MP Thomas Luhaka
MLC Secretary General
Photo: Facebook Page of François-Joseph Mobutu
It seems that all this time when people kept hammering the hard fact of the improbability of the release of Jean-Pierre Bemba from his prison cell at The Hague, MP Thomas Luhaka was high, chain-smoking fat joints of the potent bhang from Bumba, the port city of Equateur Province reputed for its marijuana production. And, having stopped his pot-smoking binge, the effects of the bhang have finally worn out after months during which MP Luhaka and the whole leadership of the MLC party were collectively impaired.
MP Luhaka told Kinshasa media today: “At three days from the closing date of the submission of candidacies, the situation is worrisome. It seems difficult for us to line up our national president [Bemba] for the 2011 election.”
Duh!
And to think that this irresponsible party is vying to run the country is just terrifying. The MLC opened on July 22 a 2-day congress in Kinshasa and all the party's national delegates—intimidated by Jean-Pierre Bemba who, like some capo di tutti capi of the mafia, still holds sway over them at the remove of his prison cell at The Hague—unanimously chose as their presidential nominee a jail inmate.
Does Jean-Pierre Bemba thinks he’d replicate the feat of my great American hero, the “rabid” Indianan Eugene V. Debs who ran for president of the United States from his prison cell as “Convict No. 9653 For President”? Well, as Marx quipped, when history repeats itself, it is in the guise of a farce…
Worse still, the only credible leader MLC had, MP François Mwamba, was fired from his position as the party’s secretary general by a letter sent from prison by Bemba. He was then kicked out of the party altogether by the Bemba's sycophants who make up the leadership of the MLC. His deadly sin? Floating informally the pragmatic idea of his being an alternative to Bemba in the 2011 presidential election. In other countries, MLC party members could sue MP Luhaka for malpractice!
In his out-of-this-world announcement to the press, MP Luhaka had then the gall to blame the government for not intervening at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in order to secure the temporary release of Bemba! Had the government intervened, so thinks Luhaka, his boss could have been allowed to go to Kinshasa to file to run for president, and then return to prison—that very same day! Luhaka said that the MLC had written three times to the Vice-Prime Minister in charge of the Interior and Security, Adolphe Lumanu, to ask him to lobby the ICC on Bemba’s behalf but “to this day the government has never replied to us.”
No! I was definitely wrong: the man is still high on that potent bhang from Bumba that makes you see green when it’s red... or shiver from malaria when you're perfectly healthy!
American Socialist leader Eugene V. Debs’ campaign button
“Convict No. 9653 for President”
A lame attempt by Bemba at copying a hero’s feat
2) US Kinshasa Ambassador James F. Entswistle lashes out at PPRD and UDPS, renews his confidence in CENI, and comments on September 11
James F. Entswistle
US Ambassador in Kinshasa
"Official State Department Images"
At his bimonthly press briefing held on Thursday, September 8, US Kinshasa Ambassador James F. Entswistle gave Congolese politicians a piece of his mind. He lashed out at both parties responsible for the recent violence in Kinshasa. Ambassador Entswistle singled out for praise Kinshasa Cardinal Laurent Mosengwo for his outrage and call to calm. He demanded that both the ruling party and opposition parties take a clear stand against violence, and should absolutely instill into their partisans' brains a culture of peace and concord. He also renewed his confidence in CENI, telling local newsmen and women he’s confident the elections will be held on November 28.
Asked about the contentious issue of access to CENI central server, Ambassador Entswistle said:
“Not being a computer expert myself, I know however that CENI has stated that its doors are open for everyone who wants to have needed information. With this gesture, I think that the electoral commission has the intention to dialogue with everyone. (…) I don’t see any reason to postpone the upcoming November elections.” (My translation from the French)
On the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 Al-Qaeda attacks against the United States, Ambassador Entswistle said:
“My country has gone through hard times with the 9-11 terrorist attacks that cost so many lives (…) If it’s true that with the death of Ben Laden the terrorists have experienced a major setback, many countries are still victims of terrorism, including Nigeria recently. Terrorism is a scourge that all countries must deal with…” (My translation from the French)
3) Political parties sign CENI election Code of Conduct, except UDPS
MLC Secretary General MP Thomas Luhaka chats with PPRD counterpart, Speaker Evariste Boshab
CENI Forum for the signing of the election Code of Conduct
Conference Hall of Palais du Peuple (National Assembly)
Kinshasa, Thursday, August 8, 2011
Photo: John Bompengo/Radio Okapi
With the exception of UDPS, all major political parties finally signed yesterday, Thursday August 9, the CENI’s election Code of Conduct, elaborated with inputs from MONUSCO, the US Kinshasa Embassy and other diplomatic missions, and SADCC election experts. The UDPS still wants to have some form of control over the CENI central server and carry out a thorough financial audit of the electoral commission.
Commenting on the MLC signing of the Code of Conduct, MP Thomas Luhaka said: “We are bound by this Code because it forces us to have comportments that will lead us to appeased elections and to a civilized electoral campaign.”
Albert Moleka, Etienne Tshisekedi’s chief of staff, begged to disagree: “We are waiting to see what this Code of Conduct is all about. Is it a touristic visit or people have to actually work [on data], this go-ahead given us to access the server and to check out electoral rolls.”
CENI chairman Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunda reiterated that he’s open to have visits by opposition IT experts and said the financial audit is the purview of the National Assembly, not that of any political party—stressing once more that the election commission is independent from both the ruling majority and the opposition.
Rev Ngoy said that electoral kits were being sent across the country. But, to date, only 4 presidential candidates and 205 parliamentary candidates have filed to run. This is very disquieting as there are 500 parliamentary seats to fill. This prompted Rev Ngoy to somehow violate the Electoral Law by lowering the minimum required university degree deemed acceptable (previously, a 3-year university certificate called “graduat” and a 4-year bachelor’s degree called “licence”) required by law. (The question I got is: are high-school diplomas the minimum education requirement?) I have denounced this stupid antidemocratic requirement that could end up sidelining many good people from the political process—especially women.
4) Trouble brewing in Katanga
Eight heavily-armed Mai-Mais wearing commando balaclavas mounted a daring assault on Lubumbashi Kasapa Prison on Wednesday, August 7. The mission of the commando was the “exfiltration” of their jailed warlord, Kyungu Mutanga aka Gédéon. After freeing Gédéon, the commando then carried out a massive prison break, liberating 963 convicts—virtually the entire prison, which houses a little more than one thousand inmates. So far, only 163 fugitives have been captured, the others are still at large. A soldier who attempted to fire upon the assailants when the attack started was bumped off.
Then today, Thursday, an exchange of gunfire lasting several hours took place near the Lubumbashi FARDC barracks of Kimbembe.
The provincial Interior Minister Jean-Marie Dikanga Kazadi gave Radio Okapi this version of events:
“A group of about 20 people, with 3 among them carrying AK47s, were heading toward Kamete village. FARDC soldiers found their movement suspicious. They ordered this group of people to stop. They fled, firing into the air.”
This version is at odds with the version given by civilian witnesses who said that the fire exchange had all the hallmarks of battle engagement.
Provincial minister Dikanga also announced that Gédéon’s wife, who, he claims, masterminded the prison break, has been arrested—as well as his son and three of his “men.” In the Congo, family members are also routinely arrested to force fugitives to turn themselves in—a procedure repeatedly denounced by rights groups.
5) Odds and ends: Nutty fashionable Congo: Young women taking drugs to grow obese & the fixation on Designer clothing in the slums: the Sapeurs
a) Young women taking drugs to get obese: blame it on soukouss star Méjé 30, they say
Soukouss star Méjé 30 (trente)
Grooving
Video screen capture: Alex Engwete
Congolese men prefer their women corpulent, the saying goes. Taking this stupid cue, young women are now taking drugs they think are fattening. The trend is blamed by Congolese media on soukous star Méjé 30 who is a bit on the chubby side, and who’s written songs praising women’s “nzoto” (body)—understood as “fleshy.” That’s preposterous. Would they also blame skin-lightening products used by women and men on Méjé 30?
Pharmacists report that drugs such as C4 vitamins, Exacor (a heart medication produced in France that contains cibenzoline) and steroid derivatives are being taken in dangerous combinations by skinny women desperate to become plump.
As I just mentioned Méjé 30, check out the video clip of her hit “Fimbu ya Bakandja” that plays in maddening loops on Kinshasa TV stations.
b) Fixation on Designer clothing: the Sapeurs in New Yorker mag
“Viva La Sape #1” (2008)
Photo: Daniele Tamagni
A friend belatedly brought to my attention the mention in New Yorker magazine of the “sapeurs” from both Congo-Brazzaville and Congo-Kinshasa.
The short mention appeared on August 26 in the New Yorker section “Photo Booth,” in an article penned by Maria Lokke and titled “August is alive with ‘Africolor.’”
Extract from the article:
“While many arts institutions take the month off, Danziger Projects is resisting the usual August torpor with its current “Africolor” show, lining up an all-star cast with some truly lovely work.
The Italian photojournalist Daniele Tamagni heads the exhibition with his photographs of Sapeurs, or La SAPE (French slang for “dressing with class”), a Congolese subculture of men whose dapper clothing is a sarcastic nod to the fashions of early Belgian and French colonists. The clothing designer Paul Smith devoted an entire collection to Tamagni’s book, “Gentleman of Bacongo,” and in 2010 Tamagni received the ICP Infinity award for Applied Fashion photography.”
This fixation on designer clothing, stemming from the imitation of soukouss stars such as Papa Wemba and Koffi Olomide, has been seen either as pathological by some, or as a fascinating cultural artifact worth anthropologists’ interests. But one thing is definitely certain: Congolese like designer clothes and showing off. In Kinshasa, they call me “taureau”(bull)—the Congolese derogatory term for a person lacking fashion savvy.
The late president Laurent-Désiré Kabila could by no means be accused of being a “taureau.” The very instant Che Guevara laid eyes on Laurent Kabila, he thought: “Oh God! What do we have here, a Gucci revolucionario?” This was in the mountainous jungle of eastern Congo, on a rainy day by the end of the summer of 1965, and Laurent Kabila was wearing expensive designer jeans, shirt, sneakers, a leather jacket, and smelling of designer perfume! A “sapeur” to boot! And he visited the rebel encampment only sporadically. No wonder Che Guevara had an angry epistolary exchange with Fidel Castro on the wisdom of sending wads of hard-earned US dollars to people who were club hopping in African and European capitals, boozing, womanizing, buying entire boutiques of designer clothes, and living in luxury...
The photo below shows how Laurent Kabila appeared on a diplomatic mission in Nairobi in August 1964 as the self-proclaimed “Vice-President” of the rebellion that had just seized the city of Stanleyville (Kisangani). And the contemporaneous legend of the photo duly noted the "sape" signature of the man:
“Wearing a shiny silk suit, and smiling almost as brightly, is probably the world's first "rebel ambassador." He's Laurent Kabila, the unofficial "Vice-President" of the Congo rebel forces headed by Gaston Souialot [Sumaïli aka Soumialot], who seized the city of Stanleyville on August 5th [August 4]. This photo of Kabila was taken in Nairobi, where he reportedly was "for political talks." The rebel forces, which are opposing the Congolese government of Premier Moise Thsombe [Tshombe], are reported to be threatening Bakavu [Bukavu], the capital of Central Kivu Province.”
Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Nairobi, 1964
Photo: Bettman/CORBIS
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