Latest posts by Jennifer Brea from June, 2007
Gabon: Libreville mermaid hoax (via St. Petersburg, Florida)
Association des gabonais d'Amiens dispels a mermaid hoax [Fr]. Photographs of a mermaid supposedly discovered dead on a beach in Libreville were actually downloaded from an eBay auction for a mermaid sighting in St. Petersburg, Florida. The St. Petersburg photographs sold for US$1500 to a French natural history museum.
Congo-Brazzaville: Misgivings about upcoming legislative elections
Demain Le Congo-Brazzaville has major misgivings about the upcoming legislative election, scheduled for June 24th. For months Demain has been calling on President Denis Sassou Nguesso, without success, to establish an independent electoral commission to prevent the irregularities that have plagued past contests.
Central African Republic: MSF volunteer shot dead by rebels
The United Nations has suspended aid [Fr] to northwestern Cameroon Central African Republic following the shooting death [Fr] of a 27 year-old Doctors Without Borders volunteer, Alliance Pour La Democratie et Le Progres reports.
Senegal: In Memory of Ousmane Sembene
Togolese writer Kangi Alem has a short tribute [Fr] to famed Senegalese filmmaker and novelist Ousmane Sembene who passed away this weekend in Dakar. “I used to read the greats of African literature in my literature textbook in the 1980s, and I imagined all these authors were dead. What it...
Tahiti: Traditional Healing or Charlatanry?
Parlons Tahiti writes charlatans who sell alternative or traditional remedies [Fr] for exorbitant prices and claim to cure everything from leprosy to AIDS.
Martinique: Legislative Election Underwhelms
le blog de [moi] writes about the legislative elections in Martinique [Fr], noting that 65% percent of voters stayed home–nearly the same proportion as voted in the French presidential election. Understandable, [moi] writes, given the mediocrity of the candidates.
Senegal: Mourides claim new holy place
Le Blog politique du Senegal writes that like Touba, Darou-Mouhty will now be a quasi-independent holy city [Fr] where political and folk activities, music, indecent dress, and the use of cigarettes and alcohol are all forbidden. Senegal says that “mouride exceptionalism” is become more serious and worrying, that these areas...
Sierra Leone: Memorial for plane crash victims
Togo-iTunes posts photographs of a memorial ceremony for those who disappeared in a plane crash in Sierra Leone.
Senegal: Election draws only 35% turnout
Le blog politique du Senegal questions how the government can consider a 35% a good voter turnout rate [Fr], calling it payback for the last election which was plagued by fraud and irregularities. Those in power should see that this low turnout reflects the deep discontent and lack of trust...
France to increase explusion of illegal immigrants
Et Si Nous Parlions writes the French Ministry of Immigration and National Identity, which he sarcastically calls the Ministry of Expulsions and Official Racism, plans to expel 25,000 illegal immigrants [Fr] this year, an increase of 5,000 over the previous year.
A Lebanese conspiracy theory
Tunisien Doctor writes that the Hariris, the Lebanese government and most Lebanese Sunnis wanted to manipulate [Fr] the radical Islamic groups based in the Palestinian camps to place pressure on the Shiites, only to have them turn against them. Some of his readers accuse him of giving undue credence to...
Benin: The Call of Voodoo
Babilown writes about a new edition [Fr] of Les Appels du Vodun (The Call of Voodoo).
D.R. Congo: Four-Way Talks Discuss Security in the Great Lakes
Kakaluigi writes that officials from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and the DRC met this afternoon in Lubumbashi [fr] to discuss the security situation in the Great Lakes region and posts a photo from the Kaniola massacre.
Rwanda: Environmental Protection Prompts Relocation of Several Hundred Families
Kakaluigi writes that the Rwandan government is relocating 364 families [fr] (1800 people) from around Lake Kivu in order to prevent a looming “ecological disaster,” apparently hastened by their presence.
The Michael Jackson of Gabon
Association des gabonais d'Amiens posts a video of the “Michael Jackson of Gabon.” [Fr]
An amateur comedy of the partition of Africa
Racisme et Histoire: Le Tabou posts a video of a comic amateur representation of the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 [Fr], which partitioned Africa among the major European powers. “This absurd cutting up [of Africa] does not reflect the reality and the diversity of the African people. The challenge is enormous. ...
D.R. of Congo: Bring an end to the impunity enjoyed by our politicians
Bana Congo calls on the Congolese people to “rise up” and bring an end to impunity, publishing a list of Congolese politicians and their “crimes” [Fr]. Some readers praised the list and offered their own additions. One reader called the idea naive, writing “this list could be published and engraved...
D.R. of Congo: More Violence in Eastern Congo
Kakaluigi continues blogging about the worsening security situation in eastern Congo along the Rwandan border, writing about an attack at Kaniola [Fr] in which a girl less than ten years old was raped and a pregnant woman eviscerated. MP Vicky Katumwa of the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD)...
D.R. of Congo: Missionary Blogs as Security Situation Worsens along Congolese-Rwandan Border
Kakaluigi [Fr] is blogging several times daily about the deteriorating security situation in Bukavu. He posts information about an attack on a village at Kabare, on the road to Walungu, Thursday night and an attack on Wednesday night in Sud-Kivu. The archbishop of Bukavu is warning that of a new...
French Village's Monument to a Gabonese WWII Hero
Association des gabonais d'Amiens writes about a monument in Airaines, a small French village of 2,000 people, dedicated to Charles Ntchorere, a Gabonese captain in the French army [Fr] who was taken prisoner and executed by German forces in 1940.
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