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Congo prosecutor seeks 20-year jail sentence for journalist

Congo prosecutor seeks 20-year jail sentence for journalist

A prosecutor in the Democratic Republic of Congo has asked a court in the capital Kinshasa to sentence journalist Stanis Bujakera to 20 years in prison, one of his lawyers said. Bujakera, a Congolese national who works for international media outlets including Reuters, was detained on September 8 and later charged with spreading false information about the death of a prominent opposition politician. He denies the charges. "The prosecutor has requested that our client be sentenced for the sum of all offences to a cumulative penalty of 20 years, and the payment of one million Congolese francs ($364)," Bujakera's lawyer,…
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Congo opposition spokesman’s death ruled a suicide

Congo opposition spokesman’s death ruled a suicide

A prosecutor in the Democratic Republic of Congo said that the death of a former minister and opposition party member last year has been ruled as suicide. The news of Cherubin Okende's death prompted small anti-government protests in Kinshasa last year, with demonstrators saying it was an assassination. A spokesperson for his party called Thursday's ruling "absurd". Okende, a former transport minister who was also a member of parliament and spokesman for the Ensemble pour la Republique party, was found dead in his car in July. "According to the results of the investigations, Cherubin Okende committed suicide," Firmin Mvonde Mambu, prosecutor general…
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Italian judge rules U.N. staffers cannot be tried over Congo deaths

Italian judge rules U.N. staffers cannot be tried over Congo deaths

AN Italian judge has ruled that two employees of a U.N. agency cannot be tried over the deaths of the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, his bodyguard and a driver in 2021 because they have diplomatic immunity. Luca Attanasio, bodyguard Vittorio Iacovacci and their driver Mustapha Milambo were killed during a botched kidnapping on a road in eastern Congo as they were heading toward a World Food Programme (WFP) project. Rome prosecutors had requested a trial for Rocco Leone and Mansour Luguru Rwagaza, who at the time of the attack were respectively the deputy chief of the…
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Congo arrests six soldiers accused of killing civilians

Congo arrests six soldiers accused of killing civilians

AUTHORITIES in the Democratic Republic of Congo have arrested six soldiers who are accused of the indiscriminate killing of four civilians during militia clashes in the east. The clashes took place in the rural district of Mangina, near Beni, on Monday, the army said in a statement on Tuesday. Security had deteriorated there since last month when a member of the provincial assembly encouraged young people to take up arms, forming a small-scale militia to oppose the army, the statement from local army spokesperson Antony Mwalushayi said. The parliamentarian named in the statement, Alain Siwako, denied this. He told Reuters…
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Two more Congo presidential candidates do not plan court challenge

Two more Congo presidential candidates do not plan court challenge

TWO more candidates who contested last month's presidential election in Democratic Republic of Congo made clear they will not take the matter to court, making it more likely President Felix Tshisekedi's provisional win will be confirmed. Congo's election commission said on Sunday that Tshisekedi had secured more than 73% of the vote in the December 20 election, versus roughly 18% for his nearest challenger, businessman Moise Katumbi. A large group of opposition candidates says the election was fraudulent and has urged people to protest. However, the government has rejected calls for a rerun of the vote and the deadline to challenge the outcome of…
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Cash-strapped Congolese eye deep inequalities ahead of vote

Cash-strapped Congolese eye deep inequalities ahead of vote

FIVE years after graduating with a diploma in computer network maintenance, Georges Bamue, 27, still navigates the streets of the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital as a motorcycle taxi rider, unable to find a job or raise enough to start a business in his trained field. On a good day, he makes around $30, but with Congo's rampant inflation, the depreciation of the local currency, and multiple demands on his meagre income, he struggles to make ends meet by paying rent and making sure his family does not go hungry. Bamue, like millions of Congolese who will head to the…
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AfDB approves $696 mln finance for Tanzania-Burundi-Congo rail project

AfDB approves $696 mln finance for Tanzania-Burundi-Congo rail project

THE African Development Bank has approved over $696 million in financing for a rail project to link Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the bank said. The project will connect to the existing rail network of Tanzania, providing access to the port of Dar es Salaam to neighbouring countries. Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan is pushing to complete big-ticket infrastructure projects started under her predecessor John Magufuli to boost trade with neighbouring east and central African countries. The AfDB said in a statement that it would provide roughly $99 million to Burundi in grants and $598 million to…
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Torrential rains kill at least 14 in city in east Congo

Torrential rains kill at least 14 in city in east Congo

AT least 14 people died in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after torrential rains battered the city of Bukavu overnight, causing landslides and houses to collapse, a local official said. The victims were all killed in the Bukavu commune of Ibanda, where many people live in makeshift houses that collapsed under the rain, the mayor of the commune, Jean Balek Mugabo, told Reuters via telephone. The death toll is likely to rise as several victims are in hospital with serious injuries, he added. Congo is amid political campaigns in the run-up to general elections on Dec. 20 that have highlighted weak infrastructure…
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DRC elections: three factors that have shaped Tshisekedi’s bumpy first term as president

DRC elections: three factors that have shaped Tshisekedi’s bumpy first term as president

AFRICA’S second-largest country by land mass, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is scheduled to go to the polls on 20 December 2023. President Felix Tshisekedi will be seeking re-election. However, his first tenure has been decidedly mixed. Tshisekedi’s first term has been defined by three major factors: questions over the legitimacy of his 2019 election victory, violence in eastern DRC and the state of the country’s economy. REUBEN LOFFMAN, Lecturer in African History, Queen Mary University of London I have researched extensively and taught on contemporary Congolese politics for 15 years. In my view, while Tshisekedi has had some…
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Southern African troops versus M23 rebels in the DRC: 4 risks this poses

Southern African troops versus M23 rebels in the DRC: 4 risks this poses

The security situation in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to deteriorate. The region comprises North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. It’s about seven times the size of neighbouring Rwanda. DELPHIN R. NTANYOMA, Visiting Researcher, University of Leeds The violence in North Kivu has drawn most of the attention of the DRC’s neighbours and the international community. This close attention is aimed at preventing possible confrontation between Rwanda and the DRC. Since late 2021, North Kivu has been confronted by M23 rebels who have executed people and forcibly displaced thousands within the province and…
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