Vol 51 No 19 | CONGO-KINSHASA Mixed minerals 24th September 2010 The job of Congo’s Centre d’Evaluation, d’Expertise et de Certification (CEEC) and its director, Léonide Mupepele, is to certify the value of metals produced, and so to ensure that...
Vol 51 No 18 | RWANDACONGO-KINSHASA Kigali wins another round of the blame game 10th September 2010 United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon held an emergency meeting with President Paul Kagame in Kigali on 8 September after the Rwandan government threatened to withdraw from UN peacekeeping missions. Kigali’s logic was unassailable. A draft UN report had suggested that Rwandan troops might have committed ‘crimes of genocide’ in eastern Congo-Kinshasa in 1997; if the UN endorsed those claims, Kigali said it would have no choice but to withdraw its 3,500 troops from the UN force in Darfur, Sudan. The credibility of the United Nations is on trial again after the leaking of its draft 545-page report mapping human rights violations in Congo-Kinshasa in 1993-2003. It seems almo...
Vol 51 No 18 | RWANDACONGO-KINSHASA The UN’s credibility on the line 10th September 2010 Relations with the United Nations in general have taken a heavy hit. Kigali accuses the UN of leaking the report to distract attention from the inadequacies of its force in Congo-K...
Vol 51 No 16 | CONGO-KINSHASAANALYSIS New pressure on the war-minerals link 6th August 2010 Congo's 'clean' minerals are more politically toxic than buyers would like Rebels are taking over more mines throughout the east, while control of minerals by corrupt government forces continues, making even Congo's 'clean' state-sourced minerals more pol...
Vol 51 No 16 | CONGO-KINSHASA Contract clashes 6th August 2010 President Joseph Kabila's government is set for another round of legal clashes with foreign companies. First is Canada's First Quantum, locked in battle with Kinshasa at the Intern...
Vol 51 No 16 | CONGO-KINSHASA 8 ways to clean up minerals 6th August 2010 Several schemes and approaches aim to limit the flow of Congo-Kinshasa's conflict minerals, not all of them as well coordinated as they should be. Here is our rundown.
Vol 51 No 15 | CONGO-KINSHASA Katanga makes a comeback 23rd July 2010 The secessionist movement that almost split the country 50 years ago is again on the march In the main square of Lubumbashi on 11 July, more than 20 people were arrested while demonstrating for the independence of Katanga. A month earlier, the Place de la Poste had been ...
Vol 51 No 14 | CONGO-KINSHASA Half a century, half the battle 9th July 2010 After assassinations, wars and hyper-corruption, President Kabila talks of building on remarkable victories Congo-Kinshasa’s fiftieth birthday celebrations on 30 June were marred on two sides. International accusations of corruption delayed an US$8bn debt deal (see Box), and an oil tanke...
Vol 51 No 14 | CONGO-KINSHASA Odious debts, now less debt 9th July 2010 More than a decade of tortuous negotiations has won US$8 billion of debt relief for Congo-Kinshasa a day after its fiftieth birthday. The historic, moral argument for relief is str...