Jump to navigation

Vol 51 No 10

Published 14th May 2010


Congo-Kinshasa

Elections loom as Kabila comes under fire from all sides

Next month, Congolese will mark 50 troubled years of Independence from Belgium amid growing concern about security and development prospects under President Kabila’s government. Kabila and the ruling PPRD are feverishly preparing for elections next year and are ramping up the nationalist rhetoric. They want the UN peacekeepers out as soon as possible to reassert the country’s independence. They also want to pressure the foreign mining and oil companies to boost state revenue.

President Joseph Kabila and the ruling Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et le Développement (PPRD) have called for the United Nations’ peacekeepers to quit Congo-Kinshasa as soon as possible, to convey a symbolic reassertion of the country’s autonomy. They also want to put more pressure on the foreign mining and oil companies to increase the still woefully inadequate state revenue. Both strategies are meeting with mixed success.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 1858 words.

End of preview

Subscribers: Log in now to read the complete article.

Account Holders: Log in now and use your Account Credit to buy this article. No Credit? Top up your Account now.


If you are logged in, but still cannot access the full text of this article, email customer services or telephone us on +44(0)1638 743633.