Jennifer Brea · July, 2007

Latest posts by Jennifer Brea from July, 2007

Alain Mabanckou on Prostitution in Brazzaville

  22 July 2007

Alain Mabanckou posts “Night scenes in Brazzaville” (Fr), a sketch on young prostitutes and their European customers.  “The atmosphere of the country surely helps.  Would they find such an opportunity in their own country? …Money excuses everything…”

France: Protest against BNP & Denis Sassou-Nguesso

  22 July 2007

Congopage announces a demonstration (Fr) set to take place Saturday, July 28 in front of the offices of BNP-PARIBAS, Paris to protest the French oil giant's alleged involvement in  Congo-Brazzaville's President, Denis Sassou-Nguesso's theft of millions of dollars of public funds.  Sarkozy and Sassou-Nguesso are quite cozy.

Cameroon: Yes your majesty

  22 July 2007

Parler Camerounais compares (Fr) the leaders of Cameroon, and their “bulimia” of meaningless titles and honors, to the royal family in Eddie Murphy's 1998 hit, Coming to America.

Benin: Debating, feting Voodoo

  22 July 2007

Benninese blogger Blaise Aplogan writes about the upcoming festival of Voodoo, set to take place in Paris this week, and the ongoing Voodoo debate (Fr): “More and more, prophetic religions, notably Christianity, are investing in a dialogue with traditional African religions…[and] traditional African religious leaders are asking themselves what meaning...

Senegal: Do we elect kings now?

  18 July 2007

Blog politique du Senegal writes of Karim Wade, the President's son, and his intention to run for president (Fr): “In theory, Karim Wade [has the right to] run for president, like any other Senegalese” but “the privileged, not to mention abusive, position that Karim Wade occupies in the state apparatus...

Rwanda: Foreign aid workers who live like kings

  5 July 2007

Foreign aid workers in Africa and elsewhere are often criticized for living far removed from the populations they are supposed to serve. How can people who spend their time zipping around in air-conditioned SUVs, tinted windows rolled to the top to shut out the noise and the dust and the people hope to be effective, the argument goes. Les aventures du Civiliste Guillaume wades through Rwanda's alphabet soup, writing about the legion of aid and relief agencies station in the country and finding reasons both to criticize and defend those who have come to help.

Togo: Government funding for political parties

  3 July 2007

Togo-iTunes posts an article about a new law for financing political parties (Fr). Any of Togo's nearly 80 political parties that have received at least five percent of the vote in legislative elections, five seats in the National Assembly, or 10% in local elections will be eligible for government funding.

Can Haitians tackle drugs and corruption?

  2 July 2007

Last week, Haitian president René Préval declared before the leaders of the fifteen member countries of CARICOM and President George Bush that fighting corruption and drugs were his government's top priorities. Collectif-haiti-de-provence is not so certain of his resolve--or that of the Haitian people.

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