Vol 38 No 19 | CONGO-KINSHASA Kabila takes on the UN 26th September 1997 Mobutu's funeral was overshadowed by his successor's confrontation with the UN over missing refugees Few Congolese cared much about the funeral of Mobutu Sese Seko, in a Catholic cemetery in Rabat, Morocco, on 13 September. He died of cancer, aged 66, but...
Vol 38 No 19 | GABONACP Clouds over summit 26th September 1997 There is anxiety in Libreville and Brussels that events in Congo-Brazzaville might stop guests turning up at the first ever summit of the African-Caribbean-Pacific states, due in Gabon...
Vol 38 No 18 | CONGO-BRAZZAVILLEFRANCE 'I'll go home to die' 12th September 1997 In the final months of Pascal Lissouba's presidential term, which officially ended on 31 August, over 6,000 people have died in the war between his supporters and those...
Vol 38 No 17 | EQUATORIAL GUINEA Fishy tale 29th August 1997 A Malabo court on 18 August sentenced opposition leader Severo Moto Nsa to 101 years in gaol for high treason and plotting to assassinate the head of state....
Vol 38 No 17 | CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLICTOGO Free radicals 29th August 1997 Opposition politicians seeking an explanation for the continuing grip on power of some of the more authoritarian Francophone leaders may find guidance from the Nu Health Clinic in...
Vol 38 No 16 | CONGO-KINSHASA Payback time 1st August 1997 The backers of Kabila's war now want a return on their investment Congo-Kinshasa's neighbours and foreign investors had high hopes of business gains following the overthrow of Mobutu Sese Seko but the old dictator's legacy of institutional collapse and corruption...
Vol 38 No 15 | CAMEROON Deaths foretold 18th July 1997 Perhaps it's just a bizarre coincidence but some Cameroonians have noticed that personalities close to the President have died just before multiparty elections. In 1992, the dead included...
Vol 38 No 14 | CONGO-KINSHASA Kabila's ghosts 4th July 1997 The AFDL's credibility is on the line as concerns over human rights mount Veteran opposition leader Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba still has huge support in the capital Kinshasa and his arrest on 26 June was for many Kinois the final stage...
Vol 38 No 13 | CONGO-KINSHASA Paid fighters – and their paymasters 20th June 1997 We reveal new facts about the Mobutu regime's final, failed attempts to hire a mercenary army As the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko tottered to its end, his generals were negotiating a rescue package with former South African military men. The President approved the...
Vol 38 No 13 | CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE And across the river 20th June 1997 Within weeks of Mobutu's fall, Brazzaville erupts on the other side of the Congo River None of the protagonists emerge with any credit from the murderous struggle for power in Brazzaville. The fighting precedes the presidential election, which President Pascal Lissouba still insists...