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DR.Congo. New tensions between the church and the state.

The Congolese judiciary threatened to prosecute the Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Ambongo. Such a move has deepened the crisis between the authorities and the Catholic Church to a level unprecedented since Cardinal Malula went into exile
under the Mobutu regime. 

Over the last few weeks, the crisis has been deepening between the government and the Roman Catholic Church.  At the end of April, the state prosecutor of Kinshasa ordered an investigation into the country’s senior prelate, the archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo.
In a letter dated April 27, the attorney general of the DR Congo’s court of cassation, Firmin Mvonde Manbu, told the attorney of Kinshasa’s Matete district court that Ambongo’s “seditious remarks” had served to “discourage the soldiers of the republic’s armed forces” and encouraged “the mistreatment of local populations by rebels and other invaders.”

The archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo. He has been a vocal critic of the government’s failure to restore peace in eastern Congo. Photo: José Luis Silván Sen

The anger of the judiciary and of the government was prompted by the cardinal’s homily during the Easter celebration. Alluding to the defection of Congolese politicians to the M23 rebel movement, the archbishop said: “We can call them traitors; they sided with the enemy, but the basic question is, why did these people act in such a way? This is because here we continue to take actions that injure other people, harm the national communion, and exclude other people,” he said.
His statement triggered an angry reaction from government spokesman Patrick Muyaya, who declared that these remarks can be interpreted as “moral support” for the M23 rebels.
In his letter, Mvonde Mambu said the cardinal had declined an invitation to his office on April 25 and accused the bishop of “inciting the people to revolt against official institutions and to attacks against human life.” The letter also warned the Matete attorney that any failure to investigate the cardinal would be considered “an act of complicity with the deeds mentioned.” Such an incident is a further step in the deterioration of relations between the bishop and the state. Relations had already soured in March when the chancery of Mgr Ambongo’s archdiocese accused officials at N’Djili International Airport of “degrading treatment” of the cardinal after he was denied access to the airport’s VIP lounge, allegedly compromising his security.

There is a long tradition of persecution against Roman Catholic priests and their relatives.File swm

Since President Felix Tshisekedi’s first controversial election in 2018, Cardinal Ambongo has been a vocal critic of the government’s failure to restore peace in eastern Congo.  He also condemned the December 2023 election which returned Tshisekedi with more than 73 percent of the vote as a “gigantic, organised mess”.
It is no coincidence that the prosecutor who intimidated Ambongo also played a central role in the characterisation of the murder of the former minister and spokesman of Moise Katumbi’s Ensemble pour la République party, Chérubin Okende, as a suicide. The intimidation of the Cardinal appears to be in retaliation for his condemnation on 20 March of the “incomprehensible conclusion” of the investigation into Okende’s murder, despite the fact that the victim’s body was riddled with bullets in his car. At the time, even government spokesman Patrick Muyaya spoke of a murder. Cardinal Ambongo said the prosecutor’s conclusion showed that ‘Congolese justice is really sick’.Two days later, the gap between church and state widened even further when the National Bishops’ Conference of Congo issued a communiqué entitled ‘You will not kill’ in protest at the government’s decision to reinstate the death penalty after more than 20 years by lifting a moratorium on executions. According to the bishops, the desire to get rid of traitors in the army can in no way justify the death penalty.

A long tradition of persecution
There is a long tradition of persecution against Roman Catholic priests and their relatives. In 2012, the nephew of Ambongo’s predecessor, Mgr Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Johannesburg. According to the DIA news agency, the young man was killed in an attempt to steal his mobile phone.
While some said the killing was not unusual given South Africa’s high levels of crime, others suggested that Christian Monsengwo had been deliberately targeted for political reasons, since his uncle Mgr Monsengwo had declared that the results of the 28 November 2011 presidential election, won by Joseph Kabila, were “not in conformity with truth and justice”.

Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya (1939 – 2021) was the Archbishop of Kinshasa from 2007 to 2018.

Seven years later, the Catholic news agency FIDES reported that unknown individuals tried to break into Mgr. Monsengwo’s home on January 30, 2018, again in the context of violence perpetrated against the Roman Catholic Church and its leaders.
During the General Audience of January 24, 2018 in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis condemned the violence that occurred on the previous days in the DRC, where the police and security forces clamped down on pro-democracy demonstrators in front of the churches of Kinshasa, killing at least one person on that day. A few days before, the Congolese bishops deplored a campaign of intoxication, disinformation, and defamation waged by the authorities against the Catholic Church after Cardinal Monsengwo condemned the “barbaric” repression of demonstrations on December 31, 2017 in Kinshasa, demanding the organisation of free and fair elections (which should have been held in 2016) before the end 2018. At least 20 people died in the incidents; there were many arbitrary arrests; and church buildings were desecrated. The popular anger was caused by Kabila’s refusal to abide by an agreement brokered by the Roman Catholic Church and signed on December 31, 2016, and by the opposition’s electoral agenda.

A long tradition of resistance
Cardinal Ambongo has followed in the footsteps of his predecessors, who opposed the dictators who ruled the country under the Mobutu regime, the Kabila dynasty and then the poorly elected Tshisekedi. After independence, the Roman Catholic Church took a more conservative stance in the face of the killings of priests and nuns during the Simbas rebellion. But as state structures crumbled under a combination of corruption and bad governance, the social role of the Catholic Church grew, providing education and health services that the state could no longer provide.

Cardinal Joseph Albert Malula (1917 – 1989). He went into voluntary exile in Rome after becoming the target of attacks by Mobutu’s one-party media. Photo: Eman Bonnici

The first serious clash occurred in the early 1970s, when the Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Joseph-Albert Malula, went into voluntary exile in Rome after becoming the target of attacks by Mobutu’s one-party media. Indeed, Mobutu could not tolerate Malula’s opposition to his new “authenticity” revolution, which consisted not only in renaming the Congo to Zaire, but also in deleting Christian “colonial” names from civil registries.
During Mobutu’s dictatorship, the Roman Catholic hierarchy, spurred on by grassroots communities inspired by liberation theology, began to disseminate calls for freedom and social justice. One of the boldest calls was the book “Chemins de libération” (Ways of Liberation) by the Archbishop of Kananga, Mgr Martin-Léonard Bakole, published in 1978. Another prominent figure was Father José Mpundu, founder of the Amos group, who preached non-violent resistance to human rights violations. The Catholic bishops also forced Mobutu to abandon the one-party state and restore political pluralism in 1990, while Mgr Monsengwo took over the leadership of the National Sovereign Conference to organise the democratic transition.

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo condemned the December 2023 election as a “gigantic, organised mess”. Photo: Lwanga Kakule

Cardinal Ambongo is the heir to a decades-long tradition of resistance against authoritarian abuses. But at the same time, on 16 May, he showed a certain talent for realpolitik. During a two-hour meeting with Felix Tshisekedi at the presidential palace, in the presence of Mgr Andriy Yevchuk, charge d’affaires of the apostolic nunciature, both sides tried to defuse the tension. Speaking to journalists after the meeting, the Cardinal said that it had been necessary to clarify some points about the legal proceedings against him, which had led to “misunderstandings”. He also said that the Church and the State agreed on one point: “to work for the good of the Congolese people”. (Open Photo: The work of Congolese artist Daniel Gambere)

François Misser

 

 

Sahel. The new cold war expands to Africa.

While the world’s attention is focused on Ukraine and Gaza, the expulsion of French and American troops from Niger is the worst setback for the Western powers since their withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Russia, China and the jihadists are reaping the rewards of this historic defeat.

Less than four decades after the Cold War, Africa is becoming the scene of a new war of influence between the West on the one hand and Russia, Iran, and China on the other. In a matter of three years, the Western military presence there has shrunk considerably with the withdrawal of the French troops from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger between June 2021 and December 2023.

Gen. Michael Langley, head of U.S. Africa Command. (U.S. Africa Command)

In December 2023, the military junta in Niger also summoned the European EUCAP Sahel border police cooperation mission to leave the country before the end of 2024. Then, on March 16, 2024, the junta decided to close with immediate effect the American air base in Agadez, which was used for anti-jihadist drone operations and intelligence missions in Sahel and Libya. Washington had no choice but to announce in April the withdrawal of its 1,100 U.S. troops from Niger.
Several factors explain the attitude of the Niger junta, inspired by the military rulers in Mali and Burkina Faso. One is the growing determination of the members of the Alliance of Sahel States, created in September 2023 by the three juntas as a mutual defence pact
to fight foreign interference.
Niger’s suspension of the agreement with Washington followed the visit to Niamey on March 12 and 13 by a US delegation led by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee and the head of the US Africa Command, General Michael Langley, to renegotiate the Agadez base agreement, which expires in 2024.

Nigerien soldiers from the capital of Niamey are moving to Agadez. Photo Richard Bumgardner/US Army

The Nigerien military was upset by the US conditionalities linking the resumption of the military cooperation suspended after the July 26, 2023, coup that overthrew the elected President Mohamed Bazoum to a commitment by them to adopt an agenda for the political transition for a return to constitutional order and the release of the ousted head of state. The Niamey junta didn’t like Washington’s demand that American soldiers not remain on the same ground as Russian troops in the neighbourhood. In a communiqué broadcast on national television on 16 March, the spokesman for the military junta, Colonel Major Amadou Abdramane, said that Niger regretted Washington’s denial of its right to choose its strategic partners as it wished. He also deplored alleged “threats” made by the US delegation and denied accusations that Niger had signed a secret deal to supply uranium to Iran. The American complaints were also motivated by the recent visit of Niger’s prime minister, Ali Mamane Lamine Zeine, to Moscow and Tehran.
The junta spokesman also stressed that the presence of American troops in Niger was unconstitutional, since the agreement on the military base was based on a mere verbal note from the American side in 2012. The authorities in Niamey also complained that they were not informed of the activities of the American soldiers in Niger.

Russian troops in the Sahel
As in Mali and Burkina-Faso, local civil society in Niger blames Western troops for the lack of results in the fight against jihadism because armed groups are still present. On 21 April, at the call of 24 civil society organisations, hundreds of people demonstrated in Agadez to demand the withdrawal of American troops.
The Western withdrawal from Niger and the Sahel is not complete, however, as Germany and Italy are struggling to maintain their military cooperation while adopting a more compromising attitude towards the juntas than the French and Americans.

German Flight operations at Niamey Air Transport Base, with several A400M. Bundeswehr/Pinnow

At the beginning of May 2024, the Bundeswehr still had 120 soldiers stationed in Niamey.Italy also maintains a military cooperation programme and claims to be the “last NATO outpost” in the country. Some 250 Italian troops are currently training Niger’s army.
The German and Italian positions have infuriated the French, who accuse Rome and Berlin of dealing with the perpetrators of the coup and of not siding with French President Emmanuel Macron when he urged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to take military action against Niger to free Bazoum and restore constitutional order.
Meanwhile, 100 Russian troops arrived in Niger in April, bringing weapons and beginning to implement military cooperation agreements. State media in Niamey reported that the Russian soldiers had brought an advanced air defence system that will allow the local army to have total control of the airspace. According to military experts, this system could consist of Pantsir S2 missiles, similar to those supplied to General Haftar’s Libyan National Army.

Russian mercenaries in the Central African Republic. CC BY-SA 4.0/CorbeauNews

The Russian military advisers will also train the Nigerien armed forces, one of the instructors told national television RTN in Niamey. The arrival of the Russian military followed a telephone conversation on 26 March between General Tiani and Russian President Vladimir Putin. These instructors belong to the Russian Defence Ministry’s paramilitary group, the Africa Corps, also known as the Russian Expeditionary Corps (REK), which replaced the Wagner mercenaries. According to Ulf Laessing of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Russian military equipment is more of a “regime survival package” than an effective anti-jihadist tool.
It seems that the military junta is mainly concerned about possible ECOWAS interference in Niger, which is why it has acquired air defence systems that may not be very useful in the fight against the jihadists, who don’t have aircraft.

Tense relations between N’Djamena and Washington
One hundred Russian soldiers were also sent to Burkina Faso in January 2024, with 200 more to follow. The possible establishment of a Russian military base in the eastern region of the Central African Republic has been mentioned in television interviews by the country’s president, Faustin-Archange Touadera. If this project goes ahead, the Central African Republic could become the epicentre of the rivalry between the West and Russia, as the US tries to strike a deal between the private US military company Bancroft and the government in Bangui.
Chad, still a Western stronghold hosting French and US bases, reconsidered its partnership with Washington in May.
The 100 US Special Forces troops stationed at the French base of Adji Kossei near N’Djamena were to leave the country, at least temporarily, while the two governments negotiated a new security agreement, US officials said at the end of April.

Young Chadian army soldiers. Shutterstock/yoh4nn

Unlike in Niger, the Chadian authorities have not cancelled the deal authorizing the presence of American troops on their soil but decided to close the US base after the Chadian Airforce Chief of Staff general Amine Ahmed claimed on the last 4 April that Washington had failed to produce documents justifying its military presence in N’Djamena and asked the US troops to “immediately stop” their activity at the base. Observers also point out that the Chadian President Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby has not called for the removal of the French.
But he fostered ties with the central Sahel leaders who ousted the French and last 24 January and received a full red-carpet treatment at the Kremlin, ending up calling Russia a “sister country”.
The relationship between N’Djamena and Washington has become tense. Yet, the real reason for the closure of the US air base has nothing to do with security issues. The note to the US military attaché in N’Djamena sent by Gen. Amine Ahmed Idriss, asking for the departure of the American troops was, like in Niger, prompted by political reasons. Chadian political scientist Evariste Ngarlem Tolde says that Deby was irritated by a delegation of two Democratic Senators, Cory Booker (New Jersey) and Sara Jacobs (California) who expressed concerns about human rights and the preparation of the 6 May presidential election during their visit on the last 30 March.

Russia and Ukraine in Africa
Meanwhile, Russia, already present in Mali since 2022, is extending its influence elsewhere in Africa. On 27 March, Putin and Congo’s president, Denis Sassou Nguesso, agreed in a telephone conversation to deepen political, economic and humanitarian ties. Three weeks earlier, the TASS news agency reported Russia’s approval of a draft agreement on military cooperation with the DRC, including joint drills and exercises, visits by warships and aircraft, and military training.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is opening embassies to counter Russian influence in Africa. Since the beginning of 2024, it has opened one in the Ivory Coast and another in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kyiv is also planning to open embassies in Accra, Maputo, Gaborone and Kigali.

The building of the Government of Ukraine in Kiev. 123rf

Ukrainian special forces are also using kamikaze drones to fight Russian mercenaries linked to the rebel Rapid Support Forces in Sudan. In September 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Ireland to discuss ‘common security challenges’.At the moment, the Chinese are reaping the fruits on the economic front. Last April, Niger signed a $400 million memorandum of understanding with China National Petroleum Corp to sell crude oil from its Agadem oil field. The deal should help Niger’s cash-strapped government cope with mounting domestic debt. But the change in partnerships does not necessarily mean an improvement in security. The French foreign intelligence agency DGSE predicts a rapid deterioration in the security situation in Africa, which has become the epicentre of the global jihad, due to the shortcomings of local armies.

US military special forces in Niger. (Michael Matkin/U.S Army)

According to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, an academic institution within the US Department of Defence, the number of deaths caused by Islamist violence worldwide will rise by 20 per cent to 23,322 by 2023, including 7,762 in Burkina Faso alone and 80 per cent in the Sahel. The most vulnerable areas are western Niger on the border with Burkina Faso and the tri-border region of Niger, Mali and Benin, which has become a haven for factions such as Ansarul Islam and Katiba Macina, affiliated to the Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, a successor to al-Qaeda and Islamic State factions locked in an ongoing rivalry for supremacy. Since the war in Ukraine began, the West has lost ground in the Sahel and elsewhere in Africa. Russia’s success or failure in fighting the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel would not necessarily be good news for the West. It would mean either a strengthening of Russian positions in Africa or a jihadist victory similar to that of the Taliban in Afghanistan, which defeated both the Soviets and NATO. (Open Photo: a NATO C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft, bringing personnel and cargo, taxis after landing at Air Base 201, Niger)

François Misser

Islam. Close Alliance with Power.

The Muslim religion is the unifying feature of Mauritanian culture and society which, however, presents notable differences in other aspects.

To fully understand the extent of Islam’s role in the country, we must start from the decision taken in 1958 when it was not yet independent, to define itself as the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. It might seem obvious since the country is totally Muslim, however, the reasons are political.First of all, they wanted to make Islam distinctive compared to the other colonies of French West Africa, first and foremost because, even after independence (1960), it was claimed that historically the country belonged to the Moroccan monarchy. The second reason was the profound social fracture, which exists to this day, between the white Maura elite and the black population, enabling forms of slavery to persist and Islam seeks to be the unifying and cultural trait of society.

The Islam of Mauritania is a Sunni Islam of the Malekite tradition. File swm

Mauritanian Islam, Sunni Islam of the Malekite tradition, has been characterized since the 18th century by the presence of Sufi confederations and at the same time by the popular rooting of Islam. On the other hand, the Muslim religion shapes the traditional social hierarchy, which gives the literary elite, the Zwaya ethnic groups, knowledge and religious and spiritual power, while on the lowest step of this hierarchy, we find the castes of the tributary shepherds, of “storytellers” and slaves. Islam, therefore, is a factor of social cohesion, as it was during the opposition to French colonialism, even if there has been no shortage of compromises and adaptations.

The Primacy of the Confraternities
The religious panorama is dominated by brotherhoods of which the most widespread are the Qadiriyya and the Tijaniyya. These are, in turn, divided into different branches with links also to neighbouring countries, where they have played an important role in the spreading of Islam, with influences that are not only religious. A branch of the Tijaniyya thus played a peacemaking role in the ethnic-social crisis between Senegal and Mauritania in 1989.
Traditionally the brotherhoods have interpreted a “moderate” concept of Islam. Social transformations, however, have forced them to adapt and today their roots no longer rest on well-defined territorial and social bases such as an entire village, a hamlet or an entire ethnic group but membership occurs mainly on an individual basis.

The Arabization of teaching strengthens the cultural orientation towards the Arab-Muslim world. Swm File

The religious elite has been co-opted into the state apparatus, but political power has made Islam above all an element of social cohesion, even if the religious function is progressively institutionalized: ministry of protection, appointment and support of imams, the introduction of Islamic law, etc. The Arabization of teaching, starting from 1966, strengthens the cultural orientation towards the Arab-Muslim world. The emergence of Islamic fundamentalism was rather long and troubled, also favoured by social transformations and in particular by growing urbanization following droughts and famines.

Support by the Gulf States
Since the mid-1980s, rigorist Islam has spread through personalities and associations linked to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies, such as the World Islamic League, and with the construction of mosques, Koranic schools and Islamic cultural centres.
In addition, the economic aid that the Gulf monarchies bring to a state in difficulty to deal with the needs of the population and social tensions secures them an important role in civil society.

A Muslim young man in national blue clothes and a white turban (tagelmust). iStock/kaikups

The spread of Islam is signalled by two very striking phenomena, for example, there is the construction of mosques. In traditional nomadic society, prayer is carried out outdoors but in the capital Nouakchott, the number of mosques has risen, from one in 1963 to 46 in 1989, to over 4 thousand in 2010 and almost all of them are built with foreign funds. Then there are new behaviours imposed in society, such as more rigorous respect for fasting in the month of Ramadan, the prohibition of alcohol, and the adoption of clothes more in keeping with Muslim ethics for both women and men.

Political Openness
The phenomenon of Islamic fundamentalism appears at the beginning of the 1990s. The attempt to transform some radical groups into a political party, following the example of the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), failed due to the refusal of power. On the other hand, the alliance between political leaders and religious organisations, including those of Wahhabi inspiration, is one of the reasons for the disappearance of Islamist terrorism in Mauritania from the end of the first decade of this century up to the present day, while political openness has allowed Islamist parties to play a political role.

The city market in Nouakchott. Shutterstock/Attila JANDI

The religious debate today touches on specific social issues such as slavery or blasphemy, which have become both a religious-social and racial issue at the same time because they concern the most marginalized groups in society. Both the leader of the anti-slavery movement Biram and the blogger Ould Mkheitir, who became the symbol of the vindication of fundamental rights and freedoms, paid a high price for being outspoken regarding these issues. The blogger was arrested in 2014 after posting an article deemed blasphemous against the prophet Muhammad because he criticized the use of Islam to justify slavery. Sentenced to death the same year, his sentence was later commuted to two years in prison but he was only released in 2019. His story sparked a lively debate in the country; the religious authorities took a stand even by mobilizing the streets against the blogger, pushing the government to toughen the penalties for apostasy and blasphemy with sentences that will no longer take into account any possibility of repentance. The consequence is that since then, active monitoring of the manifestations of thought has been carried out.

Proselytism Prohibited
Rigorism also affects non-Muslims. Last December, around fifteen evangelical Christians were arrested for just over a month for having distributed a video of a baptism ceremony. Proselytism and conversion are in fact prohibited in Mauritania, but some evangelical currents are also active in this direction.
However, relations with the Catholic Church are good and respect the limits imposed on worship and manifestations of faith. Diplomatic relations between Mauritania and the Vatican were established at the end of 2016 and a new apostolic nuncio took office last year.

Mons. Martin Happe, bishop of the diocese of Nouakchott. “A Church in Mauritania, not a Mauritanian Church”’ Photo CAN

In an almost totally Muslim country, the Church addresses itself only to foreigners, today mainly made up of sub-Saharan immigrants, and also for this reason the bishop of Nouakchott, Martin Happe, defines it as a Church in Mauritania, not a Mauritanian Church. Caritas, which is recognized by the government, has for many years played an appreciated role in supporting populations struck by natural disasters and economic crises and it also engages in important training activities. (Open Photo: The Aerial view to Saudique Grand Mosque in Nouakchott. Shutterstock/Homo Cosmicos)

Luciano Ardesi

 

Mauritania. Beyond the dunes.

The presidential elections, scheduled for June 22, constitute a test for the Mauritanian political system. The outgoing president,
Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, elected for the first time in 2019,
is widely expected to win.

The majority parties have designated him as their candidate ever since the announcement of the elections last December by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Ceni). The only opponent seems to be Biram Dah Abeid, the leader of the anti-slavery movement, already a candidate in 2014 and 2019 when he took second place behind Ghazouani. Ghazouani was the first president to be elected after a democratic transition in 2019, succeeding general Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who had seized power with a coup d’état in 2008, was elected in 2009 and led the country for ten years. The conviction of Abdel Aziz for corruption and illicit enrichment las December made it possible to delve deeper into the nature of the Mauretanian political system.

Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, President of Mauritania. He is expected to win. CC BY-SA 4.0/European Union.

During the electoral campaign, the majority parties highlighted the government’s achievements on the social field in a country with strong disparities, improvement of infrastructure and services, steps taken to stem international terrorism, which has not hit the country for over a decade as well as the increase, in 2023, of the growth rate to 4.8% , after the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the other hand, the opposition forces accused the president and his ministers of not having broken with patronage practices, nepotism and corruption, of not having guaranteed fundamental freedoms and of not having improved conditions for the most fragile part of the population. They criticized the delays in the development of infrastructure, as evidenced by the disasters of recurring floods, the risk of drought and rising inflation.
Some parties have also contested the all-out Arabization, which has penalized black African populations who traditionally do not speak Arabic. A few weeks before the vote, the opposition, who appear divided, have expressed their concerns about the legitimacy of the elections given what has happened in the past.

Mauritania Political Map with capital Nouakchott.123rf

In the meantime, there have been social tensions. At the beginning of February, a demonstration in Rkiz, in the south of the country, against the expropriation of former slaves’ lands by a tribal elite, provoked a very violent repression. “Land slavery”, as denounced by the militant anti-slavery deputy Biram Dah Abeid, is a recurring phenomenon. Racist clashes also extend to institutions.Recently the MP Mariem Cheikh Samba Dieng, an anti-slavery militant, was suspended from the National Assembly due to her accusations against the government, the words slavery and racism are taboo in the country. A demonstration in her favour in front of parliament was attacked by the police, resulting in injuries and arrests. Ahead of the elections, candidates are facing a climate of tension, socially and politically.

How society is made up
Two major cultural components make up the highly hierarchical Mauritanian society, an Arabic-speaking majority of Berber and Arabic origin, known as Maure, and a minority of Black-African origin, to which different ethnic groups and languages belong (Halpularen, Soninké and Wolof). The Maure are divided internally into the Beydan, the white elite, and the Haratin, the black-skinned slaves, now freed but who, despite the official abolition of slavery in 1981 and the introduction of the crime of slavery in 2007, continue to live in conditions of servitude
and discrimination.

Two major cultural components make up the Mauritanian society, an Arabic-speaking majority of Berber and Arabic origin, known as Maure. File swm

According to Walk Free’s Global Slavery Index, Mauritania ranks 3rd in the world, with 149,000 people out of almost 5 million inhabitants forced into slavery. The white elite implements strategies to occupy power in the state apparatus which, in a certain way, replace the ancient warrior and commercial vocation of these ethnic groups. Cronyism and corruption, as well as tribal membership, cement their relationship in society, useful for the consolidation of power and, in the event of any elections, consensus. Political parties become the institutional reference of the elite, but they are not the expression of a social base.There is substantial continuity between people and the interest groups that support them, despite the succession of roles or functions. First, the highest responsibilities in the administration – as in the economy – starting with the presidency, are the prerogative of the white Maura elite. This elite is itself criss-crossed by a certain antagonism, however never to the point of causing the system to implode. The strong man of the moment, whether by vote or coup, knows he must pay attention to the ethnic-tribal mix of positions of power, to establish alliances, through kinship, clientelism and the division of resources. The trial against Abdel Aziz partially exposed this system, which is significant, but it did not serve to undermine the mechanism on which power is based. According to the 2023 Corruption Perception Index, developed by Transparency International, Mauritania detains the 130th position out of 180 countries.

Flag of Mauritania on military uniform. 123rf

The role of the army.
A non-negligible fact, then, is the role of the armed forces which have always occupied positions of power whether through a coup or a vote. The current president Ghazouani is a former general and right-hand man of the former general-president Abdel Aziz. Military intervention in the Mauritanian situation seems to be driven by the need to act as an arbiter in the system when an equilibrium cannot be found within itself. The military is not interested in starting a new phase of “democracy” and “fight against corruption”, its interference simply guarantees that a balance is found and maintained so that the elite can continue to safeguard their own political and economic interests. (Photo: a touareg walking in the desert. 123rf)

Luciano Ardesi

 

Angola. Santa Teresa Education Centre. Educate in values.

The Sisters who belong to the Slaves of the Divine Heart run a school in one of the poorest suburbs of Luanda. Educate to create the future for this country.

The education centre is located in the Palanca neighbourhood of the municipality of Kilamba Kiaxi, a poor part of the Angolan capital where asphalt is scarce and where simple single-story houses line both sides of the dirt road. Like other neighbourhoods in Luanda, Palanca grew rapidly, without any urban planning, to accommodate people fleeing the civil war that ravaged Angola from 1975 to 2002 between the MPLA, the ruling party and the UNITA guerrillas.
Entering the Santa Teresa educational centre which has been run by the religious congregation the Slaves of the Divine Heart since 1996, we see the boys and girls in their official school uniform, a cream-coloured t-shirt with blue edges, the colours of the institute.

Sister Carlota Martinez, director of Santa Teresa Education Centre.

Spanish Sister Carlota Martinez welcomes us with a big smile. Sr Carlota remembers that “When we arrived here, there were only two very simple houses and the children sat on the floor or on cans because there were no tables or chairs. We started looking for funds so that the children could have a good education.”
In a few years, with the support of a number of international organizations, they built the various buildings that
make up the school.
The number of students at the Santa Teresa School increased as the facilities grew. Today there are around 825 boys and girls aged between 5 and 15 accompanied by around 45 people including teachers and service staff.
Enrolment is open to everyone even if, as Sr. Carlota reminds us: “We keep a quota reserved for Catholic students”. After registration, there is an entrance exam and only those who pass are admitted. The monthly fee is of approximately 3,500 kwanza (around 4 euros) per month. Says Sr. Carlota: “The fee is lower than that required in most schools in Angola of the same level. However, those who cannot pay regularly are not expelled as in other schools but finish the course in the hope that before the final academic results, their families will complete the payment. Furthermore, the school grants scholarships to around fifty students with the condition that it be used for school and which can be 50% or 75%, depending on the family circumstances of each one.”

A student at the Santa Teresa Educational Centre. There are around 825 boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 15.

Santa Teresa School covers all stages of compulsory education in Angola, which begins at age five with a children’s course; continues with the primary cycle, from the first to the sixth grade, and ends with the first secondary cycle, seventh, eighth and ninth grades. After that, those who want to continue their studies after a period of preparation choose between professional or university training which, depending on the faculty, can last three or four years.
On paper, everything looks perfect, but in this 2023/24 year, millions of Angolan boys and girls have not been able to enrol in school. The government only invests 2.4% of GDP in building schools or providing teacher training and it is not clear in which language the teaching is to be carried out because in some places Portuguese is used whilst in others different local languages such as Umbundu, Kikongo or Kimbunduare used. “The big cities are better served with regards to education -acknowledges Sr. Carlota -, but the provinces are completely abandoned. Public school teachers are not accompanied which means that you will often find 80 or 90 students in a single primary class. What can a teacher do with so many children? Textbooks which, in principle, are free up to the sixth grade, are often found being sold on the streets while none arrive in schools.”

A mother holds her daughter as she waits to be seen at the clinic on the school grounds.

From the beginning, the Sisters tried to create a family atmosphere in the school, being close to the students, getting to know their families, and dealing with the preparation of the teachers. An important element in this training journey is helping to bring about the meeting and dialogue between teachers and parents. The Sisters take great care of the religious aspect because as Sr. Carlota says: “Educating means transmitting the person of Jesus”
Most educational centres run by the Catholic Church in Angola are public-private since the state selects, provides and pays the teachers. In the case of Santa Teresa, only 70 per cent is paid by the State, while the other 30% are contributions paid by parents or other organizations.
In the Santa Teresa educational centre, only 20% of the students are Catholic, the rest belong to the Protestant churches or one of the many Christian sects that exist in large numbers in Angola. For Sr. Carlota “the vast confessional variety is not a problem: we have a lot in common and no one is far from what we offer here”. She adds: “We start with the little ones, we talk about Jesus Christ and his values so that they can later freely choose their way.”

View of Luanda. “We remain here, helping to build the future for this country through education.” File swm

Sr Carlota feels the importance of presenting the Good News of Jesus Christ which she considers the greatest service that the school can bring to Angolan society, especially in the religious context of the country, of which the missionary is very critical: “There is a great syncretism and people do not assume loyalty to a religion. The Catholic Church is also struggling. I notice that the catechesis, the homilies of the priests and even the training of the clergy are very normative, centred on the Ten Commandments, the consequencesof which is  religion made of laws and not love. We need to help people know the person of Jesus Christ, experience him, and choose him freely. Only in this way can you have a profound and personal experience that does not remain on the surface.”
Speaking about the future of the country, Sr. Carlota does not hide her concerns. She says: “Some parents ask us for certificates that the child is studying in the school to obtain a visa to travel to another country.
I wonder what future a country has when so many people want to leave. Corruption is rampant and government is very centralized.
Anyhow, we remain here, helping to build the future for this country through education.”

Enrique Bayo
Photos: José Luis Silván Sen

 

 

 

 

The Svalbard islands, the Russian challenge to NATO in the Arctic ice.

The Svalbard archipelago, in the far North of the Arctic, has been an object of deep geopolitical interest for the Russian Federation for decades. The area is still governed by the 1920 Treaty, which gave Norway limited sovereignty over the archipelago.

The Treaty of Svalbard, drawn up in 1920, established Norwegian sovereignty over the archipelago, which had been the subject of geopolitical contention since the era of whaling expeditions in the 19th century. However, it entails some restrictions for Norway, such as the ban on military installations and the commercial freedom for the countries adhering to this treaty comprising 46 states, to be able to settle in the archipelago.
In some cases, there have been legal disputes, in particular on the application of the Norwegian sovereignty of the Treaty relating to the distance in nautical miles away from the coast of the archipelago, in a part of the Arctic Ocean which is of interest to fishing vessels of various nations, including the Russian Federation.

Svalbard Political Map with capital Longyearbyen, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. iStock.

The exploitation of the coal mines in which the archipelago was rich led the Soviet Union to build permanent settlements such as Barentsburg and Pyramiden, of which only the first is still inhabited today.
According to the Treaty, Norway placed the archipelago under the authority of the Sysselmann, appointed by the Norwegian crown, who performs the functions of civil governor, as well as being the contact figure with the Russian settlements, separated from the main centre of Longyearbyen, where the majority of the population live, mainly Norwegians.In the 1930s, the five-year plan for heavy industry planned by Stalin encouraged the exploitation of the mineral resources of the archipelago, above all through the state company Arktikugol, founded in 1931, responsible for the settlement of Pyramiden and the acquisition from the Dutch company Spitzbergen, of the Barentsburg mining complex, a settlement inhabited by a few hundred Russian citizens and some Ukrainians, heirs of the generation of Soviet miners from Donbas.
Arktikugol, together with the Russian consulate, still manages life in the settlements today. It also operated following Yeltsin’s privatisation of the coal industry. After the reduction of mining activity, the company diversified its activities by focusing, for example, on tourism, a source of income which before 2022 also generated income in foreign currency.
In 1998 Pyramiden was closed and since then all activities have been concentrated in Barentsburg, including the Russian consulate, which maintains the official presence of the Kremlin, while the company’s registered office is in Moscow.The Russian government finances Barentsburg with generous subsidies to maintain a strategic presence within the ambit of Russia’s Arctic policy.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has undermined the peaceful coexistence between the Norwegian and Russian communities, with migration, already begun before 2022, by Ukrainian citizens
present in Barentsburg.

The Longyearbyen harbour at Svalbard. iStock/Andre Schmitt

The Arktikugol, controlled by the Kremlin, aligned itself with official thinking on the “special military operation” through censorship of social networks and organised a pompous Victory Day parade in 2023, in which the Norwegian Sysselmann was also invited, which he refused in line with the policy of Oslo, a NATO member, supporter of Western sanctions as well as the sending of weapons to Ukraine.
The defence of Russian interests in the world is one of the cornerstones of the foreign policy of the Kremlin. The Svalbard Treaty thus becomes an object of contention and, recently, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev compared the rights of Russian-speaking people in Ukraine to the Russians of Svalbard, complaining, in his opinion, of a Norwegian policy hostile to economic development and to scientific research on the Russian side.For Oslo, the Russian threat could concern not only disinformation but also the possible sabotage of marine oil and gas pipelines, as well as telecommunications transmission cables. Norway, in fact, is a fundamental supplier of oil and natural gas for several EU countries, which is now even more important following the Western sanctions that hit the Russian economy and reduced gas imports from Gazprom. (Open Photo: Polar Northern lights in the mountains of Svalbard, Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, Norway. iStock/ BublikPolina)

Lorenzo Pallavicini/CgP

Myanmar. They survived the Loikaw inferno.

Former Burma has become an open-air prison since the military junta took power three years ago. Little news manages to arrive from a country where communications are precarious.
Kayah State is one of the worst affected. The testimony of the bishop of Loikaw and the story of the missionaries in the refugee camps on the border with Thailand.

Three years after the coup d’état of February 1, 2021, by the military junta in Naypyidaw, the political capital of Myanmar, the country remains locked in internal violence and international isolation. A few months afterwards, the powerful general Min Aung Hlaing appointed himself prime minister, while all the deputies of the National League for Democracy – the party that had won the 2020 legislative elections – were put in prison, starting with the leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Last April, Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, moved from prison to house arrest. She has spent nearly two decades under some form of arrest since 1989. CC BY-SA 3.0/ C.GEORGE

Telecommunications and the internet blacked out, the blanket search of homes, violence and tanks in the streets of cities are among the few pieces of news that in recent years have managed to cross the borders of a country that seemed to be on the road to democracy. Instead, the hard fist of the military junta in power has reignited the ethnic conflicts of former Burma with the consequent formation of local armed organizations which have coalesced into the Alliance of the Three Brotherhoods (made up of the Arakan army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance and the Ta’ang-Tnla National
Liberation Forces).

Loikaw Cathedral burnt down
Since last November, clashes have intensified in the state of Kayah, the smallest in Myanmar, in the mountainous area on the northern border with Thailand. The Burmese military junta has used heavy weapons, fighter planes, armoured vehicles, ballistic missiles and mobile defence systems. As a result, 80% of the civilian population fled their villages into the forests and mountains or sought refuge in refugee camps on the Thai border and other locations in neighbouring Shan State.
The diocese of Loikaw was particularly affected, where in the previous months around eighty people, including 10 priests, 16 religious and some employees, had taken refuge in the Pastoral Center near the Cathedral of Christ the King which the government soldiers attacked three times, and finally burned, as told by the bishop, Monsignor Celso Ba Shwe who was forced to abandon Loikaw. “We tried to convince the military of the importance of religious sites, asking them to spare the place, which among other things welcomed displaced people. However, on the night of November 26, the military intentionally hit the Pastoral Center several times with artillery shells, destroying the roof of the Pastoral Center chapel. For safety reasons, we decided to leave the Pastoral Center. Shortly before our departure on November 27, 50 soldiers came and occupied the structure to use it as a base.

Burma Military helicopter landing. The Burmese military junta has used heavy weapons, fighter planes, helicopters, armoured vehicles, ballistic missiles and mobile defence systems. iStock/Tanes Ngamsom.

Since November 2023, nearly 40,000 people in Loikaw, out of a total population of 50,000, have fled their homes after junta offensives, including artillery shelling against Karennis rebels, who were fighting in an attempt to take control of the city.
In recent months, Msgr. Celso Ba Shwe, 51, continued to move, visiting the various refugee camps. Bishop Celso says: “A bishop has a great responsibility in caring for the people entrusted to him, not only for their spiritual well-being but also for their physical well-being in times of crisis and conflict. Being the bishop, I am involved in emergency humanitarian response, when people are affected as in this case by man-made disasters through conflict.”
Speaking of his diocese he comments: “In my diocese, out of 41 parishes, 31 have been displaced and temporarily closed. More than 40 buildings in the diocese were destroyed. The population of the diocese is approximately 89,000 inhabitants, of which almost 70,000 are displaced. The priests, men and women religious, including myself, are displaced together with our people, fleeing under the fire of artillery and attacks from the air.”The bishop continues: “Only solidarity, justice with mercy, love with compassion while respecting human rights can bring about the change we need. I am very encouraged to see our Catholics maintaining their faith in the midst of such great difficulties: in almost all the camps where there are Catholics, there is a simple place of worship, even if made only with bamboo, for the prayer of the rosary and for the celebration of the Eucharist on Sunday. Where there is faith in God there is always hope. In this seemingly dark time in which we sometimes feel disoriented in the face of the evil and violence that surrounds us, in the face of the hardship of so many of our brothers and sisters, we need hope. We must not let hope abandon us because God with his love works and walks with us.”

Monsignor Celso Ba Shwe, bishop of Loikaw. “As a bishop, I am involved in emergency humanitarian response, when people are affected as in this case by man-made disasters through conflict.” File swm

Mgr. Ba Shwe was unable to celebrate the rites of Holy Week and Easter in his cathedral in Loikaw so he did so in a new “bamboo cathedral” dedicated to Christ the King, a simple wooden chapel, specially built in the forest to be able continue to celebrate the Eucharist: this, he recalls, “creates the community, which gathers around Jesus, even if dispersed across the territory, remaining united in prayer in a time of tribulation”. This is what the Bishop said to the displaced people who, traumatized and suffering, find themselves in spontaneous refugee camps, improvised in some areas, or in other camps organized with the help of the local Church. “We have no idea how long this situation and this time of precariousness will last. I don’t know in what conditions we will find the cathedral or when we will be able to return to it. We pray to the Lord and we entrust ourselves to Him as a community that desires and asks for peace and salvation, the gift of Easter that we all await with great hope”, the bishop concludes.

Solidarity
The Church, missionaries and nuns are mobilized to help the affected populations. “I am also with them in the refugee camps”. Commenting, a missionary from Thailand who is involved in assisting refugees.
He continues: “Just over the mountains we have Mae Hong Son camp which contains 8,000 refugees who come from Loikaw province. They are the ones who managed to get there. Many people gather at the borders, while village leaders of various ethnic groups try to prevent people from fleeing so as not to abandon the territories to the violence of the military junta.”

Good Shepherd Sisters use a boat to go to a safer location as fighting becomes more intense in Loikaw, last November.

Father Dominique and Father Joseph are two Thai priests trying to organize aid to be brought to Myanmar. “We try to provide the essentials: medicines and rice because the situation of extreme poverty of the people is worsening and there is widespread hunger.”
The missionaries add that people say that, while escaping, they were bombed several times by military planes.
Meanwhile, last December the Missionary Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament of Loikaw, managed to bring the orphaned girls of their school to safety, even at the risk of their own lives, trying to testify to their faith in God and love for the Burmese people. Sister Pansy says: “In every place where people live in a state of war, Jesus is close to those who suffer, whether in the forest, the refugee camps or in the tents waiting for food and care. He gives them hope and resilience, supports them and becomes a means of conveying the affection of the prayers and solidarity of their brothers and sisters.” (Open Photo: Shutterstock/ Suphapong Eiamvorasombat).
M.F.DA

 

EU Bishops in view of the 2024 elections.

Given the elections for the European Parliament to be held on 6-9 June 2024, the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) has issued a statement inviting all citizens, especially Catholics, to prepare for the elections and vote responsibly “promoting Christian values and the European project”.
Below is the statement.

We, bishops representing the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, call on all citizens, especially Catholics, to prepare for and vote in the coming European elections of June 2024. The European project of a Europe united in diversity, strong, democratic, free, peaceful, prosperous and just is a project we share and for which we feel ownership. We are all called to express this also by casting our votes and choosing responsibly the Members of the European Parliament who will represent our values and work for the common good in the next European Parliament.

The European integration project was born from the ashes of the terrible wars that devastated our continent in the last century causing great pain, deaths and destruction. It was conceived with the intention of guaranteeing peace, freedom and prosperity. It was brought about due to the courage and foresight of persons who were able to overcome historical enmities and create something new that would make war practically impossible in our continent in the future.

At first, this project was an economic project, but it entailed also a social and political dimension and shared values. Many of the founding fathers of the European Union were committed Catholics who maintained a strong belief in the dignity of every human being and the importance of community. We believe that this project, that started more than 70 years ago, must be supported and carried forward.

Today Europe and the European Union are going through challenging and uncertain times with a series of crises in the last years and difficult issues to face in the near future, like wars in Europe and in the neighbourhood, migration and asylum, climate change, growing digitalization and use of artificial intelligence, Europe’s new role
in the world, enlargement of the European Union and change
in the Treaties, etc.

To address these crucial issues in the light of the foundational values of the European Union and to construct a better future for us and the next generations, not only in Europe but also in the world, we need courageous, competent and value driven policymakers who honestly pursue the common good. It is our responsibility to make the best possible choice in the coming elections.

As Christians we must try to discern well for whom and for which party to vote in this important moment for the future of the European Union. Thus we have to consider factors that also may differ from one country to another – for example, the possibility of choosing candidates or only parties, the electoral programmes of the different parties, the candidates themselves who present themselves.In regard to such matters,
the Bishops’ Conferences in each member state can also
offer useful orientations.

Moreover, what is important is that we vote for persons and parties who clearly support the European project and who, we reasonably think, will promote our values and our idea of Europe, such as respect and promotion of the dignity of every human person, solidarity, equality, family and the sanctity of life, democracy, freedom, subsidiarity, care for our “common home”….

We know that the European Union is not perfect and that many of its policy and legal proposals are not in line with Christian values and with the expectations of many of its people, but we believe that we are called to contribute and improve it with the tools democracy offers us.

Many young people will vote for the first time in the coming elections, some of them as of the age of 16. We encourage strongly young people to exercise their vote in the coming European elections and
so construct a Europe that assures their future and does justice to their genuine aspirations.

We also encourage young European Catholics who feel the call to engage in politics to follow this call, preparing themselves well, both intellectually and morally, to contribute to the common good in a spirit of service to the community. In a frequently quoted speech delivered by Jacques Delors in Bruges the 17th October 1989 in the College of Europe, the then President of the European Commission addressed the young students with the following words: “For you are being invited to play your part in a unique venture, one which brings peoples and nations together for the better, not for the worse”.

As European bishops, we make this call to the young students our own and address it to all European citizens. Let us engage in the European project, which is our future, also voting conscientiously in the coming elections!

 

Angola – DR Congo – Zambia. The Lobito corridor. The mineral railway.

This infrastructure will change the trade routes of Southern Africa. It will be used, above all, as a route for the transport of critical raw materials and strategic minerals. American, European
and Chinese interests.

It was in 1902 that the Portuguese administration undertook the construction of the Benguela railway, 430 km from Luanda. As often happened during Portuguese colonialism, a rich British entrepreneur, Robert Williams, was chosen to carry out the work. The idea was to connect the port of Lobito (in southern Angola) by rail with Katanga, in DR Congo, rich in copper. The work was ready in 1929 and was immediately very profitable. It became even more so in 1973 when the Southern Rhodesia-Zambia border was closed. The Angolan civil war destroyed a good part of this infrastructure, which therefore had to be almost entirely rebuilt when the conflict ended between the Angolan government and Savimbi’s Unita (Savimbi died in 2002).

Map: Usa

Infrastructure and China’s role
Financing began to come from China, given Western reluctance towards Angola, whose government was recognized by the United States only in 1993. In 2004, an agreement between Luanda and the Export-Import Bank of China provided for an exchange of oil and infrastructure, worth $2 billion. Three railway routes were built, all heading east, starting from the ports of Luanda, Lobito and Namibe, as well as the redevelopment of Luanda airport, the construction of the industrial centre of Viana and roads in 17 provinces of the country.
After China, other countries entered to finance infrastructure and housing in Angola, including Brazil, Portugal, Spain, South Africa and Canada. The port of Lobito has also seen important Chinese investments, as well as that of the Angolan government, for around 1.2 billion dollars. The port will have the capacity to handle approximately 4 million tons of goods, while an airport was built in Catumbela, halfway between Lobito and Benguela, with Angolan national funds and thanks to the intervention of the Brazilian Odebrecht, the Portuguese Somague
and the Cuban Imbondex.

American interests
If China was the first country to understand the importance of the Lobito Corridor, in recent times a central role has been assumed by the United States which will probably continue to do so in the coming years. Through the African Finance Corporation (AFC), President Joe Biden’s advisor on infrastructure and energy, Amos Hochstein, recently said in Lusaka that the AFC has already allocated $1 billion to build or improve the rail line of the Lobito Corridor up to Zambia.

Lobito Port is the second largest seaport in Angola. CC BY 2.0/ David Stanley

The line should become operational by 2028. American interests essentially concern the Zambian side. Zambia, in fact, is becoming one of the reference countries for US policy in the region, thanks to a huge boost to its economy. Lusaka and Washington signed a bilateral agreement on 30 March 2023, while the European Union also recently agreed with what Washington proposed. The EU joined the financing of the Lobito Corridor, having signed, together with the USA, an agreement initially stipulated between the African Development Bank and the governments of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, together with the Africa Finance Corporation.
The American and European enthusiasm for the Lobito Corridor is now so passionate that this infrastructure was even the subject of discussion at the G20 in New Delhi, in September 2023. Complete with statements from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who spoke of a “turning point” not only for the entire regional trade
but also for the world.

Lobito, what is at stake?
The veritable race to finance the Lobito Corridor has very specific causes: the mining sector of Zambia and DR. Congo. In these countries, in fact, there are raw materials such as copper, cobalt, manganese, zinc, but above all the new “white gold”, lithium, necessary for electric car batteries and more.
Today, Africa holds 5% of the world’s lithium reserves, of which Australia is the largest producer. However, there are only two countries that currently manage to exploit it: Zimbabwe, the sixth world producer, and Namibia, where the Chinese company Xinfeng Investments, which manages the Uis mine, has been accused by the NGO Global Witness of exploiting excess local labour and of bribing the Namibian government to receive licenses, which should have been granted to small local consortia. In Zambia there are enormous copper deposits: it is the second African producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lobito Corridor is to become the third most key corridor in the SADC region by 2050. Photo: Government of Angola.

However, the declining production in recent years, due to technical difficulties, has induced the government led by Hichilema (in office since 2021) to commit more to this sector, seeking partnerships to energize the entire local economy. The other element that Westerners covet is cobalt, of which Kinshasa is the world’s leading producer. Cobalt is also necessary for electric cars and the Democratic Republic of Congo has the Kisanfu reserve, in the south-east of the country, among the largest in the world but currently unexploited.

Competition without borders
Following China, Western governments have also understood the importance of this strategic mining area and the Lobito Corridor, starting a competition without borders which, at the moment, is seeing China still prevailing in Angola, while the United States and the European Union are seeking closer collaboration with Zambia and DR Congo. The latter country is experiencing a profound crisis, and not just today, with neighbouring Rwanda.
For the future, there are at least two elements to evaluate. On the one hand, the cases of Namibia and Zimbabwe should set a precedent: the new appetites for mineral resources, once secondary, risk repeating unsustainable models of human and environmental exploitation, as has historically happened with oil and gas. On the other hand, the movement towards Lobito, resulting in important commercial traffic on the Atlantic coast, could further impoverish the other side of the continent, that of the Indian Ocean, already affected by conditions of poverty and marginalization which could worsen today.(Open Photo:123rf)

Luca Bussotti

Talitha Kum against people trafficking.

Fifteen years ago, Talitha Kum was established as an International Network of Consecrated Life against Trafficking in Persons by the International Union of Superiors General (UISG.) A long journey of commitment alongside many exploited people. We talk about it with Sister Abby Avelino, the international coordinator of the Network.

“We live in a world where human relationships are valued based on what people “have”, rather than what they “are”. This last dimension is often discarded and forgotten, leaving the field open to the first: to be, I must have, at any cost. We need a paradigm shift in society and in individual mentality,” Sr. Abby affirms.
Born in Tanauan, in the Philippines, Sister Abby Avelino, 58, of the Congregation of the Sisters of Maryknoll has been the international coordinator of Talitha Kum, the Rome-based international network against human trafficking and exploitation, since last year.Founded in 2009 by the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), the network celebrates this year the fifteenth anniversary of its foundation.

Sister Abby Avelino, the international coordinator of the Network. Talitha Kum operates on five continents, with 58 inter-congregational networks spread over 97 countries. (Photo:TK)

Sister Abby has a degree in Engineering and worked as a mechanical engineer as a young woman. Then, having become a missionary, for years she carried out her activity in Japan with migrant women, who suffer abuse and are exploited as domestic workers. “Coming African and Asian countries, many of them had been deceived by traffickers; that’s where I started thinking about getting involved in the anti-trafficking ministry. We founded Talitha Kum Japan in 2016, so I was appointed regional coordinator for Asia,” she says.
The next step was her appointment as international coordinator: “My commitment is to proclaim the loving presence of God through service in mission, with care, love and healing for all, regardless of culture, creed, race, nationality, gender or age”.
Talitha Kum operates on five continents, with 58 inter-congregational networks spread in 97 countries. Last year it reached more than half a million people. Talitha Kum’s mission is to end human trafficking and exploitation through collaborative initiatives focused on prevention, protection, social reintegration and the rehabilitation of survivors, partnership and advocacy, as well as promoting actions that
impact systemic causes.

Talitha Kum group from Burkina Faso. The network aims to “Share our lives with those in situations of social vulnerability and the risk of trafficking”

“Our network, including religious, lay people and young people, exceeds 16,000 members. It is based on the rich tradition of Catholic women inspired by the life-giving ministry of Christ, who engage in community work,” says the missionary.
The network aims to “Share our lives with those in situations of social vulnerability and the risk of trafficking. We have accepted the invitation to stand with those who are discriminated against, exploited and victimized by modern slavery, breaking the silence, indifference and conformism that support human trafficking and every form of commodification of life. We value and promote collaboration and partnership with all organizations that are committed to eliminating human trafficking and its causes”, Sr. Abby tells us.
“In the face of so many situations of violence and exploitation, the Talitha Kum network not only wants to provide physical and emotional support but also spiritual support”, the religious Sister explains. “We promote access to justice, and we invite everyone to oppose what promotes and supports human trafficking, denouncing the arrogance and violence of economic-financial power, when it acts against the dignity of the person.”
In 2022, the profit generated by trafficking exceeded 150 billion euros. “Networking is key to building a world free from human trafficking. Each of us has a role to play and has gifts to manage with deep faith in God”, the Sister comments”.
For Sister Abby, it is important to give a political response to the phenomenon of trafficking. For this reason, the religious woman highlights three aspects in particular.

Talitha Kum group from The Philippines. “Networking is key to building a world free from human trafficking”.

The first is to create accessible and practicable legal migration channels. Especially for the many people trapped in conflict zones, there is often no choice but to turn to traffickers to escape hunger, despair and death.
The second is to create dignified working conditions that respect people. The demand for cheap, unprotected labour is increasing, not only in developing countries but also in modern, rights-based societies. Trafficked people are the ideal commodity to be included in a labour market increasingly devoid of rules, where profit maximization brings matters to extremes, to the point of denying rights related to work.
The third is the worrying increase in the gap in treatment and opportunities for men and women.
The progressive privatization of education pushes girls increasingly to the margins, while those already included in the job market are still often forced to choose between family and career, to the detriment of their economic autonomy. Dependent women are vulnerable women who often choose to believe traffickers’ promises to escape a life of subjugation, humiliation and violence.

Talitha Kum group from South Africa. The network includes religious, lay people and young people.

Sr Abby says: “We at Talitha Kum are concerned about the rampant throwaway culture, where everything is disposable – goods, food, land and even the lives of those on the margins. Talitha Kum calls for a change in the dominant paradigm towards greater legal, social and economic justice for those on the margins and at risk of falling into the hands of traffickers and exploiters, for survivors who ask for recognition and help to repair their broken lives. The victims remind us of the need to define norms and policies to support the fulfilment of men and women as individuals and members of the community, but above all to promote a culture of dignity and an economy of care.”
Since its foundation, Talitha Kum has continued to promote courses for the formation of new territorial networks, networking and collaboration with various organizations committed against human trafficking. (C.C.)

 

The Mask of Genius.

It was a scorching dawn. Scattered across the vast grassy savannah beyond the rocky mountains, the villages seemed to bleach under the thick blanket of clay dust that accompanies the dry season. Birds were singing in the azure sky.

On that day, a genie decided to make all butterflies disappear from the face of the earth at will. In truth, he was taking revenge for his own hideous appearance on all beautiful creatures.  Cheeky and cynical, he captured everything he found that was superlative and wonderful.

Around midday, a little girl would chase butterflies in the fields for fun. It was her favourite game. She saw a strange creature eating all the butterflies at a bend in the path. Outraged, she approached the creature to complain but was greatly disturbed by its appearance.
Nevertheless, the little girl found the courage to speak up: “Give back the butterflies! You are bad.” Astonished, the genie said to her: “What are you interfering in?”

The genie, realising that he was dealing with a defenceless child, told her not to be afraid.  But the little girl, expressing her disapproval and indignation, asked him: “Why do you eat poor butterflies?” “Nature has not been good to me – replied the genie -.  I have all the powers in the world except the power to make myself more beautiful than I am. But don’t worry. The butterflies I swallow don’t die”.

“If that is the case – the girl said – then I can help. I will give you a beautiful mask in return, but you must release the butterflies you have swallowed from the earth.

Intrigued, the genie promised to free all the beings he had imprisoned within him. Then he opened his belly as colourful as a rainbow and as immense as the horizon, within which one could see radiant flowers and lustrous green plants, and said: the rising sun, laughing in
the perfumed air.

Looking at them so beautifully he was moved! Now they could flutter with life. Thousands of white, yellow, violet, ochre and amber butterflies were seen flying out of her heart and soaring towards her heavenly soul.

They flew, danced and twirled, happy to see the light of day again. Splendid sulphurous veils spread in the wind breeze like heaps of gold. Particles of emerald mixed with crystalline dust filled the sky all around.

The child felt happy! Thrilled that the genie had kept his promise, she gathered the most beautiful flowers and made for him the most beautiful mask ever seen, with intoxicating fragrances.

Moved by so much human affection, the genie was amazed. Every time he wore his mask, butterflies would run to rest on it to enrich it with their beauty! (Photo:123rf)

Folktale from Kenya

 

Ghana. Living Art in Tamale.

In recent years the inhabitants of this northern city have witnessed the birth of innovative cultural institutions that challenged conventions and brought contemporary arts closer to local communities.

Travelling from Accra to Tamale is like going to another country. The language, habits and geography itself are very different, similar to those of the Sahelian countries. Most southern Ghanaians have never set foot in Tamale, and don’t intend to. These premises are fundamental to understanding how revolutionary and exciting the recent developments that have occurred in the city are. Before diving into this scenario, it is useful to provide a little background.

Red Clay Studio in Tamale. Photo courtesy of Red Clay

At the turn of two millennia, the very essence of Ghanaian art began to be questioned with the accusation of being dated and neocolonial: in most cases, artistic production aimed mainly at creating goods to be sold to visitors and tourists.
Furthermore, the lack of economic support forced artists to rely on foreign patrons and platforms, often limiting the diffusion of what was considered art of a certain value. A collective of thinkers, artists and professors began to question the status quo. Coming from the art faculty of the Kwame Nkrumah School of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, they became known as blaxTARLINES Kumasi.

Renewal
Led by teacher and artist Karî’kachä Seid’ou, the collective fought to redefine the narrative that surrounded and actually produced Ghanaian art. Specifically, their goal was to revolutionize the Ghanaian art space, empowering and challenging artists to explore new horizons. And the world took note: blaxTARLINES made Art Review’s annual Power100 list, a list of the industry’s 100 most influential figures globally. One particularly prolific student of blaxTARLINES Kumasi is Ibrahim Mahama: over the last decade, he has established himself as one of the most relevant contemporary artists in the world. His installations have been exhibited in the most important museums and institutions on the planet.

Ibrahim Mahama. Founder of the Savanna Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA) and the Red Clay studio. CC BY 4.0/George Darrell.

Mahama, too, is originally from Tamale, and his work here is as grand as his enormous installations. In 2019, he founded the Savanna Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA) and the Red Clay studio, soon followed by the purchase of an abandoned silo, now renamed Nkrumah Volini. Those who come to visit these places are struck first and foremost by the vastness of their dimensions. Large structures to display, discuss and create, spread across acres of land. These spaces are more than just artistic hubs: they are dynamic community centres that welcome local and international guests and connect them with the many students who come to visit them. Indeed, the endless flow of young people, whose minds seem enraptured by the experience, is as grand a sight as the spaces that host it. Mahama and his institutions place great importance on connecting with young people. One of the issues they have addressed with great commitment is that of transport. For primarily rural communities, getting to the centres can be a challenge. In this context, SCCA and the Red Clay studio are always ready to make shuttles available or provide funds for fuel: «In our vision, all this is done for the students, and transport cannot be an obstacle», explains Selom Kudje, director of SCCA.

Community Centres
Once logistical barriers have been overcome, Mahama says it is crucial to ensure that the community understands the value of the work done in the centres. Fishbone, the publisher of the popular blog Sanatu Zambang, dedicated to the arts and culture of northern Ghana, warns: «In the Tamale area, if a family has enough money to send their children to school, they do so in the hope that they will become teachers or nurses. Art is generally seen as a path of failure.” This is the reason why when Mahama gained notoriety, his art was seen as somehow foreign and aimed at foreigners.

Workshop with students at SCCA. Photo courtesy Scaa

Aware of these assumptions, Mahama has regularly organized conferences to bring the community together, to explain the vision and the art exhibited in its centres. The vision of photographer Nii Obodai, founder of Nuku Studio, is also on the same wavelength as Mahama, who also sees sustainability and connection with the community as priorities. His reality, housed inside an unused warehouse in Tamale, aims not only to provide a space that is available to photographers but also to foment the creation of an entire creative ecosystem, from publication to design to exhibition. Obodai also works to connect Tamale with other international showcases such as Addis Foto Fest, LagosPhoto and Johannesburg’s Market Photo. Nuku Studio collaborates with international institutions and develops locally sourced products to support its vision. At the heart is the connection between sustainability and community development, an approach that reflects Obodai’s commitment to making the creative industry an integral part of Tamale’s economy. All these collective efforts aim to create a space where art is not only a form of expression but also a catalyst for social change.

Routes of Rebellion. Vision Arts of Jesse Weaver Shipley. Photo courtesy Red Clay

The generosity, energy and desire to experiment and find a home in these places encourage young people to broaden their reach and redefine their function in society. The impact is profound, setting the foundation stones of Tamale’s cultural renaissance, which goes far beyond the confines of traditional art spaces. (Open Photo: Blindfolding The Sun and The Poetics Peace. A Retrospective of Agyeman Osei at the Savanna Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA).   Photo: Elolo Bosoka/Courtesy SCCA.)

Benjamin Lebrave

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