Lingala and failed States
Gents,
Carl is correct... The word Mundele was a generalization for a Westerner regardless of skin color. Although an often offending word if you were French or Belg, it was not some racial term. In Lingala, many things are tied to the verb (and there's only 100 verbs to choose from), not necessarily plural or singular as most would think or were taught. If it could be so easy with less than 800 words :rolleyes:
If you want a real "nut buster" we could all start using Finnish along with Mike's slang :D
I was often reminded by elders just how great the (Belgian) colonial times were in both Léopoldville (K-town) and Stanleyville (Kisangani). Surprisingly enough, there was more hatred (or jealousy) against/among the various tribes than any former Western power.
Regards, Stan
Disarmed to the teeth in Bangui
A first-hand report from Bangui, which includes:
Quote:
The CAR’s interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza, has few of the tools most heads of state rely on to restore order – the army is not allowed to carry guns and her administration has almost no political skills.
(Later) The latest internal peacekeeping crisis shines an unwelcome light on soldiers from Congo-Brazzaville. Human Rights Watch has documented a number of cases of torture, murder and abduction of locals by the Congolese in areas under their watch. In September the AU forces will change the colour of their helmets and become United Nations peacekeepers.
Link:http://mg.co.za/article/2014-06-05-d...eeth-in-bangui
The CAR ceasefire: a (very) small step towards stability
With the MSM focus being elsewhere I doubt few outside Africa noted diplomacy has ended with a multi-faction ceasefire agreement in Brazzaville:http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/artic.../#.U9JQFKORcdV
Needless to say some are sceptical that it can be effective:
Quote:
I see the ceasefire as a non-event,” said David Smith, director of South Africa-based media firm Okapi Consulting and an expert on the region. “Disarmament is not part of the deal, and that's what Central Africans want most.
New berets, no change otherwise
Hurrah? From VOA:
Quote:
A United Nations peacekeeping force will deploy Monday in the Central African Republic.....The Security Council authorized the force, known as MINUSCA, to take all necessary means to carry out its mandate in the CAR. For many in Bangui this means that the U.N. troops will not hesitate to use force against armed groups.... Most of the 6,000 African Union troops already in the CAR will join the new U.N. mission.....new troops from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia have recently arrived. According to the United Nations, a 400 member U.N. police force will be deployed in the coming weeks in Bangui.
A note of realism from MSF:
Quote:
It seems that forces will look different. But right now, we are not confident [in] their efficiency in the coming months in CAR..We have been noticing that although things are improving in Bangui in terms of security, it is not the case in the rest of the country..
Link:http://www.voanews.com/content/un-pe...c/2449591.html
The two thousand French troops are not part of the UN mission:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-29213557
Do they have an exit plan?
MINUSCA prepares the ground for the same looters
A pungent comment by David Smith, director of South Africa-based media firm Okapi Consulting and an expert on the region:
Quote:
But if history teaches us anything, and it should, then Minusca is likely to be as successful as its numerous predecessors. From the time of Misab and Minurca…through Bonuca, Binuca, Fomuc, Fomac, Micopax, Misca and now Minusca we have, to a large extent, many of the same players trying to do the same thing all over again – stabilise the country and prepare the ground for presidential elections. The big problem is that MINUSCA is preparing the ground for, to a large extent, many of the same people who have been looting and pillaging the CAR for decades to take over once again.
The peacekeeping effort needs drastic surgery that includes a strong and lengthy mandate that help to create a new network of functionaries, politicians and professionals that can start building the institutions any normal country has for running a country and providing the services and infrastructural needs that have yet to be created in this shadow of a state.
My biggest fear concerning MINUSCA is that once the UN containers are packed up in a year, two years, three years from now, the same people, both inside and outside the country who have benefited from a culture of impunity will be free to carry on as they have been since founding father Barthelemy Boganda was killed in a plane crash in 1959. What will the next peacekeeping mission be called?
Link:http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/artic.../#.VBgUvVeRcdV
It's land ownership that matters
A fascinating backgrounder on CAR, on land ownership - an issue I don't recall being mentioned before. Here is one passage:
Quote:
Stare at the situation long enough and CAR’s problems can largely be whittled down to two issues: how the state hands out concessions and leases to individuals and corporations with vested interests; and how Bangui defines land that is “not put to proper use”—land that sits fallow or is not mined or logged quickly enough.
Link:http://gga.org/stories/editions/aif-...nciliation-1/?
UN report alleges child abuse by French troops
Quote:
A senior (Swedish) United Nations aid worker has been suspended for disclosing to prosecutors an internal report on the sexual abuse of children by French peacekeeping troops in the
Central African Republic. Sources close to the case said Anders Kompass passed the document to the French authorities because of the UN’s failure to take action to stop the abuse. The report documented the sexual exploitation of children as young as nine by French troops stationed in the country as part of international peacekeeping efforts.
Link:http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...nch-troops-car
Tentative Peace Reached in CAR
Maybe some hope for CAR (the size of Texas), which starts with:
Quote:
More than two years after rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) captured the country's capital Bangui and set off a cycle of retribution and ethnic cleansing, 10 groups in the war-torn nation have agreed to lay down their arms.
The agreement, reached Sunday, is the culmination of a national peace forum that began last week in Bangui and included civil society, youth, women, and local representatives. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon welcomed the decision and called for "its swift and full implementation."
Link:https://news.vice.com/article/tentat...utal-fighting?
A different viewpoint:https://www.opendemocracy.net/opense...d-winding-road
Nowt changes and patience is eroded
A lengthy report by a FP journalist on the realities outside Bangui, for the people and the armed groups:https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/28...-un-violence/?
It appears - once again - the French are tiring of engagement and if they withdraw the 'blue berets' will lose their most robust troops. Tired, why?
Quote:
France has intervened militarily five times since 1979 and maintained an active military presence for all but four years — 1999 to 2003 — during that period.
Interesting section on troops from the DRC:
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On the way back from meeting with the anti-Balaka fighters, my translator and I stumbled into a tense standoff between Congolese U.N. peacekeepers and armed youths of the Fulani ethnic group, from which many of the ex-Seleka fighters are drawn. (Given the abundance of armed men in Bambari and the fluid membership of armed groups there, it can be difficult to distinguish ex-Seleka fighters from gun-toting Fulani civilians.) The youths, some of whom brandished AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, were arguing bitterly with the peacekeepers, who remained remarkably serene in the face of superior firepower.