Continued…. France, like other Western powers, helped destabilise the Great Lakes region. For example, France helped stoke the flames of the 1994 Rwanda g*nocide, according to an independent Rwandan commission. It said France was aware of preparations for the g*nocide and helped train the ethnic Hutu militia perpetrators. The g*nocide led to Rwanda invasion of DRC in 1996 and the long involvement of Kigali in a resource conflict that k*lled at least 6 million Congolese between 1998 and 2010, and displaced hundreds of thousands of people since M23’s resurgence in 2021. Rwanda-backed M23’s efforts to push people off mineral-rich land have displaced 500,000 this January alone. The chaos and instability have proven lucrative for global markets that rely on an estimated $24 trillion in untapped Congolese minerals, such as tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold (known as the ‘3TG’), which countries like Rwanda and Uganda have been instrumental in looting, according to the UN.

Video credit: @thee_alfa_house (X)

Sources:

https://www.blackagendareport.com/pan-african-masquerade-william-ruto-mask

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250107-macron-irks-allies-left-with-africa-forgot-to-say-thank-you-jibe

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7542418.stm

https://www.caritas.org/2010/02/six-million-dead-in-congos-war

https://www.usaid.gov/democratic-republic-congo/fact-sheet/responsible-minerals-trade

Ruto
https://x.com/WilliamsRuto/status/1883912691816812811

African solutions
https://nation.africa/africa/news/president-ruto-calls-for-urgent-reforms-in-the-african-union--4262796

Despite overwhelming evidence presented by experts and independent investigators that Rwanda has been arming, funding and training the UN-sanctioned M23 rebels (who are leaving a trail of death and destruction in eastern Congo), Western nations continue to partner with - and fund - Kigali.

In July 2024, the UN reported that there were up to 4,000 Rwandan troops on the ground in the Congo, fighting alongside the M23. The report concluded that Rwanda’s forces have “de facto control and direction over M23 operations.”

Continued….. Yet while the West has issued statements condemning Rwanda’s role, no meaningful measures have been taken to deter Kigali.

On the contrary, relations have only strengthened. For example, in 2022, when there was already ample evidence of Rwanda’s destabilising role in DRC, the EU announced it would be providing the Rwandan Defence Forces with 20-million euros to support their military operations in Northern Mozambique.

It clearly serves the West’s interests not to resolve the crisis in Congo, whose bountiful resources power the world’s technologies. Instability enables exploitation. Which makes you wonder: is Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame actually the West’s foot solider in Africa?

Image credit: @mkadima01 (Instagram)

Sources:

https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/29/rwanda-backed-rebels-capture-goma/

https://africanarguments.org/2024/04/europes-indifference-to-rwandas-atrocities-is-costing-congolese-lives/

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/12/01/european-peace-facility-council-adopts-assistance-measures-in-support-of-the-armed-forces-of-five-countries/

https://apnews.com/article/un-congo-rwanda-troops-m23-panel-experts-8619a4ce5727a7fec85808ef76762d9b

https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/crisis-drc-un-peacekeepers-protecting-civilians-and-themselves-large-scale-offensive-operations-m23

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/fighting-ongoing-across-drcs-goma-rwanda-troops-city-says-un-2025-01-27/

State media sources say that ‘due to scheduling conflicts,’ Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Félix Tshisekedi declined to participate in regional discussions on 29 January to address escalating rebel violence in Goma, capital of the North Kivu province, in the heart of the DRC’s mineral-rich east.

Kenyan President William Ruto, current chair of the East African Community (EAC) regional bloc, had extended an invitation for a virtual summit to Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame amidst the three-decade foreign-instigated conflict over the DRC’s natural resources.

Continued……. In December 2023, tensions escalated between Kinshasa and Nairobi as the Congolese government accused Kenya of harbouring rebels. This accusation followed the announcement made in a Nairobi hotel by Corneille Nangaa, the former leader of the DRC’s electoral commission, on establishing the Alliance Fleuve Congo (Congo River Alliance). Nangaa said this political-military coalition, which includes M23 rebels and various other armed factions, aimed to restore peace in the region. Accompanying Nangaa was M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa. In response, Kinshasa recalled its diplomats from Nairobi and Arusha (Tanzania), the latter being the East African Community (EAC) host city.

Several other leaders participated despite Tshisekedi’s absence, including Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whose government backs the M23 and who has admitted DRC’s minerals are smuggled through Rwanda. Also present were Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia, Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, and Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan. 

A joint communiqué issued after the meeting emphasised the urgent need for an ‘immediate unconditional ceasefire,’ the facilitation of humanitarian aid, and the protection of foreign embassies.

Congo’s resource war k*lled approximately 6 million people between 1998 and 2010, internally displaced over 7 million within three decades, and has featured horrific s*xual and human rights abuses.

Sources:

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/congo-s-president-to-skip-east-african-community-summit-on-goma-crisis/3465756

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/ruto-calls-urgent-eac-meeting-as-congo-conflict-worsens-4903292

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-67758635

https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2025/01/eac-calls-for-ceasefire-in-eastern-drc-as-tshisekedi-snubs-meeting

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgn1k9nleno

https://www.caritas.org/2010/02/six-million-dead-in-congos-war

https://drcongo.iom.int/en/news/internal-displacement-overview-2024-published

https://africanstream.media/no-safe-haven-for-women-fleeing-proxy-war-in-sudan

NIGER BURIES FRENCH ’BODY’: R.I.P. ECOWAS!

Nigeriens celebrated their country’s official exit from the Economic Community of West Africa (ECOWAS) by staging a symbolic funeral procession for the regional bloc. Fellow revolutionary Sahelian states Burkina Faso and Mali also officially quit on 28 January.

Niger’s leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, seized power back in July 2023 - in an anti-imperialist coup that was greeted with widespread celebrations in the country. Citizens were glad to see the back of deposed Mohamed Bazoum, whom they saw as doing France’s neocolonial bidding.

Despite the coup’s popular support, ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Niamey - with members of the French-leaning bloc even threatening to invade. Burkina Faso and Mali vowed to protect Niger, branding the punishment “illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible” and decrying the belligerent posturing.

Continued……Established in 1975, ECOWAS bills itself as a regional organisation protecting the interests of member states. But the bloc has lost credibility, and is now widely viewed as a French and Western instrument of subjugation.

In January 2024, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger jointly declared their intention to withdraw, giving one year’s notice, as required by the ECOWAS Treaty.

A few months earlier, the troika had formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). This has since emerged as a powerful symbol of sovereignty and self-determination. Many Africans, both at home and abroad, see it as the epitome of strong, independent leadership - an example of what Africa as a whole can become.

Sources:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/28/niger-mali-burkina-faso-announce-withdrawal-from-ecowas

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/27/who-is-omar-tchiani-the-suspected-brain-behind-niger-coup

https://www.securityincontext.com/posts/ecowas-whose-best-interests

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/487930/ECOWAS-France-The-chronicles-of-a-predator-and-its-prey

https://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/op-ed/alliance-of-sahel-states-and-a-new-era-for-west-africa

TRUMP TOILET STATUE TICKLES VISITORS

Kenyan author David Maillu found a unique way to respond to US President Donald Trump’s alleged ‘s***hole’ comment about African countries: By building a latrine in his likeness!

When Trump threw shade at Haiti and Africa in 2018, the 85-year-old, who has written more than 60 books, thought, ‘Why not turn this into a throne?’ So, he constructed a towering statue complete with Trump’s previously orangey-blond hair, sunburned complexion and a suit. Walk behind the statue, though, and you’ll find a toilet. Maillu built the monument in his village, Mathemboni, in the heart of eastern Kenya’s Makueni County.

Continued……Now, this Trump toilet serves as the perfect spot to flush away some of those less-than-savoury remarks and policies that have targeted people of African descent, like the cancellation of reserved asylum hearings and the US refugee resettlement programme.

While Maillu’s tribute might bring a chuckle, the reality is far from funny for millions affected by US actions in Africa. For instance, take Libya, which US-led NATO forces bombed in 2011 under the pretence of protecting civilians from its Pan-Africanist leader, Muammar Gaddafi (1942-2011). Now, the once-prosperous country is a mess with militias fighting for territorial control, human trafficking run amok, slave markets having sprung up, a shattered economy, and an influx of migrants taking the dangerous journey across Africa and the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.

So, if you ever find yourself in Kenya, don’t forget to add the Trump toilet statue to your travel itinerary. It’s a real ‘crapper’ of a monument that’s sure to leave you in stitches!

Video credit: @vioryvideo / @2nacheki (X)

Sources:

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/05/bidens-asylum-app-cbp-one-broken.html

https://www.rescue.org/article/what-do-president-bidens-border-policies-mean-asylum-seekers

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-referred-haiti-african-countries-shithole-nations-n836946

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyn2p8x2eyo

CONGOLESE ABANDONED BUT $1 BILLION RAISED IN 24H FOR NOTRE-DAME?

It is essential to recognise that the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been ongoing for some time. The M23 rebel group capturing wide swaths of eastern DRC territory this month, pushing about 500,000 Congolese off their land, is just the latest escalation in a foreign-instigated proxy conflict over natural resources that has dragged on for close to 30 years since Western-backed Rwanda and Uganda forces invaded Congo in 1996, destabilising the country. 

DRC neighbours have since acted as a conduit for Western multinationals, like Apple and Tesla, that rely on the minerals extracted from eastern Congo. 

Continued….. In this clip from a 2024 round-table discussion with Pan-Africanist activist and fundraiser @Chakabars, he pointed out how the world has ignored the ongoing genocide in the DRC, in which we are all somehow complicit due to the devices we use. Yet, the West rallied to stump up $1 billion within days after Paris’ iconic Notre Dame Cathedral burnt down.

Cultural preservation is a wonderful and essential thing, but you’d have thought human life is—or rather, millions of human lives are—a more urgent priority.

As always, your input in the comments is appreciated.

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream

U.S. EMBASSY IN DRC CLOSED FOLLOWING PROTESTS

The US embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) closed on 28 January amidst outraged protesters attacking the property in Kinshasa. The US is among the countries regarded as complicit in neighbouring Rwanda’s support for the M23 rebel group, which has recently seized more territories in the DRC’s mineral-rich east, symbolising US hypocrisy as it preaches democracy while enabling Rwanda’s proxy war in the DRC.

The embassy was among several (French, Belgian, Kenyan, Rwandan and Ugandan) that protesters attacked over these states’ perceived complicity, fueling resentment about the M23’s recent success in capturing vast swaths of eastern DRC territory. Once M23 entered North Kivu province’s capital, Goma, on 27 January, hundreds of thousands of people reportedly fled for safer terrain.

Continued……. The M23’s campaign comes amidst a three-decades-long conflict over natural resources that foreign powers like the US have their hands in by financially supporting Rwanda, which arms and trains M23.

In 2012, international pressure cancelled aid to Rwanda, forcing the M23 underground. However, in 2021, the M23 renewed its campaign. Meanwhile, Rwanda received $1.25 billion in official development assistance in 2021, equivalent to 74 per cent of central government spending. It also boasts $20 million in security partnerships with the EU over Mozambique and deals with France and the UK in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Many have also accused US tech giants of using minerals looted to make products like smartphones and electric vehicles. In 2024, child miners and their guardians lost a child-labour case against five tech giants in a US court. The plaintiffs have since launched a case against Apple in Europe.

Sources:

News
https://cd.usembassy.gov/security-alert-increased-violence-in-kinshasa

https://www.dw.com/en/dr-congo-people-flee-homes-2025/a-71440536

Rwanda and Int’l community
https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/The-Resurgence-of-the-M23-EN.pdf

US tech giants complicit in looting
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2019/12/17/us-tech-giants-sued-over-drc-cobalt-mine-child-labour-deaths/

TRUMP HALTS GLOBAL HIV FUNDING

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on January 29 issued a waiver for some life-saving humanitarian assistance that was underway worldwide, following US President Donald Trump's cancellation of aid and withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO). Trump also ordered the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to end cooperation with WHO, and halted funding initiatives like the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Rubio's waiver should provide some relief following alarm across the globe. Critics argued the Trump's move jeopardised the lives of people who receive HIV prevention and treatment through the global programme, especially in Africa, where 25.6-million people live with HIV, according to WHO.

Continued….. Launched by Republican President George W Bush in 2003, PEPFAR provides lifesaving antiretrovirals for more than 20 million people, according to International AIDS Society President Dr Beatriz Grinsztejn. It has reportedly saved 26-million lives and prevented nearly 8-million cases of mother-to-child HIV transmission since its inception with a $6.5 billion budget. It also provided HIV testing services for nearly 84-million people in low- and middle-income countries in 2024.

A disruption in medication could lead to drug resistance, people with a detectable viral load transmitting HIV to their partners, and pregnant women passing the virus to foetuses.

But, why should Africa rely on US aid, so many decades after independence? A 2014 New York Times article admitted the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was sometimes ‘used as a front for CIA operations and operatives.’ The same applies to other US agencies, like the National Endowment for Democracy, whose co-founder and acting president, Allen Weinstein, said, ‘A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.’

Ultimately, as Burkina Faso’s assassinated leader and Pan-Africanist icon Thomas Sankara (1949-87), said, ‘He who feeds you, controls you.’ Africa is immensely wealthy in natural resources and people. While US programmes have provided much-needed life-saving assistance, what excuse do African leaders have for the lack of self-sufficiency in sectors as crucial as healthcare?

Sources

https://www.state.gov/emergency-humanitarian-waiver-to-foreign-assistance-pause-2

https://apnews.com/article/trump-foreign-assistance-freeze-684ff394662986eb38e0c84d3e73350b

https://www.ebar.com/story.php?ch=news&sc=health&id=337614

Africa
https://files.aho.afro.who.int/afahobckpcontainer/production/files/iAHO-HIV_Regional_Factsheet_November2022.pdf

USAID / CIA
https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/04/15/when-is-foreign-aid-meddling/secret-programs-hurt-foreign-aid-efforts

NED / CIA
https://archive.org/stream/ned-cia-and-the-orwellian-democracy-project-by-chip-berlet-holly-sklar-covert-ac/NED%2C%20CIA%2C%20and%20the%20Orwellian%20Democracy%20Project%2C%20by%20Chip%20Berlet%20%26%20Holly%20Sklar%20%28CovertAction%20Information%20Bulletin%2C%20No.%2039%2C%20Winter%201991%29%20pp.%2010-13-1_djvu.txt

Thomas Sankara
https://newsreel.org/video/THOMAS-SANKARA-THE-UPRIGHT-MAN

TEMS CANCELS RWANDA CONCERT AMID DRC ESCALATION

Nigerian singer Tems has cancelled her upcoming concert in Kigali, Rwanda, which was scheduled for 22 March at the BK Arena. She says she made this decision upon learning about the ongoing conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has witnessed an escalation between the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group and the Congolese military. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced since M23’s resurgence in 2021.

Tems said she had previously been unaware of the situation and said sorry: “I never ever intend to be insensitive to real-world issues, and I sincerely apologise if this came across that way.” She extended her heartfelt wishes to those affected, emphasising that “conflict is no joke.”

Continued……A primary driver of the conflict is Congolese minerals. M23 have been used as a proxy to acquire crucial resources, including gold and coltan. Rwanda has provided the rebels with training and material. According to the UN, up to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers are fighting alongside M23 in Congo.

Sources
https://x.com/temsbaby/status/1885009308527505832

Escalation
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgyzl1mlkvo

Rwanda backs M23
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgyzl1mlkvo

4,000 Rwandan soldiers alongside M23
https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/The-Resurgence-of-the-M23-EN.pdf

On 30 January, Chad announced the completion of the phased withdrawal of French troops from the Central African country, following the full handover of their last base. N’Djamena had set a 31 January deadline.

Chad becomes the fourth African country to be free of France’s military after a six-decade-plus presence (following Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger).

Continued….. Ivory Coast and Senegal also recently ordered the French army to leave their lands - with Dakar confirming the withdrawal from its territory would happen by the end of 2025.

For decades, France justified its military presence under the guise of ‘counter-terrorism’ and ‘stability.’ But amid rising anti-colonial sentiment directed at Paris in francophone Africa, it’s widely felt that the real agenda had little to do with securing Africans. So which county will be next to break free?

Sources:

https://apnews.com/article/chad-france-military-bases-withdrawal-bd1c1e5a075f3a4b0dba01801c081728

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250130-france-hands-over-last-base-in-chad-amid-withdrawal

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/29/chad-ends-military-cooperation-with-france

https://www.rfi.fr/en/international-news/20250130-france-hands-over-last-base-in-chad-amid-withdrawal

https://mg.co.za/thought-leader/2023-08-20-former-french-colonies-are-still-paying-a-colonial-tax/

https://theconversation.com/what-france-loses-by-closing-its-military-bases-in-africa-247898

KAGAME AND RAMAPHOSA RATTLE SABRES

Rwanda’s president has fired off a belligerent series of tweets at his South African counterpart - warning that Kigali is ready for war with Pretoria.

It comes after 13 South African soldiers were killed in eastern DRC as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels advanced on the Congolese city of Goma.

In response, Cyril Ramaphosa told Paul Kagame that there’d be consequences if any more of his troops perished at the hands of Rwandan troops or proxies.

Or so he tweeted. Kagame tweeted back that that’s just bluster and that no such warning had in fact been issued during their recent call.

Nevertheless, the Rwandan leader said his country was prepared for any ‘confrontation’ with South Africa. He also mocked Ramaphosa for posing as a peacemaker while allegedly backing his own proxies in DRC.

Continued……Kagame was referring to Pretoria’s participation in SAMIDRC - the Southern African Development Community (SADC) peacekeeping mission in the DRC, which he claims is actually one of the belligerents in the war.

He also has a historical axe to grind with soldiers from the southern part of Africa: when Rwanda and Uganda invaded the DRC during the second Congo war in the late ‘90s, it was troops from Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe (i.e., from southern Africa) that drove out the invaders.

Sources:

https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/09/13/rwandans-charged-murder-exiled-critic
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/rwanda-denies-using-pegasus-spyware/2318398

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/assassins-linked-to-kagame-regime-9700529.html