Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Eleven people were killed and more than 900 inmates escaped Sunday after unidentified assailants attacked a jail in DR Congo’s restive east, an official said. “The Kangwayi prison in Beni was attacked at 3:30 pm (1330 GMT) by assailants whose identity is not yet …
Read More »DR Congo’s tainted ex-police chief Numbi made national hero
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo’s former police chief John Numbi, believed by regime critics to be prime suspect in the murder of a key rights activist, has been made a national hero. Numbi, who holds the rank of general, is one of eight senior police …
Read More »Lucha continua: The youth movement striking fear into Congo’s elite
Lucha pushes for reform all the way up to the presidency, but it most actively engages at the community level. Its local activities generally take the form of popular education or protests…BY RUBY BANTARIZA, TIM HIRSCHEL-BURNS & SOPHIA SCHUSTER Kinshasa, DRC | AFRICAN ARGUMENTS | Five years ago in the …
Read More »KABILA: I did not promise to hold elections this year
Kabila says he never ‘promised’ to hold elections in DR Congo Berlin, Germany | AFP | Congolese President Joseph Kabila on Saturday said he had never “promised anything” about whether to hold elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, seeming to back away from a deal to hold a vote …
Read More »Congo Come Back! Why we’re building a new political movement in DRC
Kinshasa, DRC | AFRICAN ARGUMENTS| History tells us that summer months are often eventful in Congolese politics. It was on 30 June 1960 that the country gained independence from Belgium. On that day, Belgium’s King Baudouin declared: “the Congo constitutes the culmination of the work conceived by the genius of …
Read More »Bitter legacy: 20 years on, Kinshasa recalls Kabila ‘liberation’
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Two decades after Kinshasa gave itself up willingly to rebel commander Laurent-Desire Kabila, his son Joseph remains at the helm of this vast, conflict-ravaged nation although his rule is mired in political crisis. Back in 1997, the country then known as Zaire was struggling …
Read More »Kabila under pressure, names new government under power-sharing deal
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Congolese President Joseph Kabila named an expanded new government on Tuesday, with almost all his old team retained, as part of power-sharing deal to end a crisis over his wish to remain in power. The presidential list of 60 ministers, read out on television, …
Read More »Rwanda, DRC to explore oil in Lake Kivu
The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have signed a five-year joint exploration agreement for oil under Lake Kivu. The agreement follows a similar one between Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli and Congolese President Joseph Kabila in 2016. The two leaders signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly explore the …
Read More »SPECIAL FEATURE: DR Congo, home to a tenth of the world’s languages
There are 450 languages spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | “I haven’t once spoken my mother tongue Kilokele in the 62 years I’ve lived in Kinshasa. None of my nine children speak it,” says Charles Tongohala. Tongohala’s native tongue is one of 450 spoken …
Read More »Kabila names opposition leader as Prime Minister
DR Congo president names new PM under power-sharing deal Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | President Joseph Kabila on Friday named an opposition leader as prime minister for the Democratic Republic of Congo, honouring a pledge made as part of a stalled power-sharing deal agreed in December. Bruno Tshibala, a …
Read More »