Painting by Cheri Samba

Lokuta eyaka na ascenseur, kasi vérité eyei na escalier mpe ekomi. Lies come up in the elevator; the truth takes the stairs but gets here eventually. - Koffi Olomide

Ésthetique eboma vélo. Aesthetics will kill a bicycle. - Felix Wazekwa

Friday, June 18, 2010

Kadhalika: Chebeya, Mukonkole and Bosco

A few items of interest:
  • According to the Kinshasa L'Avenir newspaper, staff in various ministries have gone on strike with two key demands: (1) a "gratification" for the 50th anniversary celebrations, i.e. a bonus payment, and (2) that the "bareme de Mbudi," the salary scale agreed on by the government and unions 2004, be respected. The salary scale is widely seen as unrealistic, as it would entail large salary increases across the board, something the government cannot afford. The pro-government newspaper has interpreted this as an attempt to sabotage the independence celebrations on June 30th, as well as a way to circuitously derail the debt forgiveness package anticipated from the IMF soon.
  • Talking about independence celebrations, the family of Florivery Chebeya has decided not go along with the demands of the local human rights community, who wanted his burial to coincide with the June 30th celebrations. Instead, Chebeya will be buried in Kinshasa on June 26th. (See Alex Engwete for more on this.)
  • The national assembly celebrated the end of its spring session. They didn't achieve much, and their debates have been interrupted by several motions to impeach the prime minister, as well as by the "Affaire Mukonkole." In May, the opposition MP Martin Mukonkole was arrested by the police for an alleged car theft racket. This despite his parliamentary immunity (which would have to be lifted by the national assembly before the arrest) and procedural abuses by judicial authorities.
  • A tract has been making the rounds in some villages of North Kivu, allegedly signed by Bosco Taganda, announcing the creation of yet another rebel group, the MPLC . Good lord, Bosco, don't you have enough acronyms to your name already? After the creation of the FLEC last year (which apparently never took off), being head of a wing of the ex-CNDP wasn't enough - he had to have his own movement? Anyway, no one has confirmed whether the tract is the real thing, so let's hold off on updating our lists of rebel groups.

3 comments:

james said...

Hi Jason, haven't heard any comments of Informationminister Lambert Mende on the murder of Floribert Chbeya. On various occasions these last couple of months Mende was hyperactive defending the Congolese regime. Any idea what might have happened to him?

Roger

Jason Stearns said...

You are right - the civil society organizations of Katanga even wrote a letter, complaining about the lack of statement from the usually very talkative information minister. Here: http://mondeactu.com/monde/affaire-chebeya-le-chef-de-la-police-en-residence-surveillee-6549.html

Mende responded a few days later, warning that people shouldn't politicize this cowardly murder. Here: http://french.peopledaily.com.cn/International/7024243.html

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