Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Britain’s minister of state for Africa Rory Stewart met DR Congo authorities on Friday and said plans to hold long-deferred elections late next year were “achievable.” The DRC had weathered months of unrest and violence over the vote, which was delayed by President Joseph …
Read More »Nine children drown as boat capsizes in DR Congo lake: official
Lubumbashi, DR Congo | AFP | Nine children died and another was missing after a canoe capsized on Lake Tanganyika in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo. a local official said Thursday. The motorised boat left the town of Kalemie and was heading for the port of Wimbi when …
Read More »DR Congo says election pressure due to foreign ‘greed’ for cobalt
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday said foreign “greed” for its cobalt lay behind the “malicious” pressures weighing on the country’s electoral process. The DRC is in the grip of a crisis over plans to hold presidential elections, which were delayed by President Joseph …
Read More »DR Congo vote date: What’s at stake?
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo has said elections to replace President Joseph Kabila will take place by December 2018, a year later than scheduled. Following is an explanation why the decision is so important for DRC’s political crisis: – Election deal – A mineral-rich country a …
Read More »US tells DR Congo to stick to election timetable
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States on Monday backed plans by the Democratic Republic of Congo to hold elections in December 2018 and warned President Joseph Kabila must stick to the timeline. The election commission in Kinshasa announced on Sunday that the long-awaited presidential, legislative, regional and …
Read More »DR Congo sets elections for December 2018
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo will hold its much delayed presidential and legislative elections in December 2018, the election commission announced Sunday. “Direct voting” will take place on December 23, 2018, covering presidential, legislative, regional and local elections, said Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) …
Read More »Huge sums in mining revenue off the books in DR Congo
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Some $750 million (644 million euros) in revenue from Democratic Republic of Congo’s mines between 2011 and 2014 “cannot be reliably tracked” in the records of the state-owned Gecamines, the Carter Center said Friday. The US foundation, in a report, suggested Gecamines used “its …
Read More »DRC wins seat on UN rights council despite US opposition
United Nations, United States | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo was elected to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday despite opposition from the United States and a leading rights group. DR Congo was among the 15 countries who won seats during a vote at the UN General …
Read More »DR Congo authorities meet but still no election timetable
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo met on Saturday to address when the next presidential election will be held after the country’s electoral commission announced there will be no vote before early 2019. Beset by ethnic divisions, numerous political tensions and bloody fighting in …
Read More »Quarter of DRCongo refugees in Angola ‘have gone home’
Luanda, Angola | AFP | Nearly a fourth of the estimated 30,000 refugees sheltered in Angola’s northeast have returned to their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s restive Kasai region, an Angolan official said Friday. “Of the 31,240 refugees from DRC hosted by the Angolan government in the Lunda …
Read More »