AfricaNow! October 11, 2023 DRC—Upcoming Election, Neocolonialism & More

Topics and Guests: Since colonization until the present-day multinational corporations have exploited the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) vast mineral wealth at the expense of Congolese lives.  A new report by DRC-based organization IBGDH, or Initiative pour la Bonne Gouvernance et les Droits Humains (Initiative for Good Governance and Human Rights) and Amnesty International details human rights abuses exacerbated by the expansion of mining companies extracting cobalt and copper for the booming rechargeable battery industry.  The report—Powering Change or Business as Usual? —also documents forced evictions of people from their lands to make way for these mining companies. (Mining of cobalt, copper in DRC leading to human rights abuses: Report, Al Jazeera, September 12, 2023 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/12/mining-of-cobalt-copper-in-drc-leading-to-human-rights-abuses-report) Meanwhile the eastern part of DRC continues to suffer from impact of conflict waged by various armed groups.

These and other major topics will feature prominently in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections on December 20, 2023.  Last week on October 2 popular 2018 Nobel Peace recipient Dr. Denis Mukwege entered the presidential race to try to unseat President Felix Tshisekedi.  Many are excited and anxious to see what the entry into the political arena of Dr. Denis Mukwege will mean for the DRC.

Today we present a recent conversation on the DRC with Kambale Musavuli, Analyst, Center for Research on the Congo-Kinshasa, and former National Spokesperson for the Friends of the Congo. He is a human rights advocate and is one of the leading political and cultural Congolese voices. Also in the discussion is Maurice Carney, Executive Director of Friends of the Congo.  The conversation is focusing on the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in December, the continued exploitation of the country’s resources by multinational corporations, the population’s negative sentiment of the UN and more.   

Congo Week (Breaking The Silence) October 15 – 23, 2023
Contact information:  https://congoweek.org/calendar-of-events.html
Friends of the Congo: https://friendsofthecongo.org/ 

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“FEAR NOT FOR MAN” BY FELA KUTI commemorating his birthday on October 15 (October 15, 1938—August 2, 1997); sign-off and closing song--“AFRICAN MARKETPLACE” BY ABDULLAH IBRAHIM commemorating his birthday on October 9 (October 9, 1934—).

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Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC. Tune into AfricaNow! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (U.S. Eastern).

Photo: DRC UN Map from https://www.un.org/geospatial/content/democratic-republic-congo

AfricaNow! Oct. 11, 2023 DRC- -Upcoming Election, Neocolonialism and More

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AfricaNow! Oct. 11, 2023 DRC- -Upcoming Election, Neocolonialism and More

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