An Outing at Maluku-the-paradise

I shot this video with a Sony still camera Cyber-shot on Sunday July 25 at Maluku, a commune of the Congolese capital, by the River Congo, about 80 km east of downtown Kinshasa. I was privileged to spend the entire day there at the Portuguese-owned and aptly named bar-restaurant “Le Petit Paradis,” courtesy of the blogger buddy Luka Mambu I first met a few years ago on Cédric Kalonji’s blog and who later became a fixture on my blog in French.Though...

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Mwasi’s Bride-Price Invoice

Engagement, bride-price and marriage rituals are elaborate and costly affairs nowadays in the Congo. This past Saturday 17 July, I was invited to attend an engagement event of a female relative at the Commune of Gombe. I was struck by the presence of a video and still-camera team, complete with lighting equipment, mobbing both families to document the proceedings.At one point, Patrick, the suitor, entered the living-room without fanfare and was directed...

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1. Latest Radio-Trottoir Narratives; and 2. UDPS Implosion qua Coup d’état

1. Latest Radio-Trottoir Narratives Radio-Trottoir [Radio-Sidewalk] is the vestigial Congo grapevine. It's busy producing ever sensational narratives. For instance, according to one narrative, the Raïs is busy these days with road works in the capital—including the above recently inaugurated monument to Joseph Kasavubu (also spelled Kasa-Vubu), the first president of the DRC, at the Kimpwanza Roundabout, in the aptly named Commune Kasa-Vubu where...

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