While it’s a beautiful clear Sunday in Lilongwe, things back in Congo aren’t quite as sunny. What was initially reported as an unidentified disease outbreak in my old home province of Kasai Occidental is now confirmed to be Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever. Friends in the province report 170 confirmed deaths and about twice as many infections. Realistically speaking from my former life in hemorrhagic fever health communications, Ebola is a self-limiting bug, striking in remote places and killing most of its victims before they have a chance to pass it on to too many others. That being said, it still leaves a morbid wake in its path.
On the political side, Fred reports that Laurent Nkunda in eastern Congo is still standing strong against integrating his private militia into the...
Things were starting to get back to what passes for normal around here. We hadn’t had to close the office for security reasons since November. But Bemba, the former rebel leader turned vice president, then turned away in the last election continues to keep a substantial armed force of a couple of thousands troops at Maluku (where they were ordered to retreat to last year) about 40 minutes outside of Kinshasa.The government has issued an ultimatum that Bemba’s troops –who continue to be seen frequently around Kinshasa, particularly near Bemba’s house about a mile from mine- disarm by midnight tomorrow night. Ruberwa, another rebel leader turned VP and now back in his eastern home territory and unemployed, has also been ordered to disarm his personal security forces.Of course I, for...
I’m not sure what constitutes normal in this part of the world but it seems that most people around here are trying to get back to it.Somewhere between 100 and 150 were killed during the clashes. The International Committee of the Red Cross has organized a relief mission which arrived on Saturday and has taken a major role in cleaning up the bodies and supplementing the medical supplies of the Hôpital General for treating the wounded.While many of Bemba’s men are surrendering to MONUC, there’s some discussion as to whether they are turning in all of their arms. One of the major failings of the DDR programmes here (and I would guess in other places) is that large stocks of weapons are hidden when militia members turn themselves in, leaving open the opportunity to re-mobilise again...
While news agencies now reporting over 600 deaths during the recent violence, the EU and its member states' leaders come out strongly against the attack on several embassies: Article 22 of the convention states that all diplomatic premises shall be inviolable, and that the state is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage... Meanwhile Bemba, still camped out in the South African Embassy (in Kinshasa, contrary to rumours!), is most likely headed to Portugal for medical treatment. Hopes are high that this will diffuse the political situation, although there has been much speculation over Bemba's forces that supposedly escaped across the river to Brazzaville. With 200 of Bemba's men in Equateur agreeing to...
While our old friend Jean Pierre Bemba has been braaing away his time at the South African Embassy here in Kinshasa, he still has not received permission from the Congolese government to travel to Portugal. It’s not clear who is responsible for granting the request, nor has a warrant been issued for his arrest to date.An unnamed minister comments “Bemba is a judicial problem… This has nothing to do with us.” while the state prosecutor says that although Bemba is being investigated, “(t)his case doesn’t concern the judiciary. We have nothing to do with his departure.”Apparently Bemba is not the only one looking for a new home: two swimmers competing in Melbourne on behalf of Congo have decided to make a break for a better life.On the ground here in Kinshasa, the streets are...