(PHOTO: Didier "Didi" Kazadi Nyembwe, former spy chief, the man
Radio-Trottoir accuses of engineering vicious attacks against PM
Augustin Matata Ponyo Mapon)

***

When the new government was ushered in in early May, Kinshasa daily Le
Potentiel was among other Congolese media that praised the wisdom of
President Joseph Kabila in selecting the unassuming and nerdy new
prime minister, Matata Ponyo, and hailed the cabinet of "technocrats"
the latter selected.

Well, no more!

The short-lived honeymoon has given way to a throbbing hangover.
Four months later, Le Potentiel is on the frontline,… ( Read on! )

(PHOTO: Harlem Jean-Philippe Désir)

***

Both outgoing Socialist Party Secretary General Martine Aubry and
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who represent the majority
wing of the party (wings are called "motions" or platforms), announced
in a terse statement this Wednesday morning they've chosen Harlem
Désir as the next party boss--pending the vote by party members in
October.

Harlem Désir prevailed over his rival, Paris socialist MP
Jean-Christophe Cambadélis, who quickly wrote on his blog that Désir
could "count on me" for full support.

The result of the October vote by… ( Read on! )

(From Daniel Richter's 2011 Kestnergesellschaft Exhibit "10001nacht")

***

Artist: Daniel Richter
Title: Army of Traitors
Date: 2011
Dimensions: 200 x 300 cm
Material: oil on canvas
Credits: kestnergesellschaft.de
Via: Third Parties

(PHOTO: Psychedelically-smeared façade of RLTV, media group owned by
MP Roger Lumbala, former warlord and chair of RCD/N, sought for
questioning by Kinshasa prosecutors on suspicion of high treason and
war-mongering)

***

It was bound to happen.

The government has finally cut off radio and TV signals of Radio Télé
Lisanga (RLTV), a media group belonging to MP Roger Lumbala, former
warlord and current chair of the party RCD/N.

Radio Okapi reports that RLTV lost its signals Thursday, September 6,
three days after MP Lumbala had fled to the South African Embassy in
Bujumbura, the capital… ( Read on! )

(PHOTO: Prez Joseph Kabila arriving at Entebbe airport, Friday,
September 7, 2012)

***

President Paul Kagame snubbed the dead-end ICGLR Kampala-II Summit at
Speke Resort Munyonyo.

He was instead represented by his hawkish defense and foreign
ministers, James Kabarebe and Louise Mushikiwabo respectively.

President Kagame had far more exciting glamorous stuff to attend to
in... Hong Kong (Young Presidents Organization and meeting with
business leaders), Tianjin (Summer Davos, meeting with PM Wen Jiabao),
and Beijing University (speech to students).

In the meantime, at Speke Resort… ( Read on! )