Sub-Saharan Africa: They're Conflict Minerals, Marie

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Sub-Saharan Africa: They're Conflict Minerals, Marie

curried lamb of God: Aug 31, 2001; we are all Marwinners

The so-called "decoupage," or provincial splitting, was made official in the DRC last week. Here's the new provincial map:

Notably, Orientale (northeast) was split into four provinces, Equateur (northwest) into five, and Katanga (southeast) into four. Orientale was the most populous province and the largest gold-mining region, while Katanga was the center of the copper mining industry. The split is probably going to have little effect on the average resident because most of the provinces are just as terrible at providing basic services as the federal government, but apparently Kabila pushed it through to weaken governors who would challenge him in the 2016 election. In Orientale, where I'm currently living, the parliamentarians in each new province will have to appoint interim governors, yet there's no money to hold proper elections after that.

Also, I highly recommend Congo: The Epic History of a People by David van Reybrouck for anyone interested in the country's history. There's not much out there about the current political situation bar stuff in Foreign Affairs, but Radio Okapi is far and away the best news source in the country.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2015 19:13

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 13:13

curried lamb of God: Aug 31, 2001; we are all Marwinners

kustomkarkommando posted:

This is a good book and I second this

Other good source of Congo political stuff is Congo Siasa, horrible looking blog run by Jason Stearns probably best known for writing Dancing in the Glory of Monsters but is big old wonk who was also a member of the Congo Group of Experts for a while.

surrender, hows the FDLR disarmament thing being received in your neck of the woods - most of them are getting shunted to Kisangani aren't they?

Well, I'm working at the military base that's housing the rebels :shobon:

It's actually not too bad. The move was pushed back a few times due to security concerns, but they're been here for a while (8 months? I'm not sure) without any issues. There are over 800 people in the camp right now - about 160 rebels with their wives and children. I had the opportunity to tour the camp when the US ambassador visited a couple of months ago. It's not an ideal situation, of course, but they're living in reasonably well-built barracks with electricity and a clinic. The UN is providing food and medical supplies, and some people are even growing a few crops. The rebels and their families are free to go back to Rwanda at any time, but as of the time of my tour, only one family has taken that offer. They (probably rightly) fear discrimination, if not outright punishment, if they go back.

Hell, there was a bigger uproar when a new general of Tutsi descent was assigned to Kisangani as part of this year's military reorganization. The locals still aren't too happy about 2001-02.

edit: Thanks for the blog link! It's kind of tough to keep up with news from the rest of the country. I try to listen to Okapi every once in a while, but my French is still poor.

curried lamb of God fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Jul 19, 2015

# ¿ Jul 19, 2015 20:08

curried lamb of God: Aug 31, 2001; we are all Marwinners

(that is the daughter of Jose Eduardo dos Santos)

# ¿ Dec 20, 2015 19:21

curried lamb of God: Aug 31, 2001; we are all Marwinners

I can't find any articles in English, but the DRC army just happened to hold a tank parade in Lubumbashi the day after local politician (former Katanga governor) Moise Katumbi announced his candidacy for the presidency :lol:

http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20160403-rdc-inquietude-population-armement-lourd-lubumbashi-katanga

On a side note, I'm in Kinshasa right now, and thankfully none of the violence from Brazzaville has spilled over here. The city is still a huge mess, though

# ¿ Apr 5, 2016 17:18

curried lamb of God: Aug 31, 2001; we are all Marwinners

SyHopeful posted:

Please post pictures. I'm fascinated by Kinshasa.

I actually shy away from taking photos here because both the police and residents are pretty aggressive with any foreigners they see with a camera, especially in the current political climate. It really is an ugly city, though - Kampala and Kigali are significantly nicer.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2016 10:19

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 13:13

curried lamb of God: Aug 31, 2001; we are all Marwinners

here's your cheery Congo update

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/scores-hacked-death-machete-attack-dr-congo-160814133550565.html

quote:

At least 64 people have been killed in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an attack carried out by suspected rebels.

Nyonyi Bwanakawa, the mayor of Beni in North Kivu, told Al Jazeera the attack on Saturday night happened in the town's Rwangoma district.

DRC troops and local officials recovered 64 bodies, but the number could rise as the search was still going on, Bwanakawa said on Sunday.

Other officials said the death toll was closer to 75.

DRC army spokesman Mak Hazukay also confirmed to the AFP news agency that bodies have been recovered in Rwangoma.

Reports said that the victims were "hacked to death".

Reagen Kyaviro, a survivor, told Al Jazeera that the attackers had turned up outside of his house.

"The guy in front turned his weapon on me. When I tried to run away from the house, he hit me on the neck with the side of his gun. He took me by my shirt. I was forced to run. By chance, they did not follow me."

The DRC troops blamed the attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel group known to operate bases inside neighbouring DRC.

Hazukay said that the rebels had "bypassed" army positions "to come and massacre the population in revenge" for military operations in the area.

Local residents also told Al Jazeera that they had spotted ADF rebels coming out of the forest on Saturday. There was some confusion, however, as some residents said that some of the men were wearing "army uniforms".

The attack happened barely a week after 14 people were killed in another incident near Beni.

ADF troops were also suspected of carrying out that attack, but there was no independent confirmation.

In the past, independent observers have blamed both the ADF rebels and DRC forces for deadly attacks.

On August 4, DRC President Joseph Kabila and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni held talks in Uganda seeking a coordinated military strategy against the ADF rebels.

ADF rebels, who oppose Museveni, have been present in eastern DRC for more than 20 years.

The group has been accused of human rights abuses and is thought to be deeply embroiled in criminal networks funded by kidnappings, smuggling and logging.

The Beni area in particular has seen numerous massacres since October 2014 that have left in total more than 600 civilians dead.

There have been protests all week in the Kivus, of course tinged with anti-Kabila sentiment. In Goma, the protesters reportedly shot a police officer with his own weapon, but the violence hasn't spiraled out of control.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2016 10:50

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Sub-Saharan Africa: They're Conflict Minerals, Marie