Global Voices » Elia Varela Serra

Côte d'Ivoire: Presidential Election in Pictures

Elia Varela Serra — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 10:58:56 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011.

On this Sunday, October 31st, registered voters in Côte d'Ivoire cast their ballots in the first presidential election in 10 years, due to the Civil War that broke out in 2002 and the subsequent issues that arose from it. The election date had been postponed six times since 2005, when Laurent Gbagbo's five-year mandate officially came to an end, amid rows over rebel disarmament and voter registration. A second round is scheduled for November 28.

Despite some initial delays in some polling stations, voting has been reportedly peaceful and the turnout appears to have been good. The African Elections Project created a Twitter account to follow the developments of the voting day, and various citizen journalists and Twitterers in Côte d'Ivoire also tweeted updates throughout the day using the hashtag #civ2010. Here is a selection of pictures of the voting day shared on Twitter:

Lines outside of polling station in Abidjan. Photo by AEP Côte d'Ivoire

Happy voter showing the ink mark on her finger after casting the ballot. Photo by Nnenna Nwakanma

While voters in Côte d'Ivoire enjoyed a relatively smooth and peaceful election day, it seems that their fellow Ivorians living in France had a harder time casting their ballots. About 11,500 voters were registered to vote in one of the 28 polling stations in the Paris region, but according to France24, several of them failed to open on Sunday sparking anger among voters. Twitterer Jolan K photographed some of the 500 voters gathered outside the Ivorian consulate in French capital’s swanky 16th district.

Ivorian expats waiting to vote at the consulate in Paris. Photos by Jolan K

American writer Carol Spindel, who wrote a book 20 years ago about life in an Ivorian village titled In the shadow of the sacred grove, recently traveled to Côte d'Ivoire to write about the presidential elections. For that purpose she set up a blog, One village votes, in which she's been documenting the electoral process. On Sunday she posted some photos of the election day in the northern town of Korhogo:

Voting in Korhogo. Photo by Carol Spindel

A few days earlier, Carol visited a group of women in a village near Korhogo who were learning how to vote in the dark, with the aid of a flashlight and a photocopy of a ballot:

Women learning how to vote a few days before the election. Photo by Carol Spindel.

The results of the Sunday Presidential election should be officially announced within the next 72 hours.

This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011.

Ghanaian beaches worth exploring

Elia Varela Serra — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:46:43 +0000

Maameous recommends a few Ghanaian beaches worth exploring.

Côte d'Ivoire: Journalists accused of document theft are freed

Elia Varela Serra — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:38:43 +0000

The three journalists of Le Nouveau Courrier d'Abidjan arrested for refusing to reveal their sources have been finally released [Fr] this evening after a two-week ordeal. On July 13th, Le Nouveau Courrier published an investigative report on the coffee and cocoa export trade in Côte d'Ivoire, which provoked a police raid in the newspaper offices. Since they didn't find the base documents used for the article, and the editorial team refused to give them up, publisher Stéphane Guédé, managing editor Théophile Kouamouo [who is also a Rising Voices grantee] and editor Saint Clavier Oula were taken into police custody. Two days later they were taken to jail, where they have been waiting for their sentence since then. As quoted by Rue89 [Fr], they were accused of:

* « vol de document administratif »,
* « diffusion d'information sur un dossier judiciaire non encore évoqué à l'audience publique »,
* « révélation d'un document couvert par le secret ».

* theft of an administrative document,
* releasing information from a legal record not yet made public
* revealing a classified document

Théophile Kouamouo and Saint-Clavier Oula

The judge was supposed to issue a verdict last Friday, July 23rd, and numerous friends, colleagues and bloggers showed up at the court with t-shirts supporting the journalists that had been sold via Facebook and word of mouth during the previous days. The t-shirts read:

Front:

Liberté Fragile
Pour le journalisme d'investigation

Fragile Freedom
For investigative journalism

Back

Pour tous ceux qui:
-n'abandonnent jamais!
-oeuvrent pour la verité!
-croient en une liberté d'expression!

For all those who:
-never give up!
-work for the truth!
-believe in freedom of expression!

On Friday, the verdict was postponed until today for no apparent reason. The Ivorian Committee to Protect Journalists (who also issued a statement [Fr] about the case) organized a demonstration for their release in front of the court in Abidjan. According to witnesses from Avenue225 [Fr], the demonstrating journalists moved to the nearby cathedral under physical threats by the police. A bit later, Jean-Patrick Ehouman reported on Twitter:

à Abidjan, la police vient d'entrée dans la cathédrale pour s'en prendre aux journalistes manifestants.violation des franchises religieuses

In Abidjan, the police has just entered the cathedral to attack the demonstrating journalists. Violation of religious grounds.

Journalists demonstrating on July 23rd

The blog of Le Nouveau Courrier [Fr] reported violent police behavior:

Les hommes en tenue ont arraché, au vu et au su de tous les témoins, des portables de certains confrères. L’appareil photo d’un confrère de Nord-Sud quotidien – qui a essuyé des coups de matraque et bottes des agents de police - a été confisqué par les éléments du commissaire Oré. Il a dû se battre contre la horde de policiers pour retrouver son matériel de travail.

Men in uniform snatched mobile phones from certain colleagues, in front of various witnesses. The camera of a colleague from the daily Nord-Sud -who received some police batons and boots on him - was confiscated by the men under the command of superintendent Oré. He had to fight against a group of policement to recover his working materials.

Théophile Kouamouo in court

Today the stakes were high and the expectation was high at the court. The proceedings, which lasted several hours as the case was reviewed from the start, was live-tweeted by local open-source advocate Nnenna Nwakanma, using the hashtag #kouamouo. She reported the final verdict at around 8pm, local time:

Non coupable. Not guilty. That is the verdict. Thanks for all your support.
Verdict 2. Resell of stolen document: Not guilty
Verdict 3: Prosecutor's Comms officer stealing doc: not guilty
Verdict 4: Publishing information that is under legal process: guilty. Pay 10K USD and suspend journal for 15 days

However, the journalists won't be freed after tomorrow morning. After celebrating the good news, local entrepreneur and blogger Christian Roland asked [fr]

pourquoi un homme libre doit il dormir encore une nuit en prison a cause de la procédure????

Why a free man still has to sleep one more night in prison because of the procedure????

And he added:

C'est décidé dans 15 jours je m'abonne au nouveau courrier

I made up my mind: In 15 days I'm suscribing to Le Nouveau Courrier

On Facebook, photos of messages of celebration were pouring in. Manasse Dehe, the creator of the group “POUR LA LIBERATION DE THEOPHILE KOUAMOUO ET SES COLLABORATEURS” wrote the following message:

Vive la liberté de la Presse. Merci, merci, merci, nous n'oublierons jamais tous ceux qui ont signé les pétitions en ligne, qui ont mis à jour leurs statuts par rapport à la libération des journalistes du nouveau courrier, et qui sont allés les voir en prison. Maintenant on parlera de tout ceci au passé. Nous avons obtenu la victoire et c'est en partie grâce à vous !!!!!

Préparons nous à accueillir les héros du journalisme d'investigation, ceux qui mettent leurs vies en péril pour offrir aux ivoiriens l'information de qualité. Que du Bonheur ce soir au sein de la rédaction du Nouveau Courrier ce soir

Long live Press Freedom. Thank you, thank you, thank you, we will never forget those who signed the online petitions, who have updated their statuses for the release of Le Nouveau Courrier journalists, and those who went to see them in jail. Now we will talk about what has happened. We have won and it's in part thanks to all of you!!!!!

Let's get ready to receive these heros of investigative journalism, those who have put their lives in danger to offer quality information to Ivorians. There's a lot of joy in Le Nouveau Courrier tonight

Côte d'Ivoire: Blogger and Journalist Théophile Kouamouo Arrested with his Team since July 13th

Elia Varela Serra — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:02:59 +0000

On Tuesday July 13th, the blog of Le Nouveau Courrier [Fr], reported that they received an unexpected police visit after publishing that morning the first installment of an in-depth series that was to last the whole week on alleged corruption in the cocoa and coffee trade in Côte d'Ivoire (see original in French here).

[…] le journal a publié aujourd’hui, à sa une, un dossier exclusif au sujet de l’enquête sur les détournements dans la filière café-cacao titré : « Le livre noir de la filière café-cacao, comment les barons ont pillé l’argent des planteurs ».

Le boom que ce dossier a créé au sein du lectorat ce matin a mis en branle les services du procureur de la République Tchimou Raymond. Sur instruction de celui-ci et sans aucun mandat de perquisition, des commissaires et lieutenants de la police criminelle ont débarqué à la rédaction de Le Nouveau Courrier avec pour mission, disent-ils, de récupérer le document de base ayant servi à la rédaction de l’article. Après avoir fouillé tous les ordinateurs de la rédaction, ils ont finalement emportés avec eux un ordinateur portable au lieu du fameux document.

[…] the paper has published today, on the front page, an exclusive feature about the investigation on embezzlement in the coffee-cocoa trade titled: “The black book of the coffee-cocoa trade, how the baron's have pillaged the planters' money.

The impact this report has had in the readership this morning has made public prosecutor Raymond Tchimou react. Under his orders and without a search warrant, criminal police officers have shown up at the Nouveau Courrier's offices with the goal, they said, to recover the source document used to write our article. After searching all the computers in the editorial offices, they finally left with a laptop instead of the famous document.

Following the unsuccessful search at Le Nouveau Courrier's offices, publisher Stéphane Guédé, managing editor Théophile Kouamouo and editor Saint Claver Oula were taken into police custody after refusing to reveal their sources.

The Nouveau Courrier is a new information daily that started publication in Côte d'Ivoire less than two months ago, on May 25th, with the intention of offering a fresh and in-depth perspective on current affairs. Managing editor Théophile Kouamouo is one of the first and most popular bloggers in Francophone Africa and the recipient, alongside his wife Nadine Tchaptchet-Kouamouo who is also a journalist, he's also been a recipient of a Rising Voices grant for his project Abidjan BlogCamps around blog trainings in Côte d'Ivoire. He is French citizen of Cameroonian origin and a former correspondent of the French daily Le Monde who has been based in Abidjan for over a decade, and is a well-respected journalist as well as a regular journalism lecturer in Côte d'Ivoire and elsewhere. A self-described serial web entrepreneur, one of his most successful internet endeavors has been the Ivorian blogging platform Ivoire-Blog.

Several bloggers and journalists have shown their support to Kouamouo and the rest of the Le Nouveau Courrier team through an online petition asking for their immediate release, as well as through Twitter and a Facebook group where they have shared updates about the case. Through that group we have learnt that the three journalists have been in police custody since Tuesday being, still pressured to reveal their sources, and that on Friday July 16th their case is to be heard by the judge. It seems they have being transferred to the MACA (Maison d'Arrêt Centrale D'Abidjan, Abidjan's Central Prison). Ivorian blogger Manasse Dehe, the creator of the Facebook group, wrote today:

il n'est plus question de les libérer , c'est là le problème. mais de trouver laquelle des fautes ils ont commis; c'est déjà décidé qu'ils doivent payer pr kkchose qu'ils n'ont pas fait. maintenant les …avocats luttent pour que ce qu'on va leur coller, soir la
plus petite des infractions : genre flagrant délit
Appelle le Président de la Republique à réagir sur ton mur ! Car lui qui est homme de Justice; il peut sortir les 03 journalistes du nouveau
courrier de cette souffrance qu'ils ne méritent pas !!!!

It's not about releasing them anymore, that's the problem. It's about finding which fault they have committed, it's been already decided that they have to pay for something that they haven't done. Now the lawyers are fighting for what they're going to put on them, even the smallest infraction
Ask the Président of the Republic to react on your wall! Because he's a man of justice, he can get the 3 journalists of Le Nouveau Courrier released of this suffering that they don't deserve!!!!

Saint-Clavier Oula in his cell today

This is the last update from Le Nouveau Courrier's Facebook page:

Théophile Kouamouo, Saint-Clavier Oula, Stéphane Bahi sont actuellement enfermés dans une cellule pleine à craquer. Attendant leur tour devant le juge. Oula est très affaibli. Il a commencé une grève de faim et refuse aussi de prende ses medicaments…

Théophile Kouamouo, Saint-Clavier Oula, Stéphane Bahi are locked up in a cell that's packed. Waiting for their turn to see the judge. Oula is very weak. He started a hunger strike and is also refusing to take his medicine….

Since the news of their detention broke out on Tuesday, the journalists have been receiving numerous shows of support by colleagues and bloggers in Côte d'Ivoire and abroad.

Reporters Without Borders released a statement on Wednesday 14th saying that:

they had not seen such methods used by the authorities in Côte d’Ivoire for many years. The theft charge does not stand up. It should be borne in mind that protection of the confidentiality of sources is a fundamental principle of journalism, one that is particular appropriate for such a sensitive issue as corruption in the coffee and cocoa trade.

In the Facebook group some colleagues have pointed out that the first article in the official Code of Ethics for the Ivorian Journalist published by the Ministry of Communications (see original in French here) states the rights of journalists in Côte d'Ivoire:

Tout journaliste doit revendiquer les droits suivants :
Article 1 : La protection de ses sources d’information.

It also states the duties of the journalists, among them:

Article 8 : Ne jamais révéler les circonstances dans lesquelles le journaliste a connu les faits qu’il rapporte, et ce, pour la protection de l’auteur des informations qu’il a pu recueillir.

This morning the Ivorian newspaper association (Gepci) issued a statement [Fr] condemning the arrest as an attack to freedom of expression in Côte d'Ivoire:

Emprisonner des journalistes pour les contraindre à violer leur propre déontologie en livrant leur source d'information n'est pas acceptable. Surtout que la loi 2004-643 du 14 décembre 2004 portant régime juridique de la presse n'autorise plus qu'un journaliste soit privé de sa liberté pour des faits, en rapport direct avec l'exercice de son métier, tels que ceux reprochés aux responsables et aux journalistes du quotidien Le Nouveau Courrier.

The Ivorian citizen journalism portal Avenue225 [Fr], who has been following the affair since Tuesday, reported that the newspaper unions who have pledged to publish the rest of the investigative report on the coffee and cocoa business if they're not released today.

Coup in Niger: Bloggers sigh in relief at the ousting of President Tandja

Elia Varela Serra — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:43:52 +0000

A mural of Mamadou Tandja hanging in the office of President (Photo by Jacob Silberberg for Panos Pictures)

On Thursday, February 18th a coup took place in Niger in which President Mamadou Tandja was captured after a gun battle in the capital, Niamey, led by led by Col. Abdoulaye Adamou Harouna (who was was the former aide-de-camp of Niger's previous coup leader Maj. Daouda Mallam Wanke). In a quite unpoplar move, a few months ago Tandja illegally changed the constitution to allow him a third term in what was generally considered a mass fraud referendum (see Jen Brea's roundup on the reactions caused by that decision).

For a few hours, confusion reigned about what was going on. Raffaella Toticchi in Niamey wrote on Thursday afternoon [Es]:

Se han oído también disparos y algunas personas han sido heridas y trasladadas al hospital más cercano, pero de momento no se sabe mucho más.

Gunshots have been heard and some people have been wounded and taken to the nearest hospital, but for the time being we don't know much more than that.

In a televised announcement, spokesman for the plotters Abdoul Karim Goukouyé said Niger's constitution had been suspended and all state institutions dissolved. Instantanés du Niger [Fr], the blog of a French expat in Niamey, reported that the the national TV station ORTN broadcasted military music for most of the evening leading up to the announcement. She also reported that the rest of the evening and the following day were calm.

Blogger Texas in Africa gives some background on the reasons for the coup:

First, about 7.8 million (3/5) of Niger's citizens experience severe or moderate food insecurity. Mass starvation is never a stabilizing force.

Second, and more importantly, President Tandja had angered many Nigeriens in 2009 when he dissolved parliament and enacted constitutional reforms that gave him broad powers with few checks or balances. Tandja was constitutionally required to step down from office in December, as that was the end of his second five-year term in office, but the changes he made to the constitution allowed him to stay in office for three more years. These moves were extremely unpopular; 10,000 protesters came out on Sunday to dispute Tandja's actions.

Clearly, this coup is the result of the ongoing political crisis.

As put by Nigerien commenter Ali Dan-Bouzoua in a discussion list about internet in Niger, unfortuntely there hasn't been much citizen media covering the event:

Tres peu de blogs ou de tweeter, de photo … sur la situation au Niger.

On consomme sur le net mais on ne produit rien. Les guinéens sont tres actifs et tres present sur le net.

Very few blogs or tweets, photos… on the situation in Niger.

We consume online [content] but we produce none. Guineans are very active and present online.

However, Nigeriens have expressed themselves through comments left on news sites such as tamtaminfo.com seemed to approve of the ousting of President Tandja albeit with some reservations for the transitional government:

Ousman Diallo Yacoubou:

Militaires de notre cher pays tout le peuple nigerien vous salut vous avez prouve que vous etes les vrais garants du peuple et de la democratie. Mais il y'a une chose jusqu'a present on ne connait pas la duree de votre transition.

To the military of our dear country, the whole Nigerien people salute you, you have proved that you are the true guards of the people and democracy. But until now there is one thing that we don't know: the length of your transition.

Sabitou Oumarou:

C'est domage que des democrates comme nous applaudisse un coup d”Etat. Mais nous devons savoir qu'il y a deux manière de combattre : l'une avec la raison et l'autre avec la force. La première est propre aux hommes la deuxième nous est commun avec les animaux. Mais quand la première montre c'est limites il faut bien recourir a la deuxième pour remettre l'ordre et fait respecter la loi.

It's a shame that democrats like us are applauding a coup d'Etat. But we have to realize that there are two ways of fighting: one with reason and one with force. The first one is unique to human beings, the second one we have in common with animals. But when the first one shows its limitations, it is necessary to reach to the second one to restore order and respect for the law.

Likewise, a few African bloggers and tweeterers have reacted to the coup, mostly expressing relief or celebrating Tandja's removal due to the illegal constitutional changes he approved last year. Like Ato Kwamena Dadzie from Ghana, who echoed a common sentiment:

Awada Ehemir from Chad [Fr] thinks the reactions to the coup are hypocritical:

Coup d'État in Niger… It is inmediately condemned, but next month it will be accepted by everybody. a classic in Africa…

And the African Union who pretends to condemn it! At the next meeting, they will roll out the red carpet for their new “friends”!

Tony Cassius Bolamba from the DRC [Fr] shows some understanding for the coup plotters in his blog:

Si je me penche du côté de la raison je condamnerai tout putsch et tout tripatouillage de constitutions en Afrique, mais la compréhension m’oblige de comprendre certains putschistes.

Raison aux pensées de Pascal ? « Ne pouvant justifier la justice, on a justifié la force ».

L’Homme ne récolte ce qu’il sème et t il faut avoir le flair de quitter les choses avant qu’elles ne vous quittent.

Espérant que ce nouveau coup de force au Niger bénéficiera au vrai détenteur du pouvoir: le peuple !

If I have to lean on the side of reason, I condemn all coups and constitutional tampering in Africa, but I'm obliged to feel some understanding for coup leaders.

Was Pascal right? “Not being able to justify justice, we justify force”.

Men reap what they sow and they need to sense when to leave things alone before things leave them.

Hoping that this new coup de force in Niger will benefit the real power holder: the people!

In a similar vein, the blog Guinée 50 [Fr] hopes for the coup to restore democracy in Niger:

Ni lui (Tandja) ni les militaires qui l’ont renversé, ne portent le manteau de la légalité constitutionnelle. Il n’est donc pas question pour nous citoyens africains, de juger la manière dont nous en sommes soulagés.
La bonne question n’est pas non plus de d’applaudir aveuglement ces militaires. Mais, d’exiger leur neutralité dans la restauration de la démocratie dans un bref délai.
[…]
Nous sommes optimistes pour la suite, car à force de mal aller, tout ira bien dans le sens voulu par nos peuples qui sont les seuls souverains.

Neither him (Tandja) nor the junta who overthrew him are enjoying a cover of consitutional legality. Therefore, there is no way that we African citizens can judge the way we felt relieved.
It isn't any better to applaud blindly these junta. But to demand their neutrality in the prompt restauration of democracy.
[…]
We are optimistic for what will come next since, when things keep going wrong, then everything will go well in the sense wished by our peoples, who are the only holders of power.

At the citizen media portal Sahara Reporters, many commenters from Nigeria drew parallels between the situation in Niger and the one in their own country. Here are two samples:

OHYN:

This is what happens when civilian and civil institutions are too weak, too cowardly, too much “talk-talk-only,” to defend their own freedom from usurping so-called leaders. This describes Nigeria perfectly: so, Nigeria is next in the coup movement: it is only logical and ripe.

Toyin Ade:

There is no difference b/w what has happened in Niger & Nigeria b/c in Nigeria, we have souless, wicked & unpatriotic cabals holding us to ransom as Tanja did in Niger. If there should be any coup at all in Nigeria, it should be targetted at those useless clowns calling themselves Yar'Adua's kitchen/toilet cabinet that have arrogated to themselves what they don't have.

Daniel Hongramngaye from Chad, also draws a parallel between Niger and his own country at the blog Makaïla [Fr]:

Ce qui se passe sous nos yeux chez nos voisins nigériens doit à plusieurs égards inspirer nos officiers supérieurs, nos militaires, nos dignes soldats s’il en existe encore. […]

La situation politique au Tchad est pourtant plus exécrable que celle du Niger.

En effet, Idriss Deby Itno est identique à Mamadou Tandja si non pire.

What is happening under our eyes in neighboring Niger, in many respects ought to inspire our officers, our military, our worthy soldiers if there are still any left. […]

The political situation in Chad is more execrable than the Niger's.

Indeed, Idriss Deby Itno is identical to Mamadou Tandja if not worse.

Light Up Nigeria: Enough Is Enough

Elia Varela Serra — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:52:11 +0000

Despite being a country rich in oil, Nigeria's electricity supply situation is insufficient. “In most parts of the country, darkness pervades and generators have taken over as the source of power”, says Adebayo's blog. “When the power shuts down - which it does all the time - people sit in the dark or, if they’re lucky, fire up generators that cost the country $140 billion to fuel (add a chunk more for capital and maintenance costs)”, says David Steven at Global Dashboard. Adebayo adds:

But to explain or fathom the reasons why it is so complex. From the cartels who import generators, the contractors who fail to complete power projects, citizens who vandalize power lines and installations, languid attitude of government up to the manufacturers of the generators (in developed countries); all these have a vested interest in the continued failure of power
provision in Nigeria.

Now Nigerians have started a massive online demonstration against this frustrating situation on social media sites, especially on Twitter with the hashtag #lightupnigeria. There's also a Facebook group, with the following description:

Are you tired of the constant excuses being given for the incompetence of PHCN, we are forming this group as a voice for our generation. It is time for something to be done,the 7th oil producing nation is one of the world's worst electicity providers. The time has come, Nigeria belongs to all of us and if we do not speak out now,its the same burden we will all have to bear. So join,tell your friends, family andybody you can, enough is enough. Our voice may be small now but as the group grows and the word is spread, the government will hear our words and something will be done. LIGHT UP NIGERIA so progress in all the other sectors can advance also.

Energy is the engine that drives industrialization, which improves communication, helps innovation in science and Technology, provides sound healthcare delivery system and improves citizens' standard of living. Since energy is the engine that drives industrialization, a sound energy policy would indirectly create jobs even in unexpected sectors.

Archiwiz at To fit or not to fit? commented on the campaign:

The hashtag itself will not do much if the responsible parties don't take notice and do the right thing, but this is a good first step. Awareness is always important when it comes to movements of change […]

So you ask, what is #lightupnigeria? The words that make up the tag are self explanatory to any Nigerian, or anyone that has spent a good two weeks in Nigeria and has experienced firsthand the impact of lack of electricity in Nigeria. I can give you a long laundry list of what we lose because of lack of electricity, but several things surface: money, time & productivity.

[…] This movement needs to get to get to the media and to the ears of our Nigerian leaders. We cannot continue to wink at our lack of electricity.

Here's a selection of some of the things people have been saying on Twitter as part of the #lightupnigeria campaign:

Olufunmike

Nigeria's economy can't change until we #lightupnigeria

imab

#lightupnigeria so that her 140million nigerians can say goodnight and really look forward to having one

Naijanews

the only thing to known to be stable in nigeria is darkness #lightupnigeria

edeanijames

the money we use to buy diesel for a year can pay 10 years light bills, so pls #lightupnigeria

aliceronke

#LightUpNigeria so that people don't go to work on weekends to iron!

drdammie

#lightupNigeria Nigerians leaders love darkness, cos the works of their hands are so dark, it cant stand no light

ricdizzle

#lightupnigeria cos wen there is no light at nite & i need to pee… aiming for that bowl has to be intuitive!! damn!

pheonixforever

have not had power for 4days now… #lightupnigeria pls

Naijanews

i'm planning to relocate to nigeria soon but plans to visit london every week just to charge my phone #lightupnigeria

Ebukalashnikov

It's 11pm, which means it's another night without electricity. Hopefully we can #lightupNigeria so that ‘Goodnights' can actually be good!

ohdichi

#lightupnigeria because that's my country & my country deserves light

lowla360

As we fight 4 dis to work,i know u r all tired, but think about your kids, how much u want them 2 grow in a good environment/nation #lightupnigeria

abiolaalabi

i would be mighty ashamed if in future my kids called me d generator generation & i did nothing #lightupnigeria

edeanijames

it ain't right that at this time and age we dont' have regular power supply #lightupnigeria

damilola

#lightupnigeria cos constant power supply should NOT be a luxury in 2009

archiwiz

The pollution from generators is stunting the brains of Nigeria's youth. Now many of us are no longer imaginative. Please #lightupnigeria!

Olufunmike

Obama's campaign didn't stop until a day before elections. Our #lightupnigeria campaign won't stop until 24/7 electricity. Tell ‘em

Ezeani

#lightupnigeria because we have the resources - both natural & man-made..what are we waiting for??

zpixel

Nobody will listen to #lightupnigeria by just twittering,u hve 2 kill somebody&tell d police u mistaken stabbed the fellow cz it was dark…

bubusn

Our greatest challenge isn't in Abuja. It is in ourselves. It is that voice that says: “This will all amount to nothing” #lightupnigeria

eldeethedon

The idea is to make a video in the dark expressing to the govt “we have had enuff”!! : http://bit.ly/XEDX9 #lightupnigeria

Congo Brazzaville: Disappointment at Presidential election

Elia Varela Serra — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:24:54 +0000

On Sunday July 12th, people in the Republic of the Congo voted in an election which opposition leaders boycotted over allegations it would be neither free nor fair. Denis Sassou N’Guesso, who has ruled the Congo for about 25 years as head of state, is seeking another seven year term in power.

Despite protests from the opposition, election observers said the voting was peaceful, and that voter turnout was low. According to the main opposition, “90 per cent” of the country’s electorate did not go to the polls. Outgoing President Denis Sassou N’Guesso and his Rassemblement de la majorité présidentielle (RMP) is widely tipped to win the elections as the country’s electoral commission prepares to announce the results anytime from Monday evening.

A BBC correspondent reportedly witnessed “money being handed out at a polling station in the south of the capital, to people who later said they had been asked to vote for Mr Sassou-Nguesso.”

One election observer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Agence France Presse, “There are more observers than voters.”

At the French news site France 24, a few commenters from Congo have expressed their opinions on the election. Below is a selection of a few of them:

Maloumbi on voter intimidation:

Dans certain villages et districts, les populations ont vote sassou nguesso suite aux intimidations. mon frere Jean Ibinga dans le district de Nyanga a reçu 1.000.000 Cfa de la part de membre de RMP pour convaincre aux vielles personne d'aller vote moyenant une somme de 2500 cfa. Les elections ne ce sont pas passees d'une maniere convenable et certains prefets, deputes ont intimider la population de voter leur maitre Sassou. Pour moi c'est une election qui avait ete deja jouee a l'avance. Je demande a la communaute internationale d'anuler les elections du 12 juillet et oblige a sassou de faire un gouvernement national pouvant debattre les affaires du pays sinon il y'aurait une guerre dans le futur. l'opposition actuellement se prepare pour une eventuelle guerre.

In certain villages and districts people voted for Sassou Nguesso because of intimidation. My brother Jean Ibinga in the Nyanga district received 1 000 000 cfa [$USD1 800] from a member of the RMP to convince elderly people to go vote by giving them average amounts of 2500 cfa [$USD4.5]. The elections didn't take place in an acceptable manner, and certain prefects and deputies intimidated the population to vote for their ruler Sassou. For me this was an election with results that were known ahead of time. I'm asking the international community to declare the July 12th elections invalid and to force Sassou to form a national government capable of debating the country affairs, otherwise there's going to be a war in the future. The current opposition is preparing for a possible war.

Yoka from Pointe Noire on the low turnout:

je suis congolais et je réside à pointe noire (capitale économique du congo et deuxième ville du pays). Je peux vous dire que les bureaux de vote sont restés vide du matin jusqu' au soir . les habitants de pointe noire sont fatigués, des promesses de mr sassou, alors que de cette ville qu' est tiré le pétrole qui constitue la première richesse du pays. Plus de 95% des congolais n' ont pas voté. c' est une réalité que le régime brutal et absurde de brazza doit reconnaitre. Du coup son régime est illégitime. les congolais du nord, du sud, de l' est et de l' ouest ont dit NON à sassou.

I'm Congolese and I reside in Pointe Noire (the economic capital of Congo and the second city of the country). I can tell you that the polling stations remained empty from morning to evening. The inhabitants of Pointe Noire are tired of the promises of Mr Sassou while this city that extracts the oil that is the first richness in the country. More than 95% of Congolese haven't voted. It's a reality tha the brutal and absurd regime in Brazzaville has to recognize. Because of that his regime is illegitimate. The Congolese from the North, the South, the East and the West have said NO to Sassou.

An anonymous commenter from Kinshasa, in the other Congo, wondered:

Peut on frauder avec seulement 15% d'électeurs qui, si nous suivons les différentes interventions, ne seraient que les partisans du Candidat Sassou, les autres ayant opté pour le boycot de l'éléction?

Can one cheat with only a 15% of voter turnout who, if we follow the reports, were only supporters of the candidate Sassou, with the others opting for boycotting the election?

L'Africaniste:

Oui tout n'est parfait ! Oui Sasou garde le pouvoir , Oui , il n'a pas fait du congo un paradis ! Mais qu'a fait l'opposition ? Quel projet ou proposition l'opposition congolaise a t' elle soumis au peuple ? rien sauf le boycott ! qui n'est rien d'autre qu'une ouverture à Sassou pour gagner . Alors merci messieurs les opposants d'avoir aider Sassou à gagner sans difficultés . Arrêtez des bruits pour rien sauf pour distraire le peuple !

Yes everything is perfect! Yes Sassou stays in power! Yes he didn't make the Congo into paradise? But what did the opposition do? What project proposal did the Congolese opposition offer to the people? Nothing besides the boycott! Which is nothing but a cue for Sassou to win. So thank you gentlemen in the opposition for helping Sassou to win without any difficulty. Stop the noise about nothing but to distract the people!

brazza-brazza on the peaceful election:

Élection bidon, mais nous avons la paix. La paix des miséreux.
Comme Bongo, Sassou sera au pouvoir pour plus de deux générations. C'est normal; nous avons la paix. La paix des soumis.
Sassou pille le Congo. Mais nous avons la paix. La paix des affamés.
Nous vivons dans le caca. Mais nous avons la paix. La paix a plus de valeur que la dignité.
Vous a l'étranger vous ne savez pas ce que la paix vaut.
Je suis d'accord avec vous que la paix permet a Sassou de piller. Et alors? C'est normal qu'il nous pille. Il es africain et il est dictateur qui fait des élections bidon pour rester dictateur.

Phoney election, but we have peace. The peace of the poverty-stricken.
Like Bongo, Sassou will be in power for more than two generations. It's normal; we have peace. The peace of the submissive.
Sassou plunders the Congo. But we have peace. The peace of the famished.
We live in the shit. But we have peace. Peace is more valuable than dignity.
All of you abroad have no idea how much peace is worth it.
I agree with you that peace allows Sassou to plunder. So what? It's normal to be plundered. He's African and he's a dictator who has phoney elections to stay a dictator.

At the Libération website Yanice 18 brought up Obama's recent speech in Ghana:

A peine hier, Obama a tenu un très bon discours sur la bonne gouvernance et la démocratie, aujourd'hui un autre autocrate africain se prépare à renouveler son bail au pouvoir pour 7 ans encore malgré ses déboires judiciaires relatifs à ses biens immobiliers en France. A voir la longévité au pouvoir, 25 ans, de ce président tout laisse à penser qu'Obama a prêché dans le désert.

Only yesterday Obama held a very good speech about good governance and democracy, today another African autocrat is preparing to renew his bail on power for yet another 7 years in spite of his judicial setbacks about his real estate in France. Seeing this president's longevity in power, 25 years, it looks like Obama preached in the desert.

And Saboun added:

Ré-election de Sassou Nguesso, aucune surprise. Je ne sais pas si vous avez remarqué, Obama n'a évoqué aucun pays d'Afrique francophone dans son discours, pure coincidence? J'en doute.

Reelection of Sassou Nguesso, no surprise. I don't know if you noticed, Obama didn't mention any Francophone country in Africa in his speech. Is this purely a coincidence? I doubt it.

DRC: Goma's Makeover for Independence Day

Elia Varela Serra — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:15:34 +0000

On June 30th, the Democratic Republic of Congo celebrated the 49th anniversary of its declaration of independence from Belgium , as well as the country's first leaders: President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.

Independence Day was celebrated all throughout the country, but it was in the eastern city of Goma (the capital of North Kivu province) that the official festivities took place with the participation of President Joseph Kabila, as well as the presidents of a number of other countries. Here are a few bloggers' reactions to this historic anniversary, celebrated in a city that not long ago was a war zone.

Photo by Patrick Butsapu

Colette Braeckman [FR], a Belgian journalist specializing in Central Africa, wrote about holding the celebrations in Goma:

Voici moins d’un an, qui aurait cru que l’indépendance du 30 juin, date mythique s’il en est, serait célébrée à Goma ? A l’époque, le chef rebelle Laurent Nkunda recevait toutes les télévisions du monde et devenait une star médiatique, entrant en concurrence avec les deux chefs d’Etat des pays concernés, le président Kabila et son homologue rwandais le président Kagame.

A l’époque, la peur régnait dans de vastes zones du Nord Kivu, à la merci d’attaques du CNDP […]

Less than a year ago who would have thought that the 30th of June independence, a mythical date, would be celebrated in Goma? At that time, the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda was welcoming all the TV networks in the world and becoming a media star, in competition with the heads of state of the countries involved, President Kabila and his Rwandese counterpart, President Kagame.

At that time fear reigned in vast stretches of North Kivu, at the mercy of the CNDP attacks[…]

For Dawn Hurley, an American expat in Goma who blogs at From Congo, the choice was risky:

It is not the most logical place to invite hot shots of all sorts to celebrate this grand holiday. It is an unruly city on the very edge the country. But it precisely this reputation as the Wild west (or rather Wild East) of Congo, that has led the President to choose to celebrate here.

For Colette Braeckman, celebrating the Independence in Goma has a strong significance:

Malgré les peurs des uns, les critiques des autres, il faut reconnaître que célébrer l’indépendance à Goma, hier terrorisée, assiégée et qui se sentait oubliée de Kinshasa, est un symbole fort. Le symbole d’un pays qui a entamé sa reconstruction et récupéré son contrôle sur toutes ses provinces, […] le symbole d’un géant convalescent, qui vacille encore un peu, mais qui, de manière décidée, s’est remis debout…

In spite of the fears of some, the criticism of others, we have to recognize that celebrating independence in Goma, yesterday a terrorized and besieged city that felt forgotten by Kinshasa, is a strong symbol. The symbol of a country that has started its reconstruction and has regained control of all its provinces, the symbol of a recovering giant, still a little hesitant but who, in a decisive manner, has stood up…

Dawn of From Congo also commented on the works happening around the city in preparation for the official festivities:

So for the past month Goma has been a giant dust bowl. The roads of Goma, which are perpetually in a ridiculous state of disrepair, have been dug up, marked off, and attacked with a variety of roadwork tools. Road workers have appeared out of nowhere and worked day and night over the past month, to turn Goma into a presentable city.

Boubol, the Goma correspondent for the popular Congoblog [FR], also wrote about Goma's makeover for the celebration (including some photos of the works):

« Je n’ai jamais vécu une telle situation à Goma, qui donne l’impression de se trouver dans une cité industrielle » s’exclame Mzee Paul, un sexagénaire, rencontré le long du boulevard Kanyamuhanga. Ce tronçon, sur lequel s’effectuera le défilé, revêt une nouvelle couche de bitume. C’est depuis la dernière éruption survenue en 2002 qu’il était dénué.

Nombreux sont le badauds qui passent leurs temps admirer les pylônes qui poussent depuis peu sur les routes de la capitale touristique. Au total, 600 réverbères éclaireront Goma d’ici le 30 juin, à en croire un des superviseurs des travaux: « La ville de Goma sera la ville la plus éclairée, après la ville de Kinshasa qui compte seulement 300 pylônes en bon état » a-t-il ajouté.

« I had never lived such a situation in Goma, which now gives the impression of being in an industrial zone » exclaims Mzee Paul, a man in his sixties we met along the boulevard Kanyamuhanga. This section, in which the parade will take place, is showing a new asphalt coating. Since the [volcanic] eruption in 2002 it was bare.

Many are the idle onlookers passing their time admiring the new street lights now mushrooming on the roads of this touristic capital. In total, 600 street lights will illuminate Goma until the 30th of June, according to one of the supervisors of the works: « The city of Goma will be the most brightly lit city, after the city of Kinshasa that only counts 300 street lights in a good state » he added.

Photo by Yvez Zihundula

However, Boboul wonders about the long-term permanence of the makeover:

S’ils se réjouissent en voyant ces travaux, les habitants de Goma ne se font pas d’illusion. Il faut attendre de voir s’il s’agit bien d’un élan de reconstruction ou si ce n’est qu’un embelissement temporaire, le temps de la fête.

While they are delighted to see these works, the inhabitants of Goma aren't deluding themselves. It is necessary to wait and see if there is really a reconstruction momentum or if it's just a temporary embellishment just for the holiday.

Apparently the Independence festivities included some fireworks, which some people mistook for shooting as shown by this story at From Congo:

Argentine and Mapendo (two of the SHONA women) spent last night trying to decide where to hide. They heard shooting and assumed the town was being attacked. […]

In fact it was fireworks. Yesterday was Independence Day in Congo and a fireworks display ran for at least half an hour last night. I couldn't see the fireworks from my house, and apparently Argentine and Mapendo couldn't see them from their hiding spots. But we could all hear the explosions, and I have to say that it was as long and impressive sounding a display as I have ever heard.

I, for one, am not suprised the a fireworks display in a region which is still a war-zone, would scare the living daylights out of people. They announced it on the radio beforehand but many people, like Argentine and Mapendo, didn't hear the warnings and were left to assume the worst.

Goma-based journalist Yves Zihindula [FR], who also noted the impressive works happening in his city, offers a bit of a pessimistic reflection about the Congo after 49 years of indepence:

Ceux qui ont vécu les années après le 30 juin 1960, parlent des bonnes choses du Congo et disent par exemple qu’un zaïre (monnaie locale de l’époque) équivalait à plus d’un dollar américain. Normal qu’un jeune de mon âge ait difficile à les comprendre. Pas de système d’éducation fiable, pas d’eau potable, pas d’électricité, pas de routes dans la plupart des localités… voilà ce que nous vivons depuis notre enfance.

49 ans après l’indépendance, quel bilan faire ? Qu’est ce qu’il faut que je réponde ? Je n’ai rien vécu jusque là. J’attends vivre… et ferais un bilan le moment venu.

Those who lived during the years following the 30th of June 1960 talk about the good things in Congo and say, for example, that a zaïre (the local currency at that time) was equivalent to a US dollar. It's normal for a young person of my age to have trouble grasping that. No reliable education system, no potable water, no electricity, no road in the majority of towns… this is what we've lived since our childhood.

49 years after the independence, what assessment can we make? What can I say? I haven't lived anything until now. I'm waiting to live… and then I'll make my assessment when the moment comes.

In a similar vein, Espérance-Francois Bulayumi at Mbokamosika [FR] wonders:

Devrions-nous organiser ce mardi 30 juin 2009 une fête pompeuse pour célébrer la journée commémorative du 30 juin dans la situation où se trouve le pays actuellement?

Should we organize this Tuesday June 30 2009 a festivity with a lot of pomp to celebrate this conmemoration day of the 30th of June in the situation where the country currently finds itself?

John Passou offered this reflection at the blog Aujourd'hui c'est Aujourd'hui [FR]:

L’indépendance du Congo est à reconquérir. Corriger aujourd’hui les vices du régime Mobutu, ce n’est pas, comme d’aucuns s’imaginent, l’œuvre d’un jour. Ce doit être l’œuvre d’une politique de longue haleine, habile et circonspecte. La domination néocoloniale a plongé la société congolaise dans un pourrissement tel qu’il nous faudra des années pour la purifier.

Congo's independence is to be regained. Correcting today the vices of Mobutu's regime is not, like some people imagine, the work of a day. It has to be the work of long-term, skillful and circumspect politics. Neocolonial domination has sank Congolese society into a rotting that will take years to purify.

Gabon: On President Omar Bongo's death

Elia Varela Serra — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:50:18 +0000

Sunday night, French media announced the death of President Omar Bongo of Gabon, who had spent 41 of his 73 years in power. French newspaper Le Point reported that they received news of his death, by cancer, in a private clinic in Barcelona, through a “source close to the President's entourage”. AFP, on the other hand, reported a French governmental source. But later Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong told Gabonese TV that he had been “very surprised” to read the reports.

When Omar Bongo was admitted in Barcelona's Quirón clinic earlier in May, a comment by Akin a the African Loft predicted his death away from his subjects:

The greatest indictment of his lamentable regime of 42 years is that Gabon does not have hospitals that could treat either himself or his wife.

What kind of leadership is one that cannot bring any appreciable benefits to its people whilst the leaders jet off to foreign lands for the slightest sign of discomfort?

This is an indictment that applies to probably the whole of African leadership, the inability to raise the standards of infrastructure, education, health and opportunity.

When would we be able to make all leadership really accountable for their years of disservice?

[…] The morale of this sordid tale is unAfrican in its context, the king shall not die in his palace surrounded by his subjects who “adore” him but in a non-descript expensive hospital room surrounded by strangers.

A king that fails to rule with probity will die in a distance in disgrace with everyone breathing a long sigh of relief - Good riddance! To them all.

Togolese blogger Rodrigue Kopgli, of Jeunesse Unie pour la Démocratie en Afrique [Fr], called Bongo “one of the last crocodiles of Françafrique“:

Ami de tous les gouvernements français depuis De Gaulle, Albert-Bernard Bongo devenu El Hadj Omar Bongo puis Ondimba (le peuple lui réclame du changement démocratique, il lui offre des changements de nom personnel), n’a jamais cessé d’être l’Agent des Services secrets français qu’il était à sa prise du pouvoir. Fort de sa longévité et de la fortune amassée au sommet du Gabon, Le Hadj s’octroie le luxe de financer des campagnes électorales en France notamment celle de François Mitterrand comme l’a écrit Pierre Péan dans « Affaires africaines ». Il laisse aussi un gigantesque parc mobilier et immobilier en France et des comptes bancaires secrets qui bien évidemment font et feront le bonheur des paradis fiscaux qui les hébergent. Le peuple gabonais pendant ce temps manque de tout. Avec un tel bilan, la terre ne lui sera pas légère du tout. Et les Africains qu’il prétendait cyniquement représenter ne se mettront pas en deuil, non plus.

Friend of all French governments since De Gaulle, Albert-Bernard Bongo, who later became El Hadj Omar Bongo and then Ondimba (the people were asking for democratic change, he offered them personal name changes), he never stopped being the French secret service agent that he had been since he came to power. With his longevity and fortune amassed in power, the Hadj afforded himself the luxury of financing electoral campaigns in France, in particular that of François Mitterrant as written by Pierre Péan in “African Affairs”. He's also leaving gigantic real estate assets and private property in France, and secret bank accounts that are making the tax havens where they are hosted very happy. Meanwhile, the Gabonese people are lacking everything. With this legacy, he will not be missed at all. And the Africans that he was cynically pretending to represent will not mourn him either.

Citing Togo's experience, Kopgli doubts Bongo's death will bring change:

La mort de Bongo n’apportera rien de salutaire au peuple gabonais, car les héritiers Ali et Pascaline Bongo sont déjà positionnés et portés par Bolloré – ami personnel de Sarkozy – et de Christophe de Margerie de TotalFinaElf et de bien d’autres vampires pour capter le pouvoir, comme ce fut le cas du Togo où les fils du défunt Gnassingbe ont été portés au pouvoir sous le double poids du viol et des violences.

Bongo's death is not going to bring anything beneficial to the Gabonese people, because the heir and heiress Ali and Pascaline Bongo have already been groomed and brought by Bolloré -personal friend of Sarkozy- and of Christophe de Margerie of TotalFinaElf and many other vampires to suck power, as it was the case in Togo where the children of the late Gnassingbe were brought to power under the double weight of rape and violence.

Ivorian blogger Théophile Kouamouo [Fr], who also mentions Togo, ponders about what will happen after Bongo's death and wonders about the future of the Françafrique:

Maintenant que le “patriarche” n'est plus, l'on entre dans l'ère des incertitudes et des questionnements. Le schéma constitutionnel - remise du pouvoir à la présidente du Sénat puis élections - sera-t-il respecté ? Va-t-on vers un schéma de bataille fratricide à la togolaise […]? L'armée gabonaise, totalement invisible, entrera-t-elle en scène ?

Puis profondément, quel est le bilan d'Omar Bongo Ondimba ? Après sa mort, la Françafrique, dont il était le pilier, s'affaiblira-t-elle ? Pour ma part, je pense que oui - mais peut-être que je m'avance trop. Ce système-là était trop centré sur un certain nombre d'hommes, de petits secrets, de règles de départ qui n'existent plus, pour perdurer éternellement.[…]

La Françafrique s'affaiblira, mais la démocratie avancera-t-elle ? L'Afrique se retrouvera bientôt face à son destin et aux contradictions de son Histoire. Personne ne l'aidera à en démêler les noeuds. Mais observons d'abord ce qui se passera dans les prochains jours au Gabon.

Now that the “patriarch” has passed away, we are entering an era of uncertainty and questioning. The constitutional outline -power transfer to the President of the Senate and then elections-, is it going to be respected? Are we going to fall into fratricidal fighting like in Togo […]? Is the Gabonese army, completely invisible, going to enter the scene?

More profoundly, what is the legacy of Omar Bongo Odinma? After his death, is the Françafrique, of which he was the pillar, going to weaken? Personally, I think so - but maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. This system was too focused on certain men, on little secrets, on exit rules that don't exist anymore, to last forever. […]

Françafrique will grow weaker, but will democracy move forward? Africa will soon be faced to its own destiny and to the contradictions of its history. Nobody will help her to untie the knots. But let's first observe what will happen in the next days in Gabon.

Emmanuel Bellart of Cameroon [Fr] expressed his relief:

Dieu merci, car un autre est parti, l'afrique commence à respirer petit à petit, il ne fallait plus que ça pour que l'afrique puisse finalement ouvrir les yeux, monsieur omar bongo qui a mit 41 ans au pouvoir, ce qui est iraisonnable nous a montré combien ces vieux de la france voulaient vraiment detruire l'afrique, c'est claire que personne ne doit souhaiter la mort d'un être humain, mais d'un côté, c'est un soulagement pour le peuple gabonais, sauf qu'il y'avait une chose que monsieur bongo devait faire, c'est organiser le pouvoir et non de le preparer pour ses enfants […]

adieu le doyen, laissons le pouvoir au peuple et non à une personne, quand tu t'accapare du pouvoir , tu meurs et on t'oublit

Thank God, another one is gone and Africa is starting to breathe little by little. That's all we needed for Africa to be able to open her eyes at last. Mr Omar Bongo spent 41 years in power, which is unreasonable, he showed us how much those old Frenchmen really wanted to destroy Africa. It's obvious that nobody wishes the death of another human being, but on the other hand it's a relief for the Gabonese people, except that there was something that mister Bongo needed to do and it was organize power instead of grooming his children […]

Goodbye the most senior [dictator], let's leave the power to the people and not to one person, when you monopolize all power you die and we forget you

At the newsportal Gaboneco [Fr], a Gabonese reader named Ogwera left a comment asking for democratic elections:

Je suis un citoyen gabonais et j'exige des élections dans le strict respect de la constitution de La République!!!! et je dis non à ceux qui appelle la france à se mêler de la politique gabonaise notamment BEN MOUMBAMBA qu'on ne connait pas et qui pourrait être un pion de cette france! Les gabonais doivent s'unir et rester vigilants!

I'm a Gabonese citizen and I'm demanding elections in the uttermost respect of the constitution of the Republic!!! and I'm saying no to those that are calling for France to meddle in Gabonese politics, in particular Ben Mouamba whom we don't know and who could be a pawn of France! Gabonese must unite and remain vigilant!

Rwanda: The unresolved FDLR issue

Elia Varela Serra — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:37:27 +0000

Last January the conflict in North Kivu shifted once again with the arrest of CNDP rebel group leader Laurent Nkunda in Rwanda and the entry of the Rwandan national army (RDF) into the DR Congo to root out the FDLR rebel group in joint operations with the national Congolese army (FARDC). The joint offensive was hailed as a success and as a powerful symbol of a new spirit of collaboration between Congo and Rwanda. As Rebecca Feeley of the Enough Said blog explains, the Congolese Minister of Defense, Charles Mwando Nsimba, even went so far as to say that the FDLR threat had been “neutralized.”

Refugees International, a Washington based advocacy organization specialized on refugee issues, released a report in March on the situation in the Kivus. Their conclusions about the joint RDF-FARDC military operation against the FDLR were:

The attempted military solution to the FDLR appears far from having succeeded in crippling the rebel group, despite the recent disarmament of over 400 combatants by MONUC. Instead, the operations led to serious consequences for the Congolese in North and South Kivu, including significant new displacements.

The blog Stop the War in North Kivu commented on the report:

Not many organizations say publicly that the joint military operation has not been a success. I agree 100% with their analysis.

Refugees International also makes the point on the importance of dialogue as the only path for a durable solution to the FDLR presence in the DRC. Eurac expressed the same opinion a few weeks ago. Military solutions to political problems are, in most of the cases, a recipe for disaster.

The FDLR is a militia formed by the defeated Hutu refugees in the DR Congo, that allegedly counts among its ranks some members of the Interahamwe that carried out the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. According to the Wikipedia, during the 1998-2003 war it received extensive backing from the Congolese government who used the FDLR as a proxy force against the foreign armies operating in the country, in particular the Rwandan Patriotic Army and Rwanda-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy. Following several days of talks with Congolese government representatives held in Rome, in March 2005 the FDLR announced that they were abandoning their armed struggle and returning to Rwanda as a political party. However, the Rwandan government stated that any returning genocidaires would face justice, most probably through the gacaca court system.

Mattew Hugo of the blog Why won't they just go home questions Rwanda's position regarding the FDLR:

Historically, the Rwandan government has sought to implicate the entirety of the FDLR in the genocide. In 2004, the International Crisis Group estimated that the number of genocidaires amongst the rebels was roughly ten percent, with the vast majority having been small children in 1994. However in 2008, the Rwandan government provided the Congolese government with a list of suspected FDLR genocidaires containing 6,974 names, coincidentally the common estimate for the total number of rebels.

Stop the War in North Kivu quotes an article written by Nicolás Dorronsoro for the IECAH (Instituto de Estudios sobre Conflictos y Accion Humanitaria) [Es], that explains how political negotiation with the FDLR is taboo in Rwanda (translation from Spanish by Stop the War in North Kivu):

Desde que la ofensiva diplomática de los Estados Unidos y el Reino Unido propiciara el acercamiento entre la RDC y Ruanda, el único discurso con respecto al FDLR ha sido el del abandono inmediato de las armas y la completa derrota militar. Nadie osa hablar de la posibilidad de una negociación, por limitada que sea, con este grupo. Esto resulta sorprendente si tenemos en cuenta que el país al que los integrantes del FDLR aspiran a volver adolece de un extraordinario déficit democrático.

El pasado 19 de marzo, la experta norteamericana Ruth Wedgwood afirmaba ante el Comité de Derechos Humanos de Naciones Unidas que, a día de hoy, formar un partido político en Ruanda parece virtualmente imposible. Wedgwood hizo una reflexión interesante: recordó que las facciones hutu responsables del genocidio habían sido capaces de fomentar la masacre precisamente porque habían alimentado el miedo de que la población hutu sería oprimida y marginada. Lamentablemente, y con independencia de su indudable desarrollo económico, ese temido escenario se asemeja a la realidad actual de Ruanda, según muchos expertos. Filip Reyntjens, catedrático de la universidad de Amberes y uno de los mayores expertos en la región de los Grandes Lagos, afirmaba recientemente que no sólo las últimas elecciones locales ruandesas fueron manipuladas, sino incluso el informe mismo de los observadores electorales de la UE, que las consideró como válidas. Dado este déficit democrático, organizaciones como el European Network for Central Africa (EURAC), han abogado por una negociación política con el FDLR. Sin embargo, la cuestión continúa siendo tabú.

Since the diplomatic offensive headed by the US and the UK brought about an approach between the DRC and Rwanda, the only discourse regarding the FDLR has been that of immediate surrender and complete military defeat. No one dares to talk about the possibility of a negotiation, no matter how limited it may be, with this group. This seems surprising if we take into consideration that the country the FDLR aspire to return to suffers from an extraordinary democratic deficit.

Last March 19th, the American human rights expert Ruth Wedgwood affirmed at the UN Human Rights Comittee that forming a political party in Rwanda today seems virtually impossible. Wedgwood made an interesting reflection: she reminded that hutu factions responsible for the genocide had been capable of fostering the massacre because they had nourished the fear of hutu population being oppressed and marginalized. Unfortunately, and leaving aside the economic sucess Rwanda is undoubtedly experiencing, that feared scenario seem to be similar to actual Rwanda, according to many experts. Filip Reyntjens, Professor in the University of Antwerp and one of the most respected scholars in the Great Lakes region, recently affirmed that not only the last local elections in Rwanda were manipulated, but even the report of the EU electoral observers itself, which considered them as valid. Given this democratic deficit, organizations like the European Network for Central Africa (EURAC), have advocated for a political negotiation with the FDLR. However, this issue continues to be a taboo.

Congolese diaspora blogger Colored Opinions, quoted a former Force Commander of MONUC (UN peacekeeping in the DRC) that was also advocating for a political solution to the FDLR problem:

Former MONUC Force Commander, General Patrick Cammaert, was interviewed recently on dutch tv concerning the war in Congo. He said: “The problems have to be solved politicallly. That is true also concerning the genocidal hutus. President Kagame is strongly (involved) in that. The president of Rwanda sees the genocide-hutus as a threat to his country, I don't agree with that, I don't think that those genocide-hutus represent a threat to his country at all […]”

A young FDLR combatant wishing to demobilize speaking with Amani from South Kivu (picture by Steve Hege)

Matthew Hugo, who has worked in the Great Lakes region for a few years, illustrates the taboo that the FDLR issue is in Rwanda and the difficulties of the return and reintegration programs of FDLR combattants, with the story of former FDLR General Seraphin Bizimungu, known as Amani Amahoro, that he followed first-hand:

I first met Gen. Amani while I was conducting research on Rwandan refugees in 2005. He was the widely celebrated leader of an internal mutiny within the FDLR. Just five months prior, the FDLR’s political leadership surprisingly declared that they would unilaterally disarm and return en masse to Rwanda.

[…]
Amani emerged with the support of the Congolese government, and promised to lead the return movement despite the lack of security guarantees. In a press conference, he accused the group’s leadership of sabotaging the historic opportunity to remove themselves from the military equation of the region. The pretext of the rebel threat is what permitted the Rwandan government to continue to wage a proxy war against the Congo according to him.

By all accounts, including the Rwandan government itself, Amani was not suspected of any participation in the genocide and was widely considered a political moderate. During an interview I had with him, he claimed that fighting non-violently for political opening from within Rwanda was the only path to truly sustainable peace for the region.

[…] in December [2005] Amani fulfilled his promise and returned to Rwanda with over 150 loyal soldiers, one of the largest groups of ex-combatants since the inception of the UN’s demobilization and repatriation program (DDRRR). […]

Following his departure, Gen. Amani was rapidly transformed into the poster child of the UN’s sensitization efforts to promote future desertion amongst the FDLR. He was featured prominently in numerous pamphlets distributed to rebels throughout remote mountains and jungles as the quintessential example of how warmly Rwanda welcomed its brethren who chose to return home.

[…]
So compelling was Amani’s message that when I began working with DDRRR, I frequently put FDLR combatants in touch with him directly by Satellite phone from isolated areas of the Congolese jungle. His personal testimony was often enough to put to rest their fears of reprisals and incarcerations in Rwanda which were widely shared amongst the young rebels. Amani always sounded quite eager to respond to these calls and he often reiterated to the FDLR that real political change could only be achieved from within Rwanda.

And so compelling was Amani's message that, according to Matthew Hugo, Amani was featured in numerous DDRRR pamphlets distributed to rebels throughout remote mountains and jungles “as the quintessential example of how warmly Rwanda welcomed its brethren who chose to return home” and became “the poster child of the UN’s sensitization efforts to promote future desertion amongst the FDLR”. However, and in spite of the good example Amani set, genocide charges were brought against him in late 2008 and he was then summoned before the traditional Gacaca courts conducted by village elders. On January 22nd, two days after the Rwandan army began its joint military operations against the FDLR in the eastern Congo, the Gacaca elders condemned Amani to life in prison.

Matthew Hugo concludes his story expressing frustration at the seemingly permanent stalemate on the FDLR issue:

Thanks to this strategy of associating all political opposition with the genocide, the RPF’s Ugandan clique has managed to systematically tighten their stranglehold over power in Kigali. Not only did informal EU electoral observer reports suggest that they might have won as much as 98% of the vote in recent local elections, but even the U.S.’s legal expert on the UN Human Rights Committee stated that it is “virtually impossible to set up a political party in Rwanda“.

Nevertheless, despite resounding support for peace processes with the ruthless rebel groups in the region like the LRA and the FNL, the mere notion of political dialogue between Rwanda and the FDLR remains utterly inconceivable.

The blog Mo’dernity, Mo’problems recently commented on an article written by the director of Human Rights Watch on the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide:

In memory of the Rwanda genocide, Ken Roth keeps up the quality of Human Rights Watch Rwanda analysis after Allison Des Forge’s passing and writes:

[…] “The best way to prevent another genocide is to insist that Kagame stop manipulating the last one”.

As memories of the genocide turn 15, it seems like Rwanda is facing a tumultuous media anniversary. Recent coverage of the anniversary have attacked the ways in which the current Rwandan administration abuses the genocide as a form of political repression and a justification of warmongering.

le blog aboumashimango [Fr], a Rwandese diaspora blogger, calls for an end to civil and political rights violations in Rwanda :

Le génocide des Tutsi et massacres des Hutus démocrates (opposants politiques, défenseurs des droits de l'homme, journalistes… et populations civiles innocentes) de 1994 trouvent leur racines dans l'histoire politico-ethnique du pays, la fracture sociale, l'angoisse et la terreur, ainsi que la mauvaise gestion politique de la question ethnique. A cela s'ajoute l'absence de l'espace démocratique et de la culture des droits de l'homme.

[…] En ces moments où nous commémorons le 15ème anniversaire de Génocide des Tutsi et massacres des Hutus démocrates, j'appelle à la conscience de la Communauté internationale de faire preuve de courage pour mettre fin à des situations des violations flagrantes des droits civils et politiques que connaît le Rwanda, notamment le droit d'avoir une justice équitable…

The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi and the massacres of democrat Hutu (political opponents, human rights defenders, journalists… and innocent civilian peoples) have their roots in the political and ethnic history of the country, the social dislocation, the fear and the terror, as well as the bad political management of ethnic issues. Added to all that is the absence of democratic space and of a human rights culture.

[…] At this moment when we commemorate the 15th anniversary of the genocide against the Tutsi and the massacres of democrat Hutu, I appeal at the conscience of the international community to show the courage to put an end to the blatant situations of civil and political rights violations happening in Rwanda, especially the right to a fair trial…

Rwanda: Fifteen years after the genocide

Elia Varela Serra — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:10:48 +0000

Today marks the end of a week of national mourning in Rwanda to mark 15 years since the genocide which killed 800,000 people. On the 7th of April ceremonies were held in the capital Kigali, and in Nyanza, where more than 5,000 people were slaughtered. At a stadium in Kigali, thousands of candles spelt out the word “hope” in three languages.

Rwandan blogger Negrita's Chronicles asked her readers to join the nation-wide candlelight vigil for the victims through her blog:

It has been 15 years since the Genocide forever changed my home and my people.

The world stood silent as cries for help went unheeded.

Please join us in lighting a candle in memory of those whose lives were taken and in hope for a future of peace, justice, and true reconciliation.

In succesive posts, Negrita posted a video for the campaign Candles for Rwanda, and the song ‘Never Again' written and recorded in commemoration of the Genocide. The song was composed by Rwanda's gospel singer Jean Paul Samputu in Kinyanrwanda, but its choruses are sung in different languages (English, French, Swahili, Kirundi and Kiganda) by various popular regional musicians.

Pictures of children victims of genocide at the Kigali Memorial Center (Photo by Elia Varela Serra)

Martin Leach, the head of the DFID (British Department for International Development) in Rwanda attended the ceremonies in Nyanza, which he describes in his blog:

Hundreds of people trudged up the long hill to Nyanza, many of them wearing something purple, a neckscarf, a wrap, even a purple wristband. The colour purple is the colour of mourning in Rwanda and yesterday, 7th April, was the 15th Anniversary of the Genocide. At the top of the hill I joined the large crowd at the Commemoration Ceremony. Wedged between two ambassadors, I heard heart breaking accounts from survivors of the massacre which took place on the site where we were seated, with no one to protect them against the brutal attacks of the militia.

But it was the young people who moved me most: girls dressed in purple and white reciting poems in Kinyarwandan about the need to take courage for the future in spite of the sorrow and grief, and a youth choir with ‘Never Again' emblazoned on their T-shirts and headbands, singing with emotion about the importance of never forgetting the genocide. And it was emotional. Even the Government Ministers were shedding tears, remembering their experiences and lost loved ones. I can't imagine it - one million people killed in 100 days: as the Lady Mayor of Kigali said ‘an unspeakable evil' had gripped the country.

Michael Abramowitz of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum was in Kigali for the ceremonies. In the blog World is Witness, Abramovitz recounts the testimony of a genocide survivor called Venuste that moved the audience with his story during the ceremony:

Venuste, who looked to be in his 50s or 60s, with a dignified bearing, proceeded to tell the hushed crowd how his family and neighbors decided to take refuge at the nearby L’Ecole Technique Officielle, thinking that might be a safe refuge because of the small contingent of Belgian United Nations soldiers stationed there. But four days later, to their great shock, the small U.N. force departed, telling those gathered on the school grounds that “gendarmes” would rescue them. The U.N. soldiers ignored their desperate pleas not to leave them at the mercy of a menacing crowd of government soldiers and armed militia that surrounded them outside the gates of the school.
After the departure of the last U.N. soldier, Venuste and some 5,000 others who were gathered on the school grounds were forced to walk a jeering gauntlet of Hutu militiamen, soldiers and civilians wielding machetes, guns and other weapons. Some of those who survived described it as a “death walk.” Venuste lost his right arm, hacked off by one of the tormentors. The walkers came to this unremarkable hill, where they were encircled by a gang of killers and set upon with grenades, machetes and clubs. Within a few hours, Venuste said, “We were lying in pools of blood.”

Of the 5,000 or so who sought refuge from the U.N. near here, roughly 100 survived, according to Venuste. He lived only because he laid still under dead bodies, overlooked by the killers searching the carnage for signs of life.

Impressed by the economic development of Rwanda, Abramowitz sees no traces of the atrocities experienced 15 years ago:

As I first-time visitor to Rwanda, it’s hard not to be mystified by the mismatch between the ferocious events of just 15 years ago and apparent calm and prosperity in Rwanda, which aspires to be the hub of an economically vibrant East Africa. As we drove out of town to one of the churches where you can still see the skulls and belongings of murdered Tutsi, we passed by workers digging up ditches on the side of the road to lay down new fiber optic lines. A newcomer thinks: How can this beautiful country, routinely described by Africa hands as one of the better functioning countries on the continent, have experienced such savagery?

Ugandan fishermen pulling bodies out of Lake Victoria that had traveled hundreds of miles by river from Rwanda (Photo by Dave Blumenkrantz, used under a Creative Commons license)

Colette Braeckman [Fr], a Belgian journalist and author of several books about Central Africa, was also present at the anniversary ceremony in Kigali of which she writes:

Depuis la foule amassée devant le « jardin de la mémoire » et le monument consacré au génocide, des cris jaillissent, perturbent les discours officiels. A tout moment, des corps convulsés ou immobilisés par les syncopes sont emportés par des ambulances. Lorsque Venuste Kasirika s’empare du micro et raconte son calvaire, son récit est ponctué par les sanglots qui secouent l’auditoire.

From the crowds gathered before the “garden of remembrance” and the genocide memorial, cries are bursting out, disrupting the official speeches. The whole time, convulsed or fainting bodies are taken away by the ambulances. When Venuste Kasirika takes the stage and tells about his ordeal, his story is punctuated by the sobbing that shakes up the audience.

Walking around modern-day Kigali, Braeckman makes a similar observation as Abramowitz about the disconnect with the horrible past:

Dans cette cité moderne, ambitieuse, dont les quartiers populaires ont été rasés et les habitants transplantés plus loin, au milieu de ces immeubles abritant des banques, des commerces et des bureaux, au vu de ces parterres taillés au ciseau et de ces espaces verts qui ressemblent à des jardins anglais, comment croire que, voici quinze ans, les bennes de la voirie ramassaient les cadavres à la pelle et les déversaient devant l’hôpital, comme des tas d’immondices ? Au vu de ces gens bien habillés, portant tous des chaussures de ville (les nu pieds sont interdits) comment se souvenir de ces tueurs au regard halluciné, ivres de bière, de chanvre et de haine, ceints d’amulettes, qui brandissaient fusils et longues machettes et traquaient, comme du gibier, leurs voisins tutsis débusqués dans les faux plafonds, les fossés et les fourrés de haies vives ?

In this modern, ambitious city, where the low-income neighborhoods have been razed and its inhabitants have been moved further away; amid these buildings with banks, stores and offices, seeing these perfectly manicured flower beds and these green spaces that look like English gardens, how can we believe that, fifteen years ago, garbage trucks were collecting corpses by the loads and were dropping them at the hospital, like piles of refuse? Seeing these well-dressed people, all wearing city shoes (going barefoot is forbidden) how can we remember the killers with the lunatic gaze, drunk with beer, with pot and with hate, adorned with amulets, brandishing shotguns and long machettes and were hounding, like you hound animals, their Tutsi neighbors that were forced to hide in the double ceilings, in the ditches and in the hedgerows?

Yves Zihindula [Fr], a Congolese blogger based in Goma, remembers the genocide as seen from the other side of the border:

Voici 15 ans jour pour jour, que des centaines de milliers de gens (réfugiés) se sont déversés en République démocratique du Congo. Cette date me rappelle les images abominables des femmes et enfants affaiblis par la faim dans les rues de Goma. Je me souviens avoir vu des cadavres d’homme dans le lac Kivu, jetés depuis la partie rwandaise du lac et emmener par la vague vers les bords du côté congolais. J’ai vu à l’époque des camions à benne transporter des corps humains et déposer dans des fosses communes.

Des souvenirs pas du tout bons. Ça me fait toujours bizarre de réaliser cette tragédie. Des humains s’entretuer. Quand bien même chez les animaux, ces genre des situations arrivent rarement. J’ose espérer que ça ne se répétera plus jamais et que l’Afrique entière (pourquoi pas le monde entier) en a tiré les leçons.

Exactly 15 years ago hundreds of thousands of people (refugees) poured into the Democratic Republic of Congo. This date brings back the appalling images of women and children weakened by hunger on the streets of Goma. I remember having seen human corpses in the Kivu lake, thrown from the Rwandan side of the lake and brought by the waves to the Congolese side. At the time I had seen garbage trucks transporting human bodies and droping them off in mass graves.

Not good memories at all. It still feels weird to realize this tragedy. Humans killing each other. Even between animals these kinds of situations rarely happen. I dare to hope that this is not going to happen again and that the whole Africa (and the whole world) have learnt a lesson.

For a detailed background on the genocide in Rwanda, see these posts on the Stop Genocide blog: False History, Real Genocide: The Use and Abuse of Identity in Rwanda and Genocide in Rwanda: “A Distinctly Modern Tragedy”.

Senegal: Beach wrestling

Elia Varela Serra — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:17:36 +0000

George Esunge Fominyen writes about the popularity of traditional wrestlilng in Senegal's beaches, and posts a video shot in the touristic resort of Mbour. He writes: “wrestlers competing in the championnat de lutte avec Frappe, earn fabulous sums of money. Youngsters are dreaming of emulating their local champions”.

Cameroon: Interview with Côté Minou

Elia Varela Serra — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:12:19 +0000

Dulce Camer interviews Maryanne E. Mokoko and Stephanie T. Mouapi, the designers behind the fashion label “Côté Minou” launched in 2006. The interview includes several photos of their designs.

The beauty of Sudan in pictures

Elia Varela Serra — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:33:02 +0000

Memoirs of a Sudanese breath has been posting a series of pictures of Sudan under the title “Beauty of Sudan“: battling women, traveling by donkey or camel in rural areas, a gula water container, landscapes, public transportation vehicles, and more landscapes.

Comparing Illinois governor Blagojevic and his Nigerian counterparts

Elia Varela Serra — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:17:41 +0000

Grandiose Parlor draws a parallel between the impeachment of the Illinois State Governor (U.S) Rod Blagojevic over corruption charges, with Nigerian governors: “while the two are corrupt - well, maybe not in equal measures-, the political system in the state of Illinois is able to self-correct, promptly”. The blog also quotes a recent editorial by the Nigerian Guardian.