1) ICGLR Merry-Go-Round all over again; & 2) Dr. Emmanuel de Mérode's Impassioned Plea for Donations: $6 buy 10 sandbags that save 2 Rangers' lives

(PHOTO: President Yoweri Museveni warning the public against ebola in

late July.)



***





1) ICGLR Merry-Go-Round all over again





If the DRC even bothers to attend the gatherings of the band of grim

clowns called the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region

(ICGLR) could only mean that the country is militarily exhausted.





The ICGLR heads of states are to meet in Kampala on Tuesday, August 7

to bloviate on the "Congo Crisis" while hundreds of thousands of

Congolese have been turned into IDPs.





Here's the scoop: Nothing--absolutely zero!--would come out of this summit.





President Paul Kagame, if he attends the meeting, will hijack the

summit, "dwell much on the

root causes of the armed conflict in Eastern DRC and seek solutions to

the unfettered atrocious activities of the Democratic Forces for the

Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)," and lambast MONUSCO (for exposing him),

according to the preview courtesy the Kigali daily New Times put out

on Monday, August 6.





And in case anyone forgot: Kagame is denying every single finding of

report by the UN Group of Experts.





Not even cutting off millions of euros and pounds of aid money to

Rwanda would make Kagame flinch.





(Well, maybe he's got other sources of monies: Congo for example.

Kagame is after all a military entrepreneur, like medieval warlords

who laid siege on cities.)





He's even laughing out loud at being threatened by the US.





Kagame is one of those few world leaders who's personally on Twitter.





And here's an exchange he had on Twitter on July 25 with @CleanPolitics:





***



"Clean Politics @CleanPolitics_ 25 "Jul





"Rwanda's Paul Kagame warned he may be charged with aiding war crimes bit.ly/

Mm8j13 @coldtusker @mmnjug

@PaulKagame @alykhansatchu





"Paul Kagame @PaulKagame

@CleanPolitics_ laughable and only display of gross ignorance&being

irresponsible-those saying that

are the ones responsible fr the crimes



"10:50am Wed Jul 25 via Twitter for BlackBerry®"





***



Eerily, President Yoweri Museveni, the host of the summit, has also

come under suspicion of supporting the M23 insurgency.





Which makes the whole gathering a reunion of backstabbing goons. (With

the music score of The Godfather.)





This whole ICGLR thing is a merry-go-round all over again.





2) Dr. de Mérode's Impassioned Plea for Donations: $6 buy 10 sandbags

that save 2 Rangers' lives





In the meantime, there are serious matters of life and death at ground

zero to contend with.





Dr. Emmanuel de Mérode, chief warden of the Virunga National Park,

posted this Monday afternoon on the Park's blog an impassioned plea

simply titled "Sandbags."





It reads:





"Sandbags cost 60 cents each in Goma. They are what seperates a ranger

from death or serious

injury when we come under attack.





"I was in Lulimbi yesterday, and I came to realise that our two

rangers who were injured during the attack on Friday morning suffered

because our defences were inadequate.





"It has become painfully obvious over the past few weeks that we have

to do better in Rumangabo, Lulimbi, Ishango, Rwindi and elsewhere.





"In twenty years in Congo, I've never known the violence of the past

three weeks.





"Unfortunately, it looks set to last, but our rangers have decided to

stay and protect the park and it's wildlife.





"They'll continue to suffer the attacks that we experienced in

Rumangabo and Lulimbi.





"I don't have a military background, but I've lived through these

attacks and gunfire comes from all sides, shrapnel tears at

everything.





"The only place our staff are safe is behind a sandbag formation.





"We've run short of sandbags, and our resources are terribly stretched

because our tourism revenues have run dry.





"6 dollars will buy 10 sandbags, enough to protect 2 rangers during an

attack. Over time, they will probably save a rangers' life."



*

So people of good will out there and able to spare a few bucks, please

do something by visiting the website of the park at: gorillacd.org

Read More

Dr. Emmanuel de Mérode's War Diary: Rangers repel attacks by FDLR & Mai-Mai militias at Virunga National Park

(PHOTO: Rangers "testing the equipment and setting up defensive

positions at Ishango" on the north-western shore of Lake Edward.)





***





As I've already said it here, Virunga National Park Chief Warden Dr.

Emmanuel de Mérode and his Park Rangers are the unsung heroes of the

ungoing war.





For a number of years now, they've been battling militia groups,

poachers, all manners of human encroachments on the park, all the

while keeping watch on biodiversity, keeping tabs on mammals (such as

gorillas, hippos and elephants), and entering scientific data into the

park's database.





No one knows how long these heroes will keep on carrying out these

daunting tasks.





And these days, the blog of the Virunga National Park (VNP) reads like

a war diary.





The Park is a vast swath of about 8,000kmsq north of (and even abuts

against) the besieged city of Goma.





***





The Rwandan FDLR terrorist group and local Mai-Mai militias seem to be

vying for control of key areas in the VNP system.





Yesterday morning, Dr. de Mérode reported that on the south-eastern

side of Lake Edward, near the Ugandan border, a long strip of

territory running from the town of Ishasha (by the Ishasha River) in

the south to the "fishing settlement of Nyakakoma" on Lake Edward in

the north, is already "under FDLR control."





This means that by the same token the VNP station at Lulimbi, by the

same Ishasha River and north of both settlements, is virtually cut off

from the Park system--save for the airfield.





Muramba, on the other hand, is on the north-western shore of Lake

Edward, within a stonecast of the lakeside point of Ishango.





And both Lulimbi and Muramba came under heavy attacks in the night of

August 3 to August 4, Dr. de Mérode wrote in his post of yesterday

morning.





According Dr. de Mérode:





"Lulimbi was attacked by a heavily armed FDLR unit at about 2 in the morning.





"We were expecting them and the rangers were on full alert.





"There was very heavy fighting for about one hour, after which the

militias retreated.





"Unfortunately, two of our rangers received gunshot wounds during the

attack, one in the leg (not too serious) and one was shot through the

arm."





The ranger who sustained the gunshot wound in the arm was medevaced to

Rumangabo HQ where he's in "stable" condition.





(My guess is that Dr. de Mérode is the pilot of the VNP: I've seen

photographs of him in the Park's Cessna cockpit.)





As for the Mai-Mai attack, Dr. de Mérode reports:





"Muramba, on the north-western shore of Lake Edward, was attacked by

Mai Mai militias just

before dawn.





"We only had eleven rangers on the position, but again, they were

positioned in their trenches and were able to push them back.





"Seven of the rangers were able to mount a pursuit and pushed them

back up the escarpment out of the park."





Adding:





"We're working on strengthening Muramba and Ishango, which are both

heavily threatened by

militias.





"As hard as it is on our staff at the

moment, morale remains incredibly high."





***



PHOTO CREDITS: gorillacd.org

Read More

The Kafkaesque Republic of Congo: The Catch-22 of Pierre-Jacques Chalupa, White Congolese Opposition Politician

(PHOTO: Mireille Akamia Chalupa & her jailed husband Pierre-Jacques

Chalupa at Kinshasa Makala Prison, Monday, July 30, 2012.)



***





In February, less than a month after Pierre-Jacques Chalupa was nabbed

by Congolese authorities on the trumped-up charge of "fraudulent

citizenship" and two days after his transfer as an inmate to Kinshasa

Makala Prison, I ran a post here in which I mistakenly said that he

was a Greek-Congolese politician.





(Arrested on January 18, Chalupa was transferred to Makala Prison on

February 2. Chalupa is a diehard pro-Tshisekedi opposition leader.)





(see Page Address:

alexengwete.blogspot.com/2012/02/cabal-in-progress-greek-congolese.html?m=1)





Preliminary hearings on the case have been held by the Ngaliema

Magistrates' Court in the precinct of Kinshasa Makala Prison since

last month.





Those preliminary hearings ended Thursday, August 2.





And the trial per se is set to begin on Monday, August 6.





The following is the highlights of what has so far transpired from the

court proceedings.





***



Pierre-Jacques Chalupa was born in the Congo to Portuguese parents,

his lawyers allege, who were traders as many others of their

compatriots.





With the exception of a short stint in Burundi as a kid, Chalupa has

spent his entire life in the Congo.





The prosecution claims, however, that Chalupa was born in Bujumbura,

Burundi, to Portuguese parents.





It further charges that Chalupa has never been naturalized Congolese.

It is prosecuting him for fraudulently enjoying benefits due to

legitimate citizens.





The prosecution therefore intends to have Chalupa stripped of his

citizenship, jailed for carrying forged official documents, then

deported to his country of origin.





And that's where happened the first awkward move by the prosecution,

since it seemed to be wavering between Burundi and Portugal as

"country of origin."





Now, contacted by lawyer Kabengele Ilunga, a member of Chalupa's

defense team, both Burundian and Portuguese consular officials in

Kinshasa denied that Chalupa has ever held their respective

citizenship.





A Catch-22, as it were, for Chalupa.



Chalupa adamantly insists on his being a true-blood Congolese citizen.





At the hearing of Monday, July 23, Chalupa shot back at the prosecutor:





"I am a Congolese, born to a Portuguese father. And as for my

citizenship certificate, I did obtain it in due form from state's

official services. If it's forged, how would I know it? And how would

you call into question official documents issued by state services?"





Well, Selumbe, the Director of the Chancellery Services of the Justice

Ministry, who had delivered the citizenship certificate, has since

been arrested and charged with the felony of issuing forged official

documents.





(Selumbe is only identified by his last name in media reports

chronicling what is now called the 'Chalupa Case.')





Selumbe was appearing as Chalupa's co-defendant at that court hearing

of July 23.





Countering the prosecutor's contention, Selumbe's attorney argued that

his client, in issuing the citizenship certificate to Chalupa, was

only exercising what was in his official purview--after thoroughly

checking the applicant's background.





He further challenged the prosecution to prove that the official

document delivered by Selumbe was indeed forged.





"This case is totally empty!" lawyer Hubert Efole, a member of

Chalupa's defense team, exclaimed. "And this really pains me!"





Efole went a step further in deconstructing the prosecution case.





"In fact, the Congolese state is racist," Efole indignantly blasted

the prosecutor, "as it is only prosecuting my client for having white

skin!"





At the court session of Thursday, August 2, the defense, buoyed by

what they construed as the faltering of the prosecution case, again,

trained they guns on the Congolese state.





"To take away and destroy the official documents [Chalupa] possesses,"

lawyer Kabengele Ilunga contended, "would be tantamount to turning him

into a stateless person, and there, the DRC would be turning against

international law, which forbids making people stateless!"





This case couldn't have happened at a more inopportune moment for the

Congolese government, when it needs to have on its side all the good

will of the international public opinion.





The Ngaliema Magistrates' Court could, however, still do the

government a favor by throwing this frivolous case out of court for

lack of merit.





Otherwise, the DRC would soon be known as the Kafkaesque Republic of the Congo.





***



PHOTO CREDITS: John Bompengo/Radio Okapi (radiookapi.net)

Read More

Pharaonic ZUMAVILLE Project: "New York City of KwaZulu-Natal" (Julius "Juju" Malema)

(PHOTO: Rabble-rouser Julius Malema throwing red meat at supporters in

Rustenburg, July 3.)



***





I've disparaged the expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius "Juju"

Malema on more than one occasion on this blog for his antics at the

time.





See for instance:





(Page Address: http://alexengwete.blogspot.com/2011/07/batshit-insane-america-you-bloodthirsty.html)





Well, I've changed my mind.





Maybe--just maybe!-- Juju is the emergent leader who'd save ANC from

itself and South Africa from the derelictions of Jacob Zuma and his

corruption- and nepotism-riddled administration.





(Incidentally, Zuma's downfall could also be a good thing for the DRC

as he keeps turning a blind eye on the exports of weapons to Rwanda by

South African arms manufacturers.





And a day ago oppostion Democratic Alliance (DA) MP David Maynier

tweeted that he'd just "called for [a South African] arms embargo on

Rwanda following the UN Group of Experts report on the situation in

the DRC.")







Since his expulsion from the ANC, Juju has re-emerged as a crafty and

intelligent politician, a defender of the press he once was wont to

revile, and an ANC formidable dissident to reckon with as he still

firmly commands a following of thousands of young supporters.





And what's even more worrisome to some top brass in the ANC, Juju, in

his autopilot vengeful crusade, has turned into Zuma's bane.





In fact, the political re-emergence of Juju should serve as a

cautionary tale to political leaders who are too quick to stifle

internal dissent by sidelining or expelling dissidents.





And I even suspect that in hindsight ANC leaders are now biting their

nails over their foolish decision to expel Juju, for he's turned into

a major liability to that political movement with his unrelenting

public criticism of its dysfunctions and internal dictatorial

practices.





In late May, for instance, in the midst of the controversy that

embroiled Brett Murray's painting "The Speara," when some ANC leaders

were calling for the boycott of the daily City Press that had kept the

photo of the offending painting on its website, Juju by contrast

penned an op-ed defending the paper.





Juju's op-ed was titled "In Defense of City Press."





Juju wrote:





"Complete closure and banning of different views and perspectives to

what leaders believe to be absolute truths can never be something to

celebrate, particularly if such is done by the African National

Congress leadership."





(Page Address: www.amandlapublishers.co.za/special-features/the-spear-and-freedom-of-expression/1275-in-defence-of-city-press--by-julius-malema)





If ANC leaders thought that that was all the kind of mild attacks they

could expect from Juju, they had had plenty of time since then to

think again.





For Juju was only warming up.





On Tuesday, July 3, Juju viciously lashed out at Zuma in front of

hundreds of his chanting supporters in Rustenburg, a city located some

100 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg.





Juju accused Zuma of "sleeping with the children of his friends"; of

transforming his family members from "taxi tycoons to

multimillionaires in no time."





Juju even prophesied doom on Zuma's legacy:





"[Zuma's] legacy is Nkandla, killing the youth league, suppressing

debate, corruption and lack of personal respect."





Nkandla is the hometown of Zuma in KwaZulu-Natal where the first new

town of post-apartheid South Africa is about to be built.





The Nkandla Project is officially called the "Umalazi-Nkandla Smart

Growth Centre" Project, whereas critics dub it "Zumaville."





Juju, more damningly, called Zumaville the "New York City of

KwaZulu-Natal" as some of his supporters were chanting: "Down with

tribalism!"





(Juju is from the seSotho-speaking Pedi ethnic group.)





(Page Address: mg.co.za/article/2012-07-04-juju-tells-us-what-he-really-thinks-of-zuma)





Zumaville is by no means Zuma's first taxpayer-funded real-estate

development project at Nkandla.





In 2009, I posted a rant on this blog about another Nkandla Project, a

midget project compared this Pharaonic city development project in the

middle of nowhere.





At the time, Zuma was only expanding (what the Mail & Guardian of

Johannesburg described as) his "remote family homestead at Nkandla in

rural KwaZulu-Natal for a whopping price" of $10m, with taxpayers

"footing the largest chunk of the bill."





(Page Address: alexengwete.blogspot.com/2009/12/african-news-roundup-project-nkandla-10.html?m=1)





As it turns out, the investigative team of the Mail & Guardian put

today an estimate of the bill to be footed by South African taxpayers

in Zumaville at R1billion (today's rate is $1 = R8.3348) in an article

titled "Welcome to Zumaville."





And that bill would grow wildly as this estimate is only for costs

related to the development of the core area that would ultimately

expand into the city of Zumaville proper.





Furthermore, Zumaville, which is at some 3 km from Zuma's home, is

being built in a rural "area [that] has no sewer or stormwater

infrastructure and the electricity infrastructure would have to be

upgraded substantially."





Excerpt from the article:





"The rapid state-sponsored development of Zuma's hometown has already

been criticised and he has been accused of putting his interests, and

those of his family, above those of the people of South

Africa.





"In July, expelled ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema accused him

of building a 'New York City

of KwaZulu-Natal' in Nkandla.





"So the 'Zumaville' plans could plague the ANC leader as politicking

in the party heats up in the run-up to the party's elective conference

in Mangaung in December."





(Page Address: mg.co.za/article/2012-08-03-00-taxpayers-will-have-to-pick-up-r1-bn-tab-for-zumaville)





If anything, Juju's influence and popularity have grown at the

grassroots level of the ANC since his explusion.





And Juju is busy managing a serious pet project of his own:

engineering the downfall of his former boss, Zuma.





At that rally on July 3, Juju was calling on the ANC rank and file to

boot out Zuma in December.



***



PHOTO CREDITS: mg.co.za

Read More

MP Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi's disappearing act fuels rumor of defection to M23

Former warlord, former minister, former presidential candidate (he ran

in 2006 and in 2012), and current MP Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi (photo

above) has pulled a disappearing act.





When Parliament recessed last month, speculations started about the

vacation itinirary of Nyamwisi.





In fact, no one knows for sure when Nyamwisi left Kinshasa. The

consensus was however that he didn't wait for parliament recess and

that he'd gone to South Africa.





(That destination has however now been updated to "whereabouts

unknown," according to Kinshasa media.)





Pretty soon, rumors were rife on Congolese streets and blogosphere

about Nyamwisi sightings in Rwanda and Uganda, where he's joined the

M23 insurgency.





Rumors then turned into seemingly coordinated attacks against Nyamwisi

in Kinshasa media.





But the most recent assault on Nyamwisi happened on Thursday, August

2, Radio Okapi reports, on his own turf of Butembo, North Kivu.





Anonymous leaflets littered the streets of Butembo warning residents

to stop supporting Nyamwisi, who has joined the M23 insurgency.





A number of renegade FARDC senior officers who had belonged to

Nyamwisi's rebel outfit in Africa's World War and some others who also

happen to be members of his Nande ethnic group have defected and/or

joined M23--including Mai-Mai General Kakule Sikuli Vasaka aka

Lafontaine.





In Kinshasa, the opening salvo of the anti-Nyamwisi campaign was fired

well before parliamentary recess, more precisely in mid-May, by MP

Zacharie Bababaswe, when he told the pro-Kabila daily Le Phare:





"We are sick and tired of this story of the east turning restive again

and wasting the country's energy."





He added:





"Those [Kivu] leaders, and I'm not afraid to say this, Kivu leaders

are implicated in what's happening in North and South Kivus.





"I asked Mr. Ruberwa, Mr. Vital Kamerhe, Mr. Mbusa Nyamwisi and all

the other leaders to get together, because Congo isn't going to suffer

in the name of national unity!"





Soon afterwards, vitrioloc attacks against Nyamwisi went viral on

newspapers and TV political shows.



By mid-July, even the pro-Tshisekedi Kinshasa daily Le Phare urged

Nyamwisi to break his silence and to answer the serious charges of

sedition being leveled at him.





The only Kinshasa politician to defend Nyamwisi on TV was opposition

MP José Makila, from Equateur Province, who said that Nyamwisi took

advantage of the parliamentary recess to visit his family in South

Africa.





Makila further said that Nyamwisi being from the Nande ethnic group

that straddles the DRC and Uganda, and Uganda being the business hub

of Nande entrepreneurs, the alleged sightings of Nyamwisi in Uganda

have therefore no underlying nefarious meaning.





Besides, Makila surmised, Uganda isn't involved in the M23 insurgency.





The spin Makila wanted to give to Nyamwisi's disappearing act doesn't

hold water.





Le Phare reported it had repeatedly tried to reach Nyamwisi in South

Africa to no avail. Besides, as I said, he left Kinshasa before the

National Assembly recess. And more importantly, where the hell is the

man?





***



PHOTO CREDITS: John Bompengo/Radio Okapi

Read More

Rise of the FDLR: The Rwandan terroritst militia seizes eastern grid of the Virunga National Park

Strangely, just as in any previous incursion by Rwandan forces and

their proxies on the territory of the DRC, the Rwandan FDLR terrorist

militia has, like a phoenix, once again risen woken from its the ashes

of its slumber.





As if the Rwandans and the M23

have the propensity to shake the FDLR hornests' nests!





This time around, looking at the operational map of the military

campaign and the movements of

troops on the ground, it's as if the the FDLR and the M23 are waging

coordinated attacks against the FARDC.





(Which gives the lie to the perennial Rwandan pretext of going

pursuing the FDLR génocidaires on Congolese soil: these thiefs are

instead after coltan and other blood minerals.)





For instance, Dr. Emmanuel de Mérode, chief wardern of the Virunga

National Park, relates in his post of today that following the

occupation of Rumangabo by M23 insurgents, the latter "have not

advanced as much as the [FARDC] have fled, and the empty ground in

between is being filled by militia groups."





And one of the militia groups who have filled this no man's land is

none other than the FDLR.





A situation obtained, still according to Dr. de Mérode, that yesterday

the "Eastern Sector of the Park has come under FDLR control."





And, as Dr. de Mérode reminds readers of the park's blog, just this

past year, the FDLR have killed 12 park rangers.





Excerpt from Dr. de Mérode's post:





"We currently have 40 rangers at Lulimbi, which is on the border with

Uganda, and protects the Ishasha Valley.





"It's a tremendously important area for elephant migrations with Queen

Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, as well as for its hippo and other

large mammal populations.





"We can't afford to abandon this area, but the rangers are now cut off

because the FDLR occupy the nearby fishing settlement of Nyakakoma.





"They're low on ammunition and rations.





"Yesterday morning we received news that a column of FDLR were

advancing to attack our rangers at Lulimbi.





"Fortunately, we have an airfield at Lulimbi, and we've been able to

transfer 100 kg of rations and

8 cases of ammunition as well as two machine guns.





"20 more rangers are crossing Lake Edward from the north to support them.





"Today, we'll be going back to further strengthen defenses, and

improve our communications onsite.





"Many thanks to those of you who, two years ago, helped us to buy our

[United States N-Number registered] Cessna 182 aircraft (photo above)

for the park. It has saved many lives."





***



SOURCE: gorillacd.org



PHOTO: Dr. Emmanuel de Mérode and Rangers at Lulimbi Airfield



PHOTO CREDITS: gorillacd.org

Read More

Bath Salts of the People: Countrywide Catholic Silent Demos against Hydra of Balkanization

Today in the Congo is Parents' Day, an official holiday.





But the Congolese National Conference of Catholic Bishops (CENCO) took

that opportunity to organize countrywide silent demos to protest

against the Hydra of Balkanization of the Congo.





(For a perfect definition of the meaning of Balkanization in the

Congo, see extract of this US Kinshasa Embassy cable leaked by

WikiLeaks on this Page Address:

alexengwete.blogspot.com/2011/08/drc-elections-2011-watch-1-wikileaks-us.html?m=1)





According to CENCO Secretary General, Abbé Léonard Santedi, quoted by

Radio Okapi:





"This march isn't for a political party. It's the march of unity of

the Congolese people to say no to balkanization."





The government, which, more often than not, doesn't see eye to eye

with the DRC top Catholic prelate, Laurent Cardinal Monsengwo Pasinya,

hopped with sheer alacrity on the Catholic bandwagon--no doubt in an

attempt to co-opt the nationwide events.





Said Interior Minister Richard Muyej (photo above):





"It's about time we build a strong front to face the conspiracy

unfolding in the east of our country.





"I've enjoined governors to greenlight the demonstrations and to secure them.





"We had a working session with the organizers of the demonstrations.

And we've agreed on the arrangements to be taken."





Muyej warned however "fools" to abstain from showing up at the demos.





Muyej warned that cops will "render harmless those who'd come to

disrupt the march and to instrumentalize it for something else."





According to news reports, in Kinshasa, the march started at different

parishes after mass at 0630 HRS Kinshasa Time (GMT + 1), and converged

towards the 14 deaneries of the Congolese capital.





At noon, demonstrations stood silent for one minute "to think about

those who've shed their blood for the sake of the country," said

Santedi prior to the march.





Adding:





"At the end of that minute of silence, bells will be tolling at all

the parishes to quicken us awake in order to go on building our united

Congo!"





***





Well, there's a Catholic parish nearby. And at noon I didn't hear any

bell tolling.





(Actually, the next door parish doesn't have a bell. The priests there

broadcast the recording of bells tolling via a PA system! And this

racket ruins my mornings. Maybe the parish is experiencing electricity

outage. If so, then I pray Jesus the parish never get electricity

again!)





While I applaud the Catholic demo initiative, I can't help thinking

it's another push toward theocracy here.





People are dangerously losing sight of the separation between state

and church--with the state-owned TV channel at times running Pat

Robertson's bigoted sermonizings dubbed in French!





Worse, you try and talk to Kinshasa university students about

evolution, and they turn around and accuse you of being a satanic

fiend and an occultist!

And Catholics among them have never heard of Father Teilhard de Chardin!





And today the whole country turned into the intemporal Catholic

Republic of the Congo whereas what the nation desperately needs is a

timeline of military strategic and tactical responses to Rwandan

aggression.





Marx's "opium of the people" aphorism needs updating in the Congo.

Here religion is most definitely bath salts of the people!

Read More