Whistleblower Yves De Moor to me: Jean-Paul Moka is a crook about to swindle the DRC out of $1m

(PHOTO 1: Rev. Jean-Paul Moka) *** (PHOTO 2: Belgian businessman and whistleblower Yves De Moor during a presentation of his paper on September 12, 2012 at the 5th West & Central African Mining Summit in Accra, Ghana) *** The conventional wisdom across the political spectrum in the DRC is that Rev. Jean-Paul Moka is a highfalutin bloviator and liar. But not a high-flying swindler...until now. At least, if what Belgian businessman...

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Radio-Trottoir goes into overdrive

(PHOTO 1: "MONUSCO Force Commander Gen. Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz during an observation mission on Munigi Hill as FARDC conduct an attack on M23 rebel positions in Kanyaruchinya near Goma, the 15th of July 2013." MONUSCO photo caption) *** (PHOTO 2: Col. Mamadou Ndala, operational commander in North Kivu, is mobbed by the press in Goma, Thursday, July 18) ***Radio-Trottoir, the relay of rumors and unsourced information in the DRC, has gone...

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1) ITALY: Cécile Kyenge, the Orangutan Minister; & 2) The FARDC give Rwanda the heebie-jeebies

(PHOTO 1: Dr. Cécile Kyenge Kashetu, Congolese-born Italian minister of Integration) *** (PHOTO 2: Brig. Gen. Joseph Nzabamwita, Rwanda military & Defense spokesman: "We have credible information that FDLR is currently embedded in FARDC") *** 1) Italy: Cécile Kyenge Kashetu, the Orangutan Minister Back in April, I celebrated on this blog the appointment by the new Italian leftist prime minister Enrico Letta of Congolese-born Dr. Cécile Kyenge...

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Lost in Translation: Valérie Trierweiler as DRC "First Lady of Hearts"; & Death squads of Anti-women AIDS carriers in eastern Congo

(PHOTO: France's First Lady Valérie Trierweiler, center, and French Delegate Minister to Francophony Yamina Benguigui, with one victim of sexual and gender-based violence at Panzi Hospital, Bukavu, July 8, 2013.) *** Dr. Denis Mukwege, who's been profiled more than once on this blog and who is partially blocked in the photo above by Valérie Trierweiler, came up Monday with a finely-spun witticism when he called the French First Lady...

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Memo to Obama: There's a country called Kenya!

(PHOTO: From left to right: Senegal's First Lady Marieme Faye, U.S. President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and Senegal's President Macky Sall at the Presidential Palace in Dakar, Senegal, June 27, 2013.) *** "Obama, you should've gone home to Kenya to visit your family!"  This was the universal mantra resounding in the streets of Kinshasa when TV and radio reports were broadcasting news of Air Force One being all wheels down at Dakar. ...

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