The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | On the eve of his landmark sentencing, lawyers for former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba Monday gave notice that they will appeal his war crimes conviction and press for a mistrial. Just hours before the once feared militia leader was due back in the …
Read More »M23 rebels in DR Congo want new demob scheme
Lubumbashi, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s disbanded M23 rebel movement has called on the government to agree a new demobilisation scheme following deadly clashes near a camp housing former rebels dissatisfied with their conditions. M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa said in a statement that the deaths of several people …
Read More »LRA rebels kidnap dozens of civilians in DR Congo: UN
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Nearly 100 people have been kidnapped in northeast DR Congo during an attack blamed on Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, the United Nations said Wednesday. Lieutenant-Colonel Martin Amouzou Codjo, spokesman for the UN’s MONUSCO peace mission in DR Congo, said the suspected LRA members …
Read More »Ali’s ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ still resonates in Kinshasa
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | At the sound of Muhammad Ali’s name Martino Kavuala, now a 63-year-old estate agent in Kinshasa, seems to light up as he recalls the “Rumble in the Jungle” back in 1974 which “held us spellbound”. Ali, who died on Friday aged 74, held the …
Read More »At least two killed in clashes as opposition protests sweep DR Congo
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | At least two people were reported killed Thursday as rallies across DR Congo against President Joseph Kabila turned violent, with police firing tear gas in the capital Kinshasa and the eastern city of Goma. Large numbers of riot police were deployed across the country …
Read More »Policemen killed near DRC, Uganda demands compensation
Kampala, Uganda | AFP & INDEPENDENT REPORTER | The Government of Uganda has protested the killing of four policemen along Lake Albert and an official protest note has been sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Uganda is also demanding compensation. “If there was a problem with our patrol police …
Read More »Kabila can remain in office without a vote: court
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s President Joseph Kabila can remain in office when his mandate expires at the end of 2016, even without being re-elected, the Constitutional Court said Wednesday. The ruling was handed down in response to a request from the ruling party amid rising tension …
Read More »DR Congo opposition politician to be quizzed over mercenaries
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Opposition politician Moise Katumbi will appear before a prosecutor in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday over government allegations he recruited foreign mercenaries. Katumbi — who plans to run against President Joseph Kabila in elections due this year — has been summoned by …
Read More »DR Congo opposition politician seeks UN protection
Lubumbashi, DR Congo | AFP | Opposition politician Moise Katumbi said Thursday he has asked the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo for protection a day after announcing he was running for president. “I sent a letter to the (UN mission) MONUSCO seeking their protection because I am …
Read More »‘Rumba king’ Papa Wemba posthumously decorated
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo’s rumba king Papa Wemba was posthumously awarded one of his country’s highest honours on Monday, a week after he collapsed on stage and died aged 66. At a ceremony in the national parliament in Kinshasa, where Papa Wemba’s body lay …
Read More »