DRC - The African Mirror

Aug

2020

‘Ebola business’ concerns resurface as new Congo outbreak spreads

PHILIP KLEINFELD and ETIENNE MASANGO AS an outbreak of Ebola ratchets up in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s densely forested northwestern province of Équateur, warning signs are growing that corruption problems that dogged the last epidemic, in the conflict-torn east, risk being repeated. Eight weeks into the latest outbreak – which has infected 67 people and left 31 dead – several senior humanitarian officials involved in the response told The New Humanitarian that government officials have been trying to profit from relief funds, following a precedent set during the previous outbreak, which cost more than 2,200 lives between August 2018 and…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Why wind and solar would offer the DRC and South Africa better energy deals than Inga 3

ENVIRONMENT

GRACE C WU, Smith Conservation Fellow, University of California, Santa Barbara RANJIT DESHMUKH, Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara SEVEN years ago the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) proposed the Inga 3 – a 4.8GW hydropower project on the Congo River – with great fanfare. Third, in a series of dams that would form the Grand Inga complex on the Congo river, the project was touted as a solution to southern Africa’s energy deficit woes and a way for the DRC to participate in regional economic development. Seven years later, development of Inga 3 has…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

West Congo Ebola cases up to 60, funerals a risk, says WHO

NEWS

EBOLA cases in western Democratic Republic of Congo have risen to 60, with funerals a particular concern for disease spread, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan said another three cases were detected at the weekend, making a total of 56 confirmed and four probable infections in an outbreak announced last month in Congo's Equateur province. "The disease is active, not controlled," Ryan told a virtual briefing from the U.N. agency's headquarters in Geneva, noting burial practices as a worry. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Congo replaces sanctioned army chief with deputy

NEWS

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi has appointed a new head of the army to replace General John Numbi, according to state television. Both Numbi and his designated successor, General Gabriel Amisi Kumba, are under U.S. and European Union sanctions for repression and abuses directed against opposition figures and protesters under former president Joseph Kabila. Tshisekedi's office did not give a reason for the reshuffle. The last month has seen rising tensions in the ruling coalition between supporters of Tshisekedi and those of Kabila, who maintains extensive power through his parliamentary majority, control of most cabinet ministries, and influence…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Tributes for respected scholar Ernest Wamba-dia-Wamba

NEWS

OWN CORRESPONDENT FRIENDS and colleagues of Professor Ernest Wamba-dia-Wamba, a respected scholar and statesman who has passed away, have paid warm tributes to him. Wamba-dia-Wamba died in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo. He taught in many universities including the University of Dar es Salaam, Harvard University, Boston College, and Brandeis University. The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) said Wamba-dia-Wamba was a brilliant political theorist noted for his ground-breaking work on democracy, social movements and emancipative politics in Africa. In a statement, CODERSIA said: “Prof. Wamba-dia-Wamba was a scholar who sought to actualize his…