Vol 47 No 13 | CONGO-KINSHASA The vote that nobody wins 23rd June 2006 Hugely expensive, massively complex, extremely dangerous, the polls will go ahead anyway The first votes in Congo's long awaited election process are to be cast on 30 July. The polls, costing some US$500 million, are unlikely to bring the stability...
Vol 47 No 13 | CONGO-KINSHASA Les jeux sont faits 23rd June 2006 With just over a month to go until elections, unexpected alliances have emerged. President Joseph Kabila, the Commission Electorale Indépendante headed by Apollinaire Malu Malu and the United...
Vol 47 No 10 | CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC There goes the party 12th May 2006 Having lost his country, the exiled ex-President Ange-Félix Patassé is losing his party. At its general assembly on 4-6 June in Bangui, senior members of the Mouvement pour...
Vol 47 No 9 | CHAD Déby hangs on 28th April 2006 France and the USA belatedly worry about the rebellion - Khartoum helps foment it The crisis in Chad has escalated from a parochial dispute about whether a civilianised military politician can extend his tenure into a full-blown regional crisis, also drawing in...
Vol 47 No 9 | CHADSUDAN Foreign fingers 28th April 2006 Since 2003, Paris has both backed President Idriss Déby and tried to prevent its allies discussing Chad. This has weakened Chad's unarmed opposition, which has anyway been manipulated...
Vol 47 No 8 | CONGO-KINSHASA A shortage of sparkle 14th April 2006 Efforts to clean up Congo's mining business before the elections are being derailed Unlike the billion dollars' worth of diamonds that leave Congo each year, the prospects for cleaning up its mining business before this year's national elections are far from...
Vol 47 No 7 | CHADSUDAN On the frontline 31st March 2006 Darfur's troubles are fuelled by violence flowing both ways across the Chadian border, some of it orchestrated by the Sudanese regime. Meanwhile, President Idriss Déby Itno clings to...
Vol 47 No 5 | CONGO-KINSHASA Looking into the abyss 3rd March 2006 Another postponement of the vote and more disputes over security cloud election prospects Fears about Congo's election timetable and security preparations are escalating, just as three heads of United Nations agencies arrived on an official visit. It's now clear that even...
Vol 47 No 5 | CONGO-KINSHASA Trouble in the east 3rd March 2006 The new electoral law angers the former rebels and could set the eastern provinces ablaze More trouble looms in the run-up to the elections as the proposed electoral law obliterates the chances of the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie in the parliamentary elections...
Vol 47 No 4 | CAMEROON The pink card 17th February 2006 President Paul Biya's regime has survived much but until now, none of his opponents dared play the pink card. It all started when Catholic Archbishop Victor Tonye Bakot...