Kabila’s Arch Nemesis: Katumbi now got an International Arrest Warrant!

As of the December Presidential Elections are scheduled to come. Joseph Kabila are supposed to step down, but his reign are still in enforced. That is proven with how Moise Katumbi not allowed to enter the republic in time to run for the elections. This is deliberate actions by the authorities to stifle him and his allies. Emmanuel Ramazani Shadari is the pawn, as they don’t trust him to even have the ability to beat Katumbi in a free and fair election, or a credible for that matter. That is why the Republic have issued an International Arrest Warrant on Katumbi.

As reported by Radio Okapi:

“Speaking at a press conference held Thursday (August 16th) in Kinshasa by the Common Front for Congo (FCC), Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, Minister of Justice said that the Auditor General’s Office has issued an international arrest warrant against Mr. Katumbi. According to him, some African and European countries are already notified. “The Auditor General’s Office issued an international arrest warrant against Mr. Katumbi. And I think that the show that was made in Kasumbalesa was only a political show. This mandate has been issued and remains in effect. It has been communicated to a number of African and European countries. For us, we did not stop him from entering. For Congolese justice, Mr. Katumbi is a fugitive and he must be arrested as soon as he is on the national territory. This position has not changed. The deployment of the police at the Kasumbalesa border had been made to stop him. Mr. Katumbi knew very well that when he arrived on Congolese territory he would be immediately arrested, “said Mr. Thambwe Mwamba” (Radio Okapi – ‘Mandat d’arrêt international contre Moïse Katumbi : « un théâtre de mauvais goût », selon Sessanga’ 16.08.2018, link: https://www.radiookapi.net/2018/08/16/actualite/justice/mandat-darret-international-contre-moise-katumbi-un-theatre-de-mauvais).

This is just cowardice of the Republic. They are using false narratives and criminal charges against main opposition leader. Moise Katumbi had already a challenge ahead of him, as it is not like CENI or anything else would deliver something that could be called “Credible”. But his popularity and his messages, are aspiring for a new approach on politics, which is needed.

This is by all means an answer to the looting, the corruption and cronyism in Kinshasa. Not like that will be gone by the minute. Especially not with Emmanuel Shadari, who is a loyalist, who will be the pawn, the candidate put forward to most likely nominate Kabila and secure his place after a term.

Kabila knows this and is silent, as he thinks he can play the people out with insurgency, violence and constant looting. While his state lack service delivery or even care for its citizens, that is why MONUSCO and NGOs deliver needed state services, while he make backroom agreements with the mining industry and others. Which is all paying him kick-backs.

This is known and isn’t a secret, even if the Kabila government wanted it to. That is why they are afraid of someone like Katumbi. He will uproot this regime and stop their tantrums, their control and lack of care. As long as they are paid and the rest is starving. They just don’t care, the International Community will give donations and find aid services to fix it.

That is why Kabila does what he does. He knows the game, this is part of it. They are playing and making sure Katumbi get stuck. As their allies will apprehend him and than he will go through a charade of misgivings. Not getting praise, but getting detained. Because Kabila and Shadari needs him behind bars. Peace.

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Ebola outbreak in North Kivu: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) treatment centre opens in Mangina (16.08.2018)

The virus has already killed 41 people, according to the Ministry of Health.

PARIS, France, August 16, 2018 – Taking a new step in its response to the current Ebola outbreak in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) opened a treatment centre on Tuesday 14 August in Mangina, a small town considered to be the epicentre of the outbreak. All patients from the isolation unit where MSF was working to improve biosafety have been transferred to the twelve tents of the new Ebola treatment centre. A total of 37 patients are currently hospitalised – 31 of them have been confirmed to be infected by the virus by laboratory tests, while the others are classified as suspect cases.

“Among our patients, we have several colleagues from the Congolese health system in the area” says Gwenola Seroux, MSF Emergency Programs Coordinator. “They were the first to respond and some were exposed to the virus.”The virus has already killed 41 people, according to the Ministry of Health.Addressing some of the priorities set out in the overall response plan of the health authorities, MSF is also active in support of the local health infrastructure. In Ituri province, an MSF team is working on the route between Mambasa and Makeke, on the border with North Kivu, visiting health centres to set up isolation rooms in case of need, undertaking surveillance activities and working with community health workers to raise awareness around Ebola. Infection prevention and control protocols are being reinforced to ensure continuity of care for non-Ebola patients – a critical pillar of the outbreak response.

For the same reason, the organisation is working to keep the several existing projects it runs the area safe from the risk of contamination, thereby continuing to provide much-needed medical services.

A vaccination programme is being run at present by the Ministry of Health with the support of the World Health Organisation in the area most affected by the outbreak. And almost 1 200 contacts have been identified so far according to the Ministry of Health.

North Kivu, where the outbreak was declared on 1 August, is one of the most unstable areas in the region. Ongoing conflict and heavy military intervention have resulted in a high number of displacements, worsening the chronic problem of limited access to healthcare. Large movements of population can happen suddenly in response to an outburst of violence. These aspects of the context will have a significant impact on the humanitarian response. Critical activities that typically require the ability to reach remote locations, such as contact tracing, community outreach, surveillance, alert investigation, vaccination and health promotion are inevitably affected by the practical limitations imposed by.

In neighbouring Uganda, MSF is part of the national task force to ensure effective preparations are in place to tackle the risk of cross-border contagion.

RDC: Communique Final du Sommet des Chefs d’Etats et Gouvernement sur la Concertation Politique pour l’Unite en Action Luanda (14.08.2018)

RDC: Declaration Commune des Leaders de l’Opposition, candidats a l’Election Presidentielle en Republique Democratique du Congo (13.08.2018)

RDC: Declaration Politique de Pierre Lumbi Okongo (12.08.2018)

Ebola Vaccination Begins in North Kivu (10.08.2018)

Work has begun to prepare ring vaccination in the Mangina health area, 30km from the town of Beni.

BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (Republic of the), August 10, 2018 –  The Ministry of Public Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo today announced the launch of Ebola vaccinations for high risk populations in North Kivu province.

The vaccinations have begun just one week after the announcement of a second outbreak of Ebola this year in the country. A total of 44 cases have been reported so far, of which 17 have been confirmed.

Work has begun to prepare ring vaccination in the Mangina health area, 30km from the town of Beni.

The provincial health minister and the provincial coordinator of the Expanded Programme on Immunization were the first to be vaccinated. They were followed by first line health workers from the Mangina health centre, who had been in contact with people who were confirmed cases of Ebola.

“Vaccines are an important tool in the fight against Ebola. This is why it has been a priority to move them rapidly into place to begin protecting our health workers and the affected population,” said Dr Oly Ilunga, Minister of Health of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A total of 3,220 doses of the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine are currently available in the country, while supplementary doses have been requested. While the vaccine goes through the licensing process, an agreement between Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and Merck, the developer of the vaccine, ensures that additional investigational doses of the vaccine are available.

“The Democratic Republic of the Congo has once again demonstrated strong leadership in its early response to this outbreak,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). “Ebola is aggressive. We must respond more aggressively. Beginning the vaccination so quickly is a key early step.”

WHO has provided logistical support for the establishment of the cold chain and sent supplies needed for the vaccinations, in addition to supporting the negotiation of protocols with the manufacturer and national authorities, and supporting the deployment of vaccination experts from Guinea to work alongside national staff, who began the vaccination.

“We are proud of the regional solidarity demonstrated by the vaccination efforts, and confident that the strong capacity of the African region will once again be demonstrated during the response to this outbreak,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

Opinion: The DRC will not run better with Presidential Candidate Emmanuel Shadari!

“Fool, what do you think? That we know anything about who gives money? That we give a damn about who they are or what they want? We have no way of running down them or their stories. We don’t care. We just cash the damn cheques, count the votes and move on” – Senator Clay Davis (From the Wire).

I am just stating it before everyone else, will, this December 2018 election, even if there is million candidates, the ones the PPRD and M.P. wants to rule. Will evidently rule, now that the plan has been put into effect. The CENI will rig that bad-boy and even use the military to settle the score. Just to ensure the “will of the people” are respected and another forced leader are over their heads. The rest is just a play for the façade and hope the people play along. Because Emmanual Ramazani Shadari will not bring peace. He hasn’t done it as a Minister in the Kabila Cabinet, why would he bring it as a possible President.

Shadari as a Minister was in-charge and co-ordinated with the security forces with massacred and killed in Kasai-Oriental and in Ituri. This was done while he was Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Security, before Henri Mova Sakanyi replaced him earlier this year.

However, he is a loyalist and a Kabilaist, he will deliver the way the current leadership is doing. There will be nothing new. He has been in-charged and made sure the mass-graves of Kasai Oriental, the burned villages and the killings there. Just to settle the score and ensure insurgency, which benefits the central leadership. It is insane, but that is what the man has been doing, he did the same in Ituri, just to make sure the region was in turmoil and created enough havoc. To ensure that the state was needed and could takeover.

So if you believe that he is a viable and good candidate, there was reasons why his accounts and his business by the European Union is frozen. That wasn’t because he was such a gentleman and care giving, no it is because of his affliation with crimes against humanity and the displacement of thousands of people in the provinces of Ituri and Kasai-Oriental.

All of these massacres and killings, shouldn’t be forgotten, as he was on the top of the food-chain ordering it for various of reasons, also for sure to secure his own position at the top. Maybe, even do favours for the governors and elites in the regions. As they want to put a spell on them. This by continuing state violence and make groups go against each other. Because that is good for business in Kinshasa.

With a possible President Emmanuel Shadari, don’t expect peace, expect more violence, heart-ache and depleted territories in the reach for a quick buck. There will be no change of leadership with this man. If he would appoint Joseph Kabila as his Vice-President or Prime Minister, he would be the de-facto President, but also the Medvedev of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Then, Kabila would still have power, but use Shadari as his pawn. In this cynic world of ours, that isn’t too far-fetched.

With this supposed successor, I am not seeing hope; it is a change of face, but not the needed change. You are switching the dirty water, with the same dirty water, without even trying to fix the pipes or check any of the filters underneath the sink. You are not even putting in the work and making the significant change.

The ones believing the hype. Good for you, but I am not eating it. There are too many shady characters and sinister play going on. I want the best for anyone, but this isn’t it. This is just a forced hand, and I wonder how it will play.

Kabila wouldn’t rattle so much with the AKs over the years, to silently move to Equatorial Guinea or wherever, a dictator settle these day. No, he has yet to flee the scene and will still move, but I have a hunch that Shadari is his pawn, to become the next one opening up the gates after this term. Because Kabila is still young enough to really want to quit his day-job. Peace.

RDC: “Ente” Lettre du a Emmanuel Ramazani Shadari sur “Objet: Point sur les violences perpetrees contre les Hema en Ituri” (12.02.2018)

Déclaration du président de la commission sur le processus électoral en République Démocratique du Congo (09.08.2018)

RDC: CENI – Communique de Presse (08.08.2018)