In September 2017, the Congolese elections commission (CENI) announced that it was planning to use voting machines for the momentous upcoming elections, currently scheduled for December 23, 2017. This has triggered controversy and fierce opposition from many in Congolese civil society and opposition. In the first of a series of

Today, the Bureau d’Études, de Recherches, et de Consulting International (BERCI) and the Congo Research Group (CRG) at New York University are publishing a series of nationally representative political opinion polls conducted across the Democratic Republic of the Congo in February 2017, August 2017, November 2017, and January/February 2018. You

Over sixty people killed, thousands of houses burned down and more than 100,000 displaced people, including 42,000 refugees in neighbouring Uganda. Those are the consequences so far of the violence in the north-eastern Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since December 2017. The violence marks a counterpoint

The Art of the Possible: MONUSCO’s New Mandate The current mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) expires on March 31, 2018. In a report released today, the Congo Research Group (CRG) argues that the United Nations Security Council should take bold

There has been a broad outpouring of support for the demonstrations announced by the Comité laïc de coordination (CLC) this Sunday. This one comes from the Central African Studies Association, a group of academics from across North America, Europe, and Africa. You can read the full statement here.

For most of the past three years, the lament of diplomats and human rights activists alike has been summed up by one word: glissement. Kabila does not want to hold elections, as he is term limited, so he plays for time by creating artificial delays. The focus of advocacy was on

Last Friday, President Joseph Kabila called an impromptu press conference in Kinshasa, during which he spoke for over two and a half hours. My general thoughts below, followed by a fact check of his main points. A few things struck me watching the press conference. First, how at ease the

Isidor Ndaywel est un intellectuel congolais et l’auteur de L’histoire générale du Congo: De l’héritage ancien à la République démocratique. Il a enseigné et conduit des recherches à l’Université de Kinshasa, à l’Université de Lubumbashi, à l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) et à l’Université Paris I. Il

Just three weeks after their last protest, Congolese in several major cities (Bukavu, Goma, Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, and Kisangani, perhaps others) turned out for protests against the government after Sunday mass. The pictures were moving, once again: Barefoot priests leading parishioners, crosses held high, chanting the Lord’s Prayer and

For a long time, the opposition to President Kabila had a real problem: it looked too much like President Kabila. Many of its leaders––Vital Kamerhe, Moise Katumbi, Pierre Lumbi, Olivier Kamitatu––were allies of Kabila until recently. The main exception to this, Etienne Tshisekedi, is now dead, and his party has