As the regional combatants prepare for a showdown in the diamond
capital of Mbuji Mayi, President Kabila has arranged some pay-offs
Four months on, the battle for economic and political power in Congo-Kinshasa has become Africa’s most African war this century. The key protagonists and their armies are all African, the economic spoils are majority-owned by Africans, the diplomatic efforts to stop the war are being run through regional organisations - only the weapons (and the occasional military ‘advisor’) are provided from outside. Western countries are standing back, leaving the core diplomacy to the Southern African Development Community and the Organisation of African Unity. Countries outside the immediate arena of battle, such as Nigeria and South Africa, hope desperately that the SADC and OAU peace initiatives under the chairmanship of Zambian President
Frederick Chiluba will make some progress at a new round of talks on 21-22 November. Yet the omens look bad.
Abel Chivukuvuku takes on UNITA's leader from within his own party and people
Chivukuvuku’s first steps as an independent politician have faltered. He tried to recruit Savimbi’s former economics spokesperson, Fatima Roque, who is white and married to Portugu...
The parties are fighting internally - before fighting each other
The election season has come early. National elections are two years away but the two main parties - the ruling National Democratic Congress and the opposition New Patriotic Party ...
