “Move“ video: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/?single_page=true by Teju Cole http://www.warscapes.com/reportage/not-click-away-joseph-kony-real-world by … Continue reading
Some thoughts on the M23 addendum to the UN Group of Experts midterm report
A couple of days ago, the much anticipated addendum of this year’s UN Group of Experts (GoE) midterm report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been released. While the previously published report concentrated on various pertinent developments linked to the security situation in conflict prone eastern DRC as GoE reports usually do, this … Continue reading
A comment on Kony 2012, its repercussions, and its possible consequences
The last two weeks have been marked by an unprecedented internet activism campaign to “make Joseph Kony famous”. A viral internet video produced by US advocacy and development NGO Invisible Children (IC). As for now, it has been watched by roughly 100 million people which makes it as far as I am informed the most … Continue reading
Should he become president of Haiti?
Wyclef Jean is running for presidency in Haiti this autumn. Without any doubt, he is one of the most excellent artists that hip hop music has ever known, but should he engage on that platform as well? After his official announcement reactions have been mixed… Among the most outspoken critics we noticed Sean Penn who … Continue reading
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