Democratic Republic of Congo The president’s U-turn on elections is likely a strategic retreat to hold onto power Joseph Kabila is a crafty man who does not give up. After months of wrangling to delay presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for November 2016, Mr Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, decided earlier this year to reverse course and respect the constitution. His about-face was met with much suspicion. Since winning a second and last constitutionally mandated term in November 2011, Mr Kabila has spent almost four years trying to revise the country’s legal charter so that he can…
François François Misser
Democratic Republic of Congo: who’s in charge? In the insecure DRC, the regular army is as dangerous as the rebels What’s the difference between a regular soldier from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a rebel from one of the scores of armed militias that scour this expansive mineral-laden country? The newness of his uniform? His weight? The way he walks? The firearm he carries? A notable difference is sometimes hard to discern. Therein lies the problem. No one knows who is in control. The army often mirrors its rebel opponents. Large parts of the country are in chaos.…
Rwanda’s dilemma Economic and social progress has come at a cost to political freedom While Rwanda has a multi-party system, in practice it is a one-party state because the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by President Paul Kagame, tolerates little public dissent. The RPF was originally a political-military movement. It was created in neighbouring Uganda in 1987 by Rwandan Tutsi refugees who had fled there after the 1959 overthrow of the Tutsi-led monarchy.While most of its initial members were Tutsi, the RPF is not a Tutsi party. It has Hutu members and its aim is to establish a non-ethnic…
