Vol 48 No 10 | CONGO-KINSHASA Congo-Kinshasa's cumbersome experiment 11th May 2007 In late 2006, Congo-Kinshasa elected a parliament of 608 members. It includes 69 political parties, 31 of them with just one member in the National Assembly, along with 63 independ...
Vol 48 No 8 | CONGO-KINSHASA The bashing of Bemba 13th April 2007 The opposition leader may be forced into exile but President Kabila has plenty of battles on the economic front The bloody shoot-out in Kinshasa on 22-23 March confirmed President Joseph Kabila's grip on the country. His troops decisively defeated the guard of Jean-Pierre Bemba, who had lost...
Vol 48 No 7 | ANGOLACONGO-KINSHASA A frontier affair 30th March 2007 Old allies in Luanda and Kinshasa are at odds over their border in diamond country A high-powered Angolan delegation visited Kinshasa on 14 March. It included Foreign Minister João Bernado de Miranda, Interior Minister Leal Monteiro 'Ngongo', Chief-of-Staf...
Vol 48 No 7 | CONGO-KINSHASAURANIUM A blow-up blows over 30th March 2007 Congo has its uranium scandal, and the International Atomic Energy Agency is investigating. New Minister for Scientific Research Sylvanus Mushi Bonane opened up the affair on 15 Ma...
Vol 48 No 6 | CONGO-KINSHASAFORESTRY Can the trees be saved? 16th March 2007 The destruction of Congo's 110 million hectare forest could transform the climate of Africa – and the world Congo's rainforest covers 110 million hectares, twice the size of France. Cutting it down, as the Amazon jungle across the Atlantic is being cut down, could transform the climate o...
Vol 48 No 6 | CONGO-KINSHASAFORESTRY To chop or to save - the main players 16th March 2007 The logging companies: of Congo's 156 concessions, 107 were awarded after May 2002, when the government banned new grants. The loggers' organisation is the Fédération...
Vol 48 No 4 | CONGO-KINSHASA Winner takes (almost) all 16th February 2007 The President's party has grabbed the top jobs for itself and those who are left out are angry The new government, formed by Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga on 5 February, began in deep trouble. President Joseph Kabila's Alliance de la Majorité Présidentielle (A...
Vol 48 No 4 | CONGO-KINSHASA Kabila's yes-men 16th February 2007 The overstuffed government has 60 members: six ministers of state, 34 ministers and 20 deputy ministers. The presidential alliance takes 18 places, 15 of those for President Joseph...
Vol 47 No 23 | CONGO-KINSHASA After the results 17th November 2006 If accepted, President Kabila's win offers a chance for Congo to consolidate its political settlement and to develop its mineral resources. The streets of Kinshasa were eerily quiet for hours on 15 November after the Commission Electorale Indépendente (CEI) had announced that Joseph Kabila had won the second rou...
Vol 47 No 23 | GUINEACONGO-KINSHASA Presidential chopper 17th November 2006 Congolese President Joseph Kabila's campaign helicopter is at the centre of a legal battle between Belgian businessman Philippe de Moerloose and Guinea's Paramount Airlines' Isma&e...