Advocacy for the maintenance of EU sanctions against alleged perpetrators of human rights violations in Congo-Kinshasa The European Union between values ​​and interests  Tears for Congolese victims, weapons and champagne for their executioners and promises of lucrative mining contracts to European partners… So may be summarized the current situation of the DR Congo whose President […]

BENI: Understand the deeper reasons of the military fiasco and false promises  By Boniface Musavuli  A few days after the announcement in great pomp of the military operations in Beni, on October 30, 2019, against the presumed ADF rebels, the territory becomes again the scene of killings of civilians occurring, as in the past, not […]

First published at thesentry.org This blog post was written by Sasha Lezhnev, Deputy Director of Policy at the Enough Project. An important but under-reported piece of news on the Democratic Republic of Congo over the last few months is the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) decision not to provide a loan to the country until the […]

First published at softpower.ug   The Rwandan government is furious over Uganda’s refusal to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the two countries’ armed forces jointly with DR Congo to carry out operations in the volatile Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), sources say. The three countries’ military chiefs as well as that of […]

First published at:  worldview.stratfor.com Highlights The makeup of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s new government underscores the Kabila system’s continued stranglehold over the country’s political order.  The old guard of former President Joseph Kabila is likely to resist efforts by the new government to clamp down — for either current or previous misdeeds — on […]

First published at www.theeastafrican.co.ke   In Summary Many years ago, the picture would have been of Ugandan and Rwanda leaders standing over a Congolese leader, with a slightly apprehensive Angola strongman in the room. This, today, with Tshisekedi in the frame, even as an assistant mediator, and Lourenco as peacemaker, speaks to a sea of […]

(Goma, August 14, 2019) – Armed groups in Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern Kivu provinces have killed 1,900 civilians and abducted more than 3,300 others between June 2017 and June 2019, Human Rights Watch and the New York University-based Congo Research Group said in a report released today. The Kivu Security Tracker, a joint project […]

Abstracts : L’essentiel de la sociologie politique militaire africaine Cas des différents régimes prétoriens au Congo-Kinshasa   This book is a scientific sketch that lays the groundwork for African military sociology. It essentially analyzes the interactions between African armies of the post-independence period and political power. The book proposes some avenues to explore in order […]

Putin’s Notorious ‘Chef’ Is Now Meddling Across Africa The man indicted in the U.S. for interfering in the 2016 election is spreading Russia’s reach across the continent. Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as Putin’s “chef” because of his catering company and ties to the Kremlin, and Vladimir Putin. Photo illustration: Tom Hall/Bloomberg. Photo: AP Photo By […]

By Aaron Ross DAKAR, July 17 (Reuters) – A Congolese army officer arrived in the village of Kafwaya in June and warned residents not to trespass on a major Chinese copper and cobalt mine next door. As night fell about a week later, the soldiers moved in. “They didn’t say anything to anyone,” said Fabien […]

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The ADF and the presence of ISIS in DR Congo: who benefits from this warlike rhetoric? By Jean-Jacques Wondo Omanyundu The terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) claimed, for the first time, via a message published on April 18 by its communication agency Amaq, an attack on Congolese territory. The content of the text remains vague […]

First published at worldview.stratfor.com Highlights Recent high-level meetings between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and U.S. officials signal Washington’s willingness to work with the new administration in exchange for deep reforms and efforts to dismantle former President Joseph Kabila’s networks of power. Tshisekedi, however, will have little room to maneuver due to the dominance of the […]

Fisrt published at af.reuters.com KINSHASA/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila wanted his successor, Felix Tshisekedi, to appoint Albert Yuma, a Kabila ally and chairman of state mining company Gecamines, as prime minister, but Tshisekedi refused, sources familiar with the matter said. Yuma backed a new mining code adopted last year under Kabila that […]

In the aftermath of the proclamation of Felix Tshisekedi as the DR Congo president by CENI (Independent National Electoral Commission), certain Congolese denounced the result as an electoral hold-up whilst others welcome it. However, those who do not believe in fair elections in a messy Congo, express a different and deep analysis of the issues […]

DR Congo – Felix Tshisekedi: The negociated victory and the political embarrassment? By Boniface MUSAVULI In Congo-Kinshasa, opposition candidate Félix Tshisekedi was proclaimed “elected president” by the National Electoral Commission on January 10, 2019, following the presidential election hold on December 30, 2018. This victory comes one week after the Congolese episcopal conference (CENCO) communicate […]

Originally published in Bloomberg The secretive businessman known as Vladimir Putin’s  “chef” for his Kremlin catering work is alleged to have helped Russia seize parts of Ukraine, turn the tide in the Syrian war and meddle in U.S. elections. Now he’s reaching deep into Africa with an army of mercenaries and spin doctors in tow […]

Why international sanctions against Joseph Kabila’s collaborators must be maintained and expanded ? By Jean-Jacques Wondo Omanyundu On 29 May 2017, the Council of the European Union (EU) adopted sanctions [1] against nine persons holding positions of responsibility in the state administration and in the chain of command of the army and security forces in the Democratic Republic […]

Originally published in issafrica.org If SADC wants to stabilise DRC, bold action that goes beyond the boundaries of sovereignty is needed. On its recent trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations Security Council urged Congolese leaders to resolve the electronic voting system dispute. The opposition wants the system scrapped but […]

Initially published in dailymaverick.co.za President Joseph Kabila from the Democratic Republic of Congo gave world leaders the undertaking that all is on track for December’s much-postponed elections, but opposition-leader-in-exile, Moïse Katumbi, says Kabila is out of touch. It might fall on South Africa to help pick up the pieces. Moïse Katumbi has not been in […]

Elections or chaos? It will be rather war for Kabila By Jean-Jacques Wondo Omanyundu At the time where Kabila pretended to present a dolphin, as a result of strong pressure, particularly from Angola for SADC, Rwanda [1], the France and the United States, it is actually to the war that he intends to focus its […]

Congo-Kinshasa: Elections in a failed state: an aberration By Jean-Bosco Kongolo M. As if the elections were an end in itself or as if they were sufficient to resolve the thorny problem of the crisis of legitimacy, no one seems to ask the question “to what state and by whom should these elections be organised?” At […]

originally published in crisisgroup.org As election preparations in the Democratic Republic of Congo proceed, President Joseph Kabila has announced he will not run for re-election. He may hope this important move will relieve outside pressure for free and fair elections. International actors should keep up the scrutiny. On 8 August 2018, the filing deadline, the […]

The war in Congo (DRC), which never makes world headlines, is by far the worst crisis in numbers of people killed in the XXI century. The recent surge of extreme violence which began in the fall of 2014 in Beni, North Kivu, an oil and mineral-rich region in the eastern part of the country bordering […]