Congo and Rwanda

A jungle alliance that may just endure

Two rival countries have joined forces to hammer the militias that have devastated eastern Congo for so long

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The fact that there have only been 4 comments made regarding this article shows how we have been conditioned in the west to not care about Africa. I despair at having to watch the news in the UK which focuses on places such as Palestine, which should be no more relevant to most Britons than any other part of the world. Considering we have a sizeable Afro-Caribbean population in the UK, why is it that the fate of tens of millions of suffering people in Africa pales into insignificance when compared to a fraction of people on the Mediterranean, or some Australian bushfire victims, or even global warming for god's sake?


The Economist seems to flip-flop ideals, morals and tone when dealing with Rwanda. I remember the last post well, "stop paying for murder" written, apparently, to urge the Western world to Seize support for Rwandan dictators. This was a breakthrough to so many of us, and I had never been so hopeful!
But the recent twist of events, has also changed the tone of media. It makes me wonder how independent the media is, and how it can easily be prone to cheap propaganda through political display. Are you saying that the problems of the Kivu are over? are you suggesting that the people of the Kivu will easily welcome the CNDP (Laurent Nkunda's faction) as their new army? There are no easy answers, but like many, I would have expected at least some focus on the likes of Bosco Ntaganda. Otherwise, you continue to send the message that it is fine for Tutsi to kill and rape in the name of 'survival'.
And when you say that the FDLR returnees will find it hard to live with Rwandan Tutsi are you implying that children like 'Timothy' participated in the genocide? I wish you had interviewed the young man to find the whereabouts of his family, I suspect that his family, just like ours, have been a victim of Tutsi terror.


'The Economist' has a laudable and welcome tradition of being cautiously optimistic about Africa. That tradition continues here.

I wish I was as optimistic. The fundamental issues go much deeper than Nkunda and the Hutu genocidaires. It is about the inevitable and unstoppable failure of the Congo as a Nation State and the biblical overcrowding of Rwanda next door. You have a tiny but powerful nation state run like a well-oiled machine but with no resources of its own next to a vast, ungoverned, resource rich space which the nominal owner have no use for. Add the genuine Rwandan fears of the interahamwe threat and the temptation in Kigali to incorporate nearby regions must be overwhelming.

The solution is to let Rwanda run Kivu for ten years under a UN mandate perhaps and then give the people a refrendum to decide their future. Why not? Afterall this was common practise in Africa till very recently. Namiba was handed to South Africa; Somalia to Italy; Eritrea to Ethiopia all under UN mandates in the 40s and 50s.

That way the Kivuns will have decent governance; the Rwandans room to breath and resources to look after their people and Congo will not even feel the difference. It will still a be huge non-country.

As long as Rwadanas live cheek by jowl in few hills producing nothing more valuable than tea leaves there will be war and possibly other genocides.

But Europe will never contemplate allowing Africa's borders to change. God only knows why because it is very happy for its own borders to change all the time.

Emin Pasha

I wish I were as optimistic. In return for eliminating a potential rival, Kabila has handed the Kivus over to the tender mercies of Rwanda. What Rwanda plans to do with them is anyone's guess. The people of Kivu fear the worst: that they have been placed under the control of a foreign power with a long history of coveting their land and exploiting their resources. The mood in Kivu is one of frustration and anger. So is it in Kinshasa, where Kabila stands accused by most of the political class of unilaterally relinquishing a portion of the country’s patrimony.The dangers are many. Few of the FDRL militia have been repatriated. The CNDP militia, now under the control of a man wanted by the ICC, Jean Bosco Ntaganda, aka The Terminator, are supposed to be integrating into Congo’s army. That process is going poorly. Indigenous Congolese militia such as the Mai Mai are reacting unfavorably to the new dispensation and are ready to take up arms against their new “overlords.” The US-sponsored joint Congo-Uganda attack on the LRA resulted in the deaths of 1,000 Congolese civilians and continuing confusion in Ituri. Last week Angolan troops occupied portions of Bas Congo. With neighbors nibbling at the edges of his kingdom, Kabila’s throne is less stable than ever. It is often said that Mobutu’s one gift to the Congolese people was a sense of nationhood. That is a weak glue to rely on if a power vacuum opens up in Kinshasa.

tukam dk

All we say is AFRICAN UNITY. Thanks for the report-analyse it refer to history and let us know how fair you are fair,at least in another bulletin perhaps promote African Unity this time accordingly,in case you need our own submission,we are here-ask us we will humbly tell you!Why do you really enjoy a certain record of all that goes on in Africa especially the wrong of it? How good are you or have been to all of us?Thanks.Composed Liberty.



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