[Book review] "The Dialectics of Oppression in Zaire by Michael G. Schatzberg"

Congo(Kinshasa), Internal conflicts, Politics, Human rights

Journal of African Christian Biography: v. 2, no. 1

A publication of the Dictionary of African Christian Biography with U.S. offices located at the Center for Global Christianity and Mission at Boston University. This issue focuses on: 1. Kimbangu, Malula, and Bokeleale: Fathers of Congolese Christianities. 2. Simon Kimabngu. 3. Joseph Malula. 4. Jean Bokeleale. 5. Recent Print and Digital Resources Related to Christianity in Africa

Living With Fear: A Population-Based Survey on Attitudes About Peace, Justice and Social Reconstruction in Eastern Congo

Analyzes survey findings on views on the Congo wars, exposure to violence, origins of the wars, trials for war crimes, and priorities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Compares survey data with those in Kishasa and Kisangani. Makes recommendations

Human African trypanosomiasis amongst urban residents in Kinshasa: a case-control study.

BACKGROUND: Increasing numbers of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) cases have been reported in urban residents of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Congo since 1996. We set up a case-control study to identify risk factors for the disease. METHODS: All residents of the urban part of Kinshasa with parasitologically confirmed HAT and presenting for treatment to the city's specialized HAT clinics between 1 August, 2002 and 28 February, 2003 were included as cases. We defined the urban part as the area with contiguous habitation and a population density >5000 inhabitants per square kilometre. A digital map of the area was drawn based on a satellite image. For each case, two serologically negative controls were selected, matched on age, sex and neighbourhood. Logistic regression models were fitted to control for confounding. RESULTS: The following risk factors were independently associated with HAT: travel, commerce and cultivating fields in Bandundu, and commerce and cultivating fields in the rural part of Kinshasa. No association with activities in the city itself was found. DISCUSSION: In 2002, the emergence of HAT in urban residents of Kinshasa appears mainly linked to disease transmission in Bandundu and rural Kinshasa. We recommend to intensify control of these foci, to target HAT screening in urban residents to people with contact with these foci, to increase awareness of HAT amongst health workers in the urban health structures and to strengthen disease surveillance

Assessing the severity and the incidence of Cassava Root Necrosis Disease (CRND) in western Democratic Republic of Congo

Open Access ArticleCassava is the staple food in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where both the roots and leaves are consumed. This crop is susceptible to several viral diseases, including Cassava Mosaic Disease(CMD) and Cassava Brown Streak Disease(CBSD) in eastern DRC. Following earlier studies that show root necrosis occurring in western DR Care not due to CBSD but to Cassava Root Necrosis Disease (CRND), an exploratory survey was conducted in western DRC from 2016 to 2017 in order to determine the distribution, the severity and the incidence of this disease (previously known as CBSD-like disease). NGS ( Next Generation Sequencing) results confirmed all the previous negative results obtained using PCR and CBSV primers. This suggests that microorganisms such as bacteria or fungi could be responsible for cassava root necrosis in western DRC and is not CBSD as predicted. Five provinces (Bas-Congo, Kinshasa, Bandundu, Equateur and Kasai-Oriental) were surveyed and data were collected according to the harmonized protocols adopted by countries within the West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE) project. Statistical tests (ANOVA) performed on our data showed that CRND severity did not vary significantly among the provinces of Kinshasa, Bandundu and Bas-Congo which are the areas most affected by the disease. Bas-Congo and Kinshasa provinces presented the highest maximum disease severity (score 3 and 5 respectively), while Equateur province had the lowest disease severity score. Equateur province also had the highest percentage of healthy plants and few plants presented mild symptoms. The overall average of cassava root necrosis severity in western DRC ranged around 1.88 ± 0.08, an approximate score of 2. The overall mean incidence of CRND in western DRC was 22.24 ± 2.4% but reached 100% in localities considered as hotspots (Lukuakua in Bas-Congo and Nguma in Plateau des Batékés). The behaviour of cassava varieties against CRND is similar with CBSD in East Africa, most of improved varieties and landraces are susceptible to both diseases. Correlation analyses showed a positive correlation (r = 0.6940) between severity and incidence of CRND. Therefore, Bas-Congo province is the most affected province, while the province of Equateur is the least affected province in western DRC. Further investigations, including genomic surveillance, should also be conducted in the eastern DRC where CBSD is confirmed to know if CRND is found in conjunction with CBSD and to report possible instances of mixed infections. For medium-term disease control, our study suggests that the development and deployment of control measures including cultivars with resistance to CRND and CBSD should be a priority

Review article of recent literature on the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Nzongola-Ntalaja: The Congo from Leopold to Kabila, Trefon (ed): Reinventing Order in the Congo, and Clark (ed): The African Stakes of the Congo War)

By survival in conditions that are murderous, by evading forms of control and de-linking from the system, people in Congo ultimately limit the reach of the power imposed on them. They have to a great extent isolated, and to a lesser degree diminished, the leadership of Congo and the power of the invaders. The forms of economic survival dispute authority by depriving the state (or predatory nonstate actors) of revenue, whilst maximising the opportunities for survival irrespective of – and in defiance of – the coercion to which people are exposed. The violent regimes in Congo have broken the country to the extent that they were able, but the fact that they cannot break it all attests to the resistance against them: for the powerful, as for the powerless, there may be a will, but there has been no way to achieve it completely

Escaping the Conflict Trap: Promoting Good Governance in the Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo's strides toward peace could prove short-lived if the government and donors do not increase efforts to create a transparent and accountable government. State institutions such as parliament, courts, the army and the civil service remain weak and corrupt. The national elections scheduled for 30 July 2006 risk creating a large class of disenfranchised politicians and former warlords tempted to take advantage of state weakness and launch new insurgencies. Donors must initiate new programs in support of good governance that include more funding to strengthen state institutions (in particular parliament and the various auditing bodies), as well as apply more political pressure to make sure reforms are implemented. Access this report in French at http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4276&l=2

Recruiting a nonlocal language for performing local identity: indexical appropriations of Lingala in the Congolese border town Goma

This article describes discursive processes by which inhabitants of the Congolese border town Goma attribute new indexical values to Lingala, a language exogenous to the area of which most Goma inhabitants only possess limited knowledge. This creative reconfiguration of indexicalities results in the emergence of three "indexicalities of the second order": the indexing of (i) being a true Congolese, (ii) toughness (based on Lingala's association with the military), and (iii) urban sophistication (based on its association with the capital Kinshasa). While the last two second-order reinterpretations are also widespread in other parts of the Congolese territory, the first one, resulting in the emergence of a Lingala as an "indexical icon" of a corresponding "language community," deeply reflects local circumstances and concerns, in particular the sociopolitical volatility of the Rwandan-Congolese borderland that renders publicly affirming one's status as an "autochthonous" Congolese pivotal for assuring a livelihood and at times even personal security. (Lingala, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Goma, orders of indexicality, language community, autochthony, Kiswahili)