· February, 2006

Stories about D.R. of Congo from February, 2006

DRC: 38,000 still dying every month

  27 February 2006

Congo Watch reminds us that up to 38,000 people are still dying every month in the Democratic Republic of Congo...”The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) remains a humanitarian disaster despite the presence of UN troops and the recent approval of a new constitution that paved the way for elections...

DRC: new constitution new flag

  20 February 2006

Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveller reports that the DRC constitutional referendum has been approved. Alongside the approved constitution is a new blue and red flag.…..”The blue is to symbolize peace, and the red, in this case, is to commemorate the estimated 4 million Congolese who have lost their lives...

Voices from Zimbabwe and the Great Lakes

  20 February 2006

Zimbabwe: Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), a civic action group looking out for the welfare of Zimbabwean women, held their third annual valentine's day protest march. This is Zimbabwe blogged that flyers promoting the march brought Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, to a standstill days before the event. This is Zimbabwe's...

DRC: Making change work

  17 February 2006

Breaking Hearts in the Heart of Darkness uses the Nescafe phenomenon or “who do I have to kill to get a decent cup of coffee” as a metaphor for governments and development in many third world countries. In other words when a system is not working you should replace it...

DRC: UN may withdraw support

  15 February 2006

Congo Watch reports that The UN has told the Congolese forces that they will not longer provide support unless human rights violations stop.

DRC: photos

  13 February 2006

Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveller posts two photos of Kinshasa – one taken prior to independence in 1960 and one more recently.

African women's voices this week

  12 February 2006

Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman comments on the predominance of old men in Kenyan politics and government. She questions how old fashioned men acting out old fashioned politics chose John Githongo to head the anti-corruption drive. Possibly it was because they thought he was so young he would not...

  9 February 2006

Musengeshi Katata comments (FR) on Amely-James Koh Bela's book on African prostitution in the West at Forum Realisance: “Can one really defend values that are everyday assaulted and eroded by poverty? … Without a battle against poverty including against western exploitation and the depravation of African economies, without a protracted...

DRC soccer federation

9 February 2006

Black Star Journal comments on the failure of the The DRC's soccer federation to inform their player LuaLua on the death of his son for over two weeks.

Congolese Blogger Ben-Clet Decries Swearing Politician

7 February 2006

Over at the group effort Le Blog du Congolais, Congolese blogger Ben-Clet deplores the ethics of Congolese Vice-President Abdoulaye Yerodia who recenty insulted two political rivals (Pierre Pay Pay and Etienne Tshisekedi ) during a live television broadcast: “Arming yourself with Lingala, one of 4 national languages, you tried to...

Voices From Zimbabwe and the Great Lakes

  6 February 2006

Zimbabwe: Inflation continues to rule the day in Zimbabwe where they recently introduced a 50,000 dollar note in a bid to help hauling the country's porous currency around. Ironically, said new note is not enough to buy a loaf bread a mundane necessity so This is Zimbabwe asks, “Can anyone...

DRC: myth v reality

3 February 2006

Adventures of a retired arm chair traveller provides some real facts about the DRC….”Um. No, 92 out of every 100 babies do not die. This is why sports columnists should not write about health statistics, at least not without asking, So what does that mean? Think about it — If...