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A new partner.

Each of these three ‘rebel states’ has forged more or less strong ties with Russia, the global player that has been most active and unscrupulous in Africa in recent years.

This growth in influence has been primarily at the expense of France, the colonial power. In some ways, ties with Paris remain strong. Suffice it to say that French is the official language of Burkina Faso and Niger, as well as one of the most widely spoken languages in Mali. But France has long since become a favourite target of anti-colonialist propaganda that is on the rise in many West African states. This propaganda is probably also fuelled by Russia, which has every interest in ousting a competitor from these areas and asserting its own role.
In reality, Russia’s is a comeback. Moscow had in fact supported in several ways the revolutionary experience of Thomas Sankara, the military and political leader who in 1984 transformed the former French Upper Volta into Burkina Faso (‘Country of Upright Men’).

Burkina Faso Soldiers conduct security measures during training on small unit tactics, at Camp Zagre. Photo: US/ Brittany Slessman.

After the failed coup attempt in September 2023, thousands of Russian military and paramilitary personnel arrived in Burkina Faso to carry out various tasks, including training special corps members and contributing to the security of the head of state.
It is difficult at the moment to say how long Russia’s support will last, given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and its at least partial political and economic isolation. Moreover, in other contexts, such as the Central African Republic, Moscow’s support has proved invaluable to the local government in the fight against rebel groups, but not decisive, and accompanied by drawbacks such as the demand to be able to extract the country’s mineral resources without control. Similar logic could be repeated in Burkina Faso. But until one or more external partners (African or otherwise) intervene with concrete support in terms of troops and weapons in the fight against the jihadists, Moscow will have an easy time presenting itself as the solution to Burkina Faso’s security problems. It has to be said that there is no lack of suspicion towards the Russians on the part of Burkinabé officials, who do not look favourably on the fact that Moscow’s men have penetrated the top echelons of the state and local security apparatus.

Old friends
Relations between Paris and Ouagadougou have soured since September 2022, after the current junta’s rise to power. Shortly after the coup, it terminated the military agreement between the two countries that had been signed in 1961 and removed the French troops that were present on its territory. To come to some recent events, on 16 April 2024, the Burkinabé government announced that it had expelled three French diplomatic officials, accused of subversive activities. On 1 December 2023, four other French officials were arrested in Ouagadougou and put in prison. They are currently still in Burkina Faso in a guarded residence.

Two men from Burkina Faso show their support to Russia for the reopening of the Russian embassy in Ouagadougou in 2023. Chérif Konaté / VOA

In reality, this situation is mainly the consequence of several factors on the French side as well. For years, France has been struggling to obtain the resources (in economic terms first of all, and then in terms of human resources and armaments) necessary to ensure its presence in West Africa in the same way as in the past or, at any rate, to such an extent as to guarantee a certain political influence.
In other words, France was already weakened before the arrival of the Russians and the rise to power of military juntas in these states. And this weakness was the result of a crisis at the level of the French political leadership, which seems to have basically not yet decided
what role to play in these contexts. Then other actors intervened to
take advantage of this situation.

Niger. Aerial photo of Fort Madama. France was already weakened before the arrival of the Russians. CC BY-SA 3.0/Thomas GOISQUE

In this context, no actor (individual country or organisation) has yet emerged at the regional level that is able to make a significant impact on the security situation, for instance by acting as a deterrent to groups interested in seizing power by force. Nor is there anyone capable of forcing the hand of the military juntas and pushing them to organise a transition to democracy. Interests between countries differ politically, and within civil societies, there are sectors that are opposed to armed intervention or sensitive to the anti-colonial propaganda of the military juntas. This makes both the action of individual governments and that of organisations such as ECOWAS problematic. Governments which, of course, fear the contagion effect, and thus that someone in their armed forces will follow the example of Traoré and Goita and drive them out. But they do not have the tools to counter the three rebels. So, in the case of Burkina Faso, there is currently no one on the horizon who could from the outside put effective limits on the junta’s action. (Open Photo: Flag of Russia on military uniform. Shutterstock/ Bumble Dee)
A.C.

Mohammed Abu-Numer. Building Peace.

A Palestinian transplanted to the United States committed to peace and dialogue, and founder of the Salam Institute, he is the winner of the 2024 Niwano Prize, the “Nobel of Religions”.

A professor in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at the American University in Washington, Mohammed Abu-Numer stood out for his “contribution to the cause of peace”. This is the reason why he was awarded the 2024 Niwano Prize by the Japanese Foundation.

In the statement the Niwano Foundation states: “What is most impressive about his work is his holistic contribution to the cause of peace,” it read, noting that his contribution “integrates education with conflict resolution and peacebuilding activities, particularly through his profound understanding of forgiveness and reconciliation in Islam and applying it effectively in practice.”

Abu-Nimer’s commitment, moreover, is a commitment that has been carried out for many years and relaunched in recent months, after the Hamas attack that triggered Israel’s war in Gaza. His life has always been spent for peace and interreligious dialogue, both as a scholar and as an active and committed person in the field.

The choice of the Award also demonstrates the importance of maintaining vigilant attention towards an area such as the Holy Land which is still today the scene of clashes and violence of a confessional, political and social nature. In the motivation, the promoters underline the educational work promoted by Abu-Nimer, in an attempt to resolve conflicts and encourage activities aimed at “building peace through the profound understanding of forgiveness and reconciliation in Islam”.

His contribution is not only theoretical but is applied effectively in practice and which has greater significance today “in light of the ongoing conflict” in its lands of origin, where “one of the most devastating wars” in the world is taking place.

Abu-Nimer, who currently teaches at the American University in Washington, is also the founder of the “Salam Institute for Peace and Justice”, which has always directed attention towards the “differences” between Islamic and non-Islamic communities, initiating projects that embrace different cultures and faiths intending to build peace and sustainable development, particularly in Muslim-majority nations.

Originally from a village in the North of Galilee, at the age of twenty, he took part in a training course on dialogue which marked his life and professional path and led him to engage personally in meetings and discussions between Muslims and Jews, between Israelis and Palestinians, paying particular attention to the areas of greatest
conflict and tension.

Since the 1990s he has also explored the critical issues between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, relations between Buddhists and Hindus in Sri Lanka, Islamic-Christian relations in the Philippines, in the Balkans and various African countries. He was also among the first to organize projects in Saudi Arabia and to work in several Arab countries.

The Niwano Peace Prize, named in honour of Foundation founder Nikkyo Niwano, aims to recognize and encourage those who significantly contribute to inter-religious cooperation, fostering global peace. Nikkyo Niwano envisioned peace not only as the absence of conflict among nations but as a dynamic harmony within individuals and communities. (Photo:Kara Lofton)

Dario Salvi/MM

Nigeria. Charismatic Islam surprises Lagos.

In the country’s most populous city, Muslim prayer groups have adapted to a scenario marked by the growth of Pentecostal Churches. Borrowing aspirations and rituals of a spiritual sentiment far removed from the traditional Islamic world.

Lagos, one of the most complex realities in West Africa, defies easy classification. Extending over 1,000 square kilometres, the megalopolis presents an intricate mosaic of seemingly contrasting yet interdependent realities. It is precisely in the megalopolis of Lagos that the multifaceted panorama of a newborn nation like Nigeria unfolds, where different realities seem to coexist in an apparent balance in a condition of continuous dynamism.
One of these changing realities is certainly that of religion. To understand its fluidity, it is necessary to start from the 1970s, a period that marks a significant turning point in the evolution of the nation. It was precisely in those years that Nigeria freed itself from the authoritarianism of the military government, beginning a period of fragile and unstable civilian governments. This step will not only open the way to conflicts of a political nature but also above all religious ones.

Lagos. Muslims attending Friday prayers, during the holy month of Ramadan at Lagos Island Central. Shutterstock/ Tolu Owoeye

During the decade in question, Nigeria experienced a period of unexpected economic good fortune thanks to its oil. The country did benefit from the embargo on crude oil imposed since 1973 by OPEC members on nations close to Israel, in the context of the tensions triggered by the Yom Kippur War. However, towards the 1980s, a series of endogenous factors, together with the collapse of the price of oil due to the discovery of new energy resources, determined the abrupt end of the Nigerian economic boom. These were also the years of the Structural Adjustment Plans that affected the whole of Africa: international financial institutions condition support for developing countries on the adoption of neoliberal economic policies. Also in Nigeria, this translates into strong privatizations in the public sector, increased economic inequalities and a general economic crisis felt by the population.

The growth of the “Gospel of Prosperity”.
It is precisely in this context of crisis and instability that the rapid success of Pentecostalism takes place, capable of providing hope to the needs of a population now disillusioned with the state and its institutions. The “prosperity gospel” preached by Pentecostal churches offers a message of salvation, economic well-being and individual empowerment, a rhetoric that the country desperately needs.
The promise of an inevitable divine intervention through prayer and the revelation of a subsequent miracle capable of improving the condition, even material, of the individual translates into the affirmation of the doctrine of prosperity even on the public scene.

It is in Lagos, that Muslims, perceive the need for change. 123rf

Aspiring politicians are beginning to see Pentecostal groups as an electoral resource to turn to, and some are actually able to succeed thanks to their political support.The progressive insinuation of Pentecostalism into the private and public life of the nation ends up causing concern among members of the Muslim community. The protagonism of this new form of charismatic Christianity pushes Islam into profound introspection, reevaluating its position and influence in society. However, it is not simply opposition between two religions competing for the public scene: Islam, in Nigeria, chooses a different path; adopting a strategy that Islamic orthodoxy would consider as “Bid’ah“, an unacceptable and aberrant modification of the religion.

The Nasfat
It is in Lagos, an important crucible of religious realities, that Muslims, especially those who speak Yoruba, perceive the need for change. New ideas therefore began to mature within Islamic prayer groups as early as the 1980s, becoming more widespread starting from the 1990s, as in the case of the Nasrul-lahi-li Fathi Society of Nigeria, or Nasfat.Founded by a group of bankers educated in Ibadan, Nasfat positioned itself as the promoter of an “Islamic renaissance” that would also influence subsequent groups.In the Nasfat mosques, we observe the pinnacle of a charismatic interpretation of Islam, where the imams adopt attitudes and preaching styles similar to those of Pentecostal pastors. The threat of the effectiveness of Christian propaganda, capable of recruiting new believers, is strongly perceived and manifests itself in the clear attempt to learn and employ charismatic pathos in one’s mission of “Dawa” (proselytizing action).

Muslim faithful praying under a bridge in Lagos. Shutterstock/ Oluwafemi Dawodu

This is how around Lagos, next to the advertising signs where sermons and meetings with famous Pentecostal pastors are promoted, you can find just as many advertisements where the names of imams and “ulama” (religious experts) who sponsor meetings and prayer sessions stand out aimed especially at the faithful. This assiduous advertising activity, initially adopted only by Pentecostal groups, is gradually absorbed by the Muslim community, also through social media, with the same flashy graphics and communication style.
If the success of many Pentecostal Churches, especially among young people, can also be attributed in part to the rhythms of the Gospel, which transform services into an interactive and engaging experience, even in “charismatic” mosques the element has begun to incorporate music.This practice unquestionably challenges any traditional dogmatism, according to which music and musical instruments are considered “haram” (forbidden) and consequently associated with evil activities. The choice of days dedicated to prayer also undergoes
a significant change.

The choice of days dedicated to prayer also undergoes a significant change. File swm

The adoption of the practice of carrying out Sunday prayers at the same times as Christian ones represents a clear adaptation to the needs of Nigerian society, where Sunday is a weekday and consequently more practical for the faithful than salat-al-jumu’a (Friday prayer) prescribed by Islamic rule. In addition to being justified as a way to avoid presenting oneself as less devout than Christians, “Islamic Sunday” poses a challenge to official institutions that still do not recognize Jumua
as a public holiday.
Furthermore, an extension of the duration of the “salat” (prayer) is observed. If in other traditional mosques, the prayer ends in no more than ten minutes, in the case of Nasfat it can last for hours, similar to long Pentecostal services. In addition, Christians are no longer the only ones who practice “Night Vigils”, or long sessions of nocturnal prayers. Today, in the streets of Lagos you can meet Muslims engaged in the same practice, as happens during “Laylat al-Qadr” (night of destiny) in the last days of Ramadan.

The reasons for change
From this picture, there emerges heartfelt anguish on the part of Muslim faithful at being marginalized and ostracized compared to their Christian compatriots in numerous aspects of public life in Nigeria. The incompatibility of some religious precepts with a society driven by a desire for progress and material realization means that these emerging Islamic groups transform, at least in part, the religious institution
into a business model.
Organizations such as Nasfat aim to train young Muslims who are educated and aware of their mission of spiritual awakening, but who are also active agents in the national public scene through “empowerment” activities aimed at strengthening their economic position.

“Islamic Sunday” poses a challenge to official institutions. File swm

Practical advice, loans and investments for small businesses offer concrete support to promote the economic development of the community, including through Tafsan (Nasfat in reverse), which is emerging as the fulcrum of the group’s financial activity. It is a multifunctional company that mainly deals with the organisation of pilgrimages and also with the production and sale of a malt-based non-alcoholic drink, Nasmalt, with more ambitious plans for the future, such as the establishment of a bank that operates in accordance with the principles of Islam.
Nasfat then organizes courses aimed at every segment of the population, including some dedicated to women’s activities. The latter begin to play important roles of power, comparable to those of the imams, arousing disapproval from the most fundamentalist faction of Islam but at the same time underlining an internal drive towards the reform and updating of the religion which therefore develops beyond simple competition with Pentecostal Christianity.

Lagos. It is one of the most complex realities in West Africa. File swm

In the charismatic reform of Islam promoted by Nasfat, a significant change is observed not only in religious practices but also in theological concepts. This transformation includes interpreting the Prophet Muhammad not only as a spiritual leader but also as an example of a successful businessman. Furthermore, similar to the conceptualization of spiritual warfare in Pentecostalism, charismatic Islam also recognizes the existence of a perpetual spiritual battle between beneficial and evil forces.The changes taking place within the Nigerian Muslim community, particularly in Lagos, are not unanimously shared by all the faithful. Clashes, theological discussions and disagreements on the part of followers and sometimes their leaders are frequent. Also, for this reason, the adoption of charismatic rhetoric and practices is not to be interpreted as a simple attempt to emulate the Pentecostals, but as an internal reform, promoted by agents who actively operate within the religious panorama of the country.
It is still an ambiguous process, which finds fertile ground for experimentation; a terrain that on a small scale reflects the entire context of Nigeria, where contradictory elements collide and different realities dialogue, continuously influencing each other.

Ahlam Taik

 

Uganda. Ker Kwaro. The Guardian of Acholi culture.

A cultural institution representing the Acholi chiefs. Their rules for society today.

The Acholi are a Luo-speaking group of people living in the Northern Uganda, and they are believed to have migrated from Bahr el Ghazal in South Sudan. By about 1,000 AD. Starting in the late seventeenth Century.  Ker Kwaro Acholi is a cultural institution representing the chiefdoms in Acholi. This Institution comprises 54 traditional leaders who are heads of clans (Rwodi singular Rwot or chiefs) of the Acholi people, each clan in the Acholi region represents chiefdom.
The institution is the custodian of Acholi cultural practices and traditional values. Ker Kwaro dates back to 1400AD when the Luo ethnic group started a migration southward through South Sudan. By 1912, there were 50 well-established hereditary chiefs in Acholi land. According to history, the institution and ideology of ker Kwaro are crucial to the development of an Acholi society and identity was introduced into north-central Uganda by the Paluo.

Acholi chief. By 1912, there were 50 well-established hereditary chiefs in Acholi land. Photo: Richard Buchta (1845-1894)

The Paluo were part of the same Migration that came down through South Sudan, they were the first Luo in parts of Acholi and the new ruling Babito Dynasty in Bunyoro Kitara. The Babito moved into core areas of Bunyoro and eventually adopted the Bantu Language of the majority there. While the Paluo settled in the very north of the kingdom and continued to speak Luo. The Paluo were a part of the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom, their experience and ideas of society and government were shaped by that Kingdom. Three related aspects of this Paluo experience were vital to the development of the new political and cultural order in Acholi. The basic Paluo concept of rwot was hereditary rulers who enjoyed great prestige, and respect organized tribute payments to rulers in recognition of their authority and possessed the royal regalia most importantly the Royal Drums as a symbol of their rule.These features embodied the fundamental ideological elements and principal centralizing structures in the Acholi chiefdoms.

Acholi Village in the North of Uganda.File swm

When the Paluo arrived in Bunyoro-Kitara, their traditions were asserted. The Paluo joined the Bunyoro-Kitara, and they accepted the authority of the Bunyoro-Kitara king whom the Paluo called Rwot.
Rwot in Paluo meant not only the Bunyoro-Kitara king but also the heads of the Paluo chiefdoms. Each Paluo Chief owed allegiance to the Bunyoro-Kitara King.Within his own Chiefdom, a chief seemed to have a smaller-scale replica of the king. They received allegiances and respect; they collected tributes keeping some and passing some on to the King
of Bunyoro-Kitara.

Payira Paico and Paibona Aspect.
Another aspect of the origin of ker kwaro acholi is the aspect of Payira, Paico and Paibona. There is another belief that the three indicate a close association of their origin, especially their royal origin. The three ruling lineages assert that one of their ancestors was the famous Labongo, leader of the early Luo when they quarrelled and separated at Pubungu. Paico and Paibona traditions add that Ayira, Acoo and Abona were brothers and their father was Labongo.

Dancers from acholi region ready to perform a cultural dance. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Ngumenawe

They proclaim the royal lineage of the three chiefdoms as early Luo then they also link from early on, the smaller chiefdoms of Paico and Paibona and then the larger and powerful Payira. Paico and Paibona lived near Payira during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when Payira became the largest and most powerful chiefdom in Acholi he overshadowed and dominated his neighbors’ claims of brotherhood stretching back to the early luo of Pubungu.
The three settled in the central zone of Acholi where there is a higher percentage of royal lineages than anywhere else in Acholi, they settled in the central zone of Acholi to date.Meanwhile, Acholi’s claims of ties to Pubungu are rare. Bunyoro\Paluo is invoked far more often than Pubungu to assert Luo origins. The only Acholi groups whose traditions include reference to Pubungu are the royal lineages of Alero, Patiko, Pawel, Koc, Bwobo, Paico, Paibona and Payira.

First Luo Chief and Royal Regalia
The Paluo Chief possessed royal regalia originally conferred as gifts by Bunyoro-Kitara kings.The Paluo concept of rwot referred to a cluster of the general attributes of attitudes towards political leadership.The Paluo makes the relationship between the Ker Kwaro, tribute and royal drums clear.The Royal Regalia included Royal drums, Royal Spear, Royal Stool and Royal Beads.It is believed that the first Paluo Leader was a woman named Nyawir. The royal regalia conferred on Nyawir included a Drum, Stool, Spear, and beads. That is the origin of the royal regalia used
in the Ker Kwaro to date.
When the second Paluo chief Rwot Pajao took over, the Bunyoro Kitara rulers who were now Babito and not Bachwezi gave him similar regalia. But in both instances, the most important regalia were the royal Drum.
Bunyoro Kitara political Culture as experienced by and filtered through the Paluo served as a model for Chiefdoms in Acholi.

Authority and Roles
One crucial characteristic of these chiefdoms was the limited power and authority of those at their head. The problem came from the small size and small population of the chiefdom, the rwot sharing political power with village lineage heads. Another limit on the power of rwot was the dissatisfied members of the chiefdom to migrate.
Chiefs (Rwot) and royal lineage (kal) used many strategies to establish the new order and their leading place in it. Both rowdy and other members of Kal frequently forged marriage alliances with potential or newly joined subordinates royal narratives traditions in particular recount many instances in which rwodi(chiefs) provided food to eat, a place to settle, military protection or assistance for those in difficulty. The ability to arbitrate disputes that individual lineage heads or the heads of multiple-village groupings could not.

Traditional dress for Acholi women. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Bettycath

Rwodi represented them and were acknowledged by their followers as rainmakers an especially attractive power in the dry and uncertain physical environment of Acholi.
Positive enticement brought lineage into chiefdoms such as the continuing importance of existing lineage leadership, each lineage continued to choose its head and the lineage head with the assistance of his elders also continued to organize lineage-based production control the material meant the ideological rules of the marriage, conduct and interpreted lineage rituals, settle most internal lineage disputes and manage lineage affairs.
Most Lineage heads (rwodi or Lodito Kaka singular Ladit Kaka) took on new roles in the chiefdom in their capacities as the main advisors of the rwot. Lineage heads worked with rwot to settle disputes between lineages and the chiefdom and also disputes between the chiefdom and outsiders like other neighbouring kingdoms.
They also helped determine and collect compensation for wrongs and crimes committed and organized major chiefdom rituals such as the annual planting and harvesting ceremonies. Coordinated and supervised tribute collections and services.

The Raka-raka dance is a traditional dance from the Acholi people. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Kateregga1

Within most lineages, heads not only continued to play primary roles in their lineages but became key people in polity-wide rituals as well. Many took specific chiefdom-wide and chiefdom-oriented ritual duties, they oversaw the maintenance of the royal regalia, some took care of rwot’s abila (shrine) some kept the rainstones(ame) used for making rain and others arranged funerals and burials when rwot died and also helped select and install his new successor.
Chiefdom-wide rituals focused on the gods or spirits(Jogi or Jok) distinct from the ancestors. Because they are part of the belief systems of a wide range of contemporary central Sudanic and Nilotic people.

Succession
The succession of a rwot belonged to the youngest son of the wife who had undergone installation with the deceased rwot known as dako Ker (chief wife). Succession was also based on consideration of several preferences and not rigid stereotype rules. Qualities such as generosity, intelligence, proper manners and behaviours towards others counted more than the order of birth. Village lineage heads who were prominent elders of the royal lineage(Kal), and dako ker of both the deceased and succeeding rwot often played important roles in the selection
of the next rwot.

Back home after school. File swm

Four features marked succession rituals in many chiefdoms.  Royal regalias and other common symbols associated with rwot were the royal drum (bul ker) would be played royal, royal spears (tong ker) and other regalia would be displayed rwot and other participants would be seated on royal stools (kom Ker) draped in leopard or lion skins.
Dako Ker the chosen successor often specially picked to be installed with him had a role in the ceremonies, she was a caretaker of the royal regalia. Specific lineage and lineage heads had particular roles in the succession ceremonies, one lineage may be responsible for playing the royal drum during the installation of a chief, others provide councillors who sit next to the succeeding rwot and dako ker, another lineage may provide a lineage head to anoint the succeeding rwot with oil, All roles are signified positions of these lineages and their heads within the chiefs and provided highly visible avenues for individual lineage and pride.

Ker Kwaro today
Today the cultural institutions still exist though their roles have now changed as compared to the past, today Ker Kwaro has helped in facilitating reunification and reintegration of ex-combats in their communities, through performing traditional cleansing (Mat oput), mediation, harmonious relationships and resolution process, and maintaining and emphasising the Acholi traditions and customs. The institution is still a hereditary institution with all its chiefdoms intact. (Open Photo: A traditional Acholi dancer. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Ngumenawe)

 Irene Lumunu

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brazil. The gospel sails along the river.

In the Prelacy of Labrea, in the state of Amazonas, the Laguna Negra hospital boat, in collaboration with the Epifania Community, serves to announce the Gospel and improve the health conditions and quality of life of the indigenous and riverine population.

In 2006, the Epifania Community began a mission in the Prelature of Labrea, sending four missionaries to help with pastoral training in the Parish of St. John the Baptist in the Municipality of Canutama. Working with the population on the banks of the Purus River, a tributary of the Amazon, immediately presented itself as a great challenge. But one of the missionaries’ greatest concerns is the health situation.
Municipal centres have small clinics that function without any structure. It is not unusual to witness people dying from snake bites due to a lack of serum. Tropical diseases, which are widespread during floods and ebb tides, cause damage, especially to children.
In January 2007, faced with this challenge, the community decided to launch a project aimed specifically at the riverine and indigenous population, using a hospital boat that would travel along the Purus River, to provide medical and dental assistance to these populations.

During the mission voyage, daily services begin at 8.00 am and end at 5.00 pm. Photo: Epifania Community.

The project concerns the four municipalities that make up the Prelature: Labrea, Canutama, Tapauá and Pauini, located in the central-southwestern region of the State of Amazonas. The boat is owned by the Prelature of Labrea and has two medical offices, a dental surgery, three cabins with beds; a kitchen with a stove, cabinets and a bread maker, as well as other staff amenities. During the mission voyage, daily services begin at 8.00 am and end at 5.00 pm.
At the start or end of each day, there are prayers or Mass presided over by the priests who accompany the journey. Various activities are carried out: medical visits with clinical examinations, blood pressure measurement, the administration and supply of drugs; dental care (extractions, fillings, prophylaxis, consultations and preventive discussions on oral hygiene), medications and urgent care with the administration of intravenous and intramuscular drugs; home visits with medical assistance for the elderly and bedridden, in addition to spiritual support provided by priests.

An interesting aspect of this project is the involvement of volunteers. Photo: Epifania Community.

Eliana Machado, missionary of the Epiphany Community, said: “In 2023 we carried out around six thousand visits to the coastal populations and indigenous communities, in addition to missionary visits, pastoral activities and Eucharistic celebrations. Our desire is always to bring hope, charity and love to our brothers and sisters along the river. Every year we count on medical volunteers who carry out this mission
together with the Church”.
An interesting aspect of this project is the involvement of volunteers who come every year to provide their service to the indigenous and riverine communities. Monsignor Santiago Sánchez Sebastian, bishop of the Lábrea Prelature, emphasizes that this project is part of a larger project called the ‘Sister Church Project’.“The Sister Church Project was created by the CNBB – National Conference of Brazilian Bishops – at the end of 1972. The objective was to share faith, gifts of grace, pastoral experiences, people and financial resources as gestures of Christian charity towards the Churches of the ‘Amazon.”

Houses along the river. “Last year, we carried out around six thousand visits to the coastal populations and indigenous communities”. 123rf

At the beginning of 1972, the archdiocese of Vitória, in the state of the Holy Spirit took charge of the project with the Prelature of Labrea. The bishop continues: “The missionary projects developed in the Amazon with the support of the sister Churches are a sign, a reminder and a stimulus for the entire Brazilian Church to be truly missionary, ‘in a permanent state of mission’”.
The Prelature of Labrea was created on 05th January 1925, with the Bull “Imperscrutabili Dei consilio” of Pope Pius XI.  It was entrusted by the Holy See to the care of the Order of Augustinian Recollects.
Today, the Prelature is made up of five parishes, with 16 priests serving more than 74,000 people in an area of 68.262 km². Last February, Thiago Mendes Alves, the first priest of the Prelature, was ordained, marking a significant chapter in the ecclesial journey of the region. (Open Photo: the Laguna Negra hospital boat. Epifania Community).

Bernardino Frutuoso

Cameroon. Children are a blessing for the pygmies.

Akas pygmy men spend a lot of time with their children. The attention and affection they show them, as well as the way they bring them up, are unique. Economic and environmental challenges, however, threaten the way of life of these people.

The afternoon sun slips behind the tall trees that populate the Dja River Biosphere Reserve in southern Cameroon. It fades into patches of deep red, orange and purple. Hundreds of birds emit their last chirps before taking refuge in their nests.
In the distance, the cries of monkeys and the bellowing of some other animals. The humid and unrelenting heat of the day gives way to a light breeze that brings relief. Along rainforest paths, young people return to their huts with containers full of matango, a palm plant. They are the last to return home. Before them, women, men and children have returned to their villages, finishing the day’s work.
In Ndjibot, the smoke rising through the palm leaf roofs covering the huts suggests that dinner will soon be ready.

“Children are precious, they are our future, a gift from God” File swm

Meanwhile, in a corner of the village, a group of men are sitting on logs that serve as benches. Most of them have a little boy or girl in their arms. They talk to each other, discuss the day’s events and laugh. The little ones who are already independent play nearby. They run, chase each other, scream. They give the impression of not bothering anyone.
Men with children in their arms are not the most common sight in many parts of Africa, although times are changing, especially in cities. Normally, in most African villages, there is a division of labour and tasks between males and females. Taking care of the house and children is always the responsibility of the women. Women are usually responsible for the nutrition, health, education and well-being of children. They are the ones who carry them in their arms, on their shoulders or their hips, while carrying out any daily task, be it fetching water, cooking, or working in the fields. However, things are very different among the pygmy people. They are characterized by a society in which men and women are equal and share all tasks.

“We protect them and we take care of them” File swm

The inhabitants of Ndjibot are Bakas, one of several pygmy groups that populate the Congo River basin. For generations, like the rest of the population, they have developed their way of living in harmony with the forest, which they consider divine. They take care of it and preserve it. For this reason, they only hunt what they can eat and share the fruits and roots they collect with other members of the group. The jungle provides them with everything they need to live and there is no need to hoard or conserve. They are semi-nomadic and follow the cycles of animals or plants. Traditionally they are organized in small groups, with monogamous marriages and open nuclear families. Children are free and fend for themselves; there is divorce and the elderly are the authorities. Most jobs are not limited to one genre or another; everyone is involved in everything: hunting, fishing, and gathering. They also differ from other people in that children are treated and valued equally.

Pygmy Society
Pygmy groups have non-authoritarian leaders. They use their wisdom only to advise, but each individual is free to make their own decisions. Among forest dwellers, nothing is more respected than personal autonomy. Pygmy society is therefore very egalitarian: only knowledge and competence are valued.

The traditional pygmy house, a sort of igloo made of branches and leaves. File swm

The master hunter – the tuma – and the medicine man – the nganga – gain prestige and recognition when they reach that level, but never authority over the rest of the village. Important decisions that affect everyone are made by consensus and involve both women and men. This lifestyle is also reflected in the education of younger children. Armand Faya says he doesn’t know why he is holding his daughter: “It has always been like this. We all take care of each other. Children are precious, they are our future, a gift from God. This is why we protect them and we take care of them until they start to fend for themselves.”

Towards transformation
Things are changing and the life of the Pygmies is slowly and inexorably changing. For years, in fact, the governments of the various countries bordering the Congo River basin have forced them to leave the forest in which they have lived all their lives and to settle along the roads.
In this way, rulers have a free hand to usurp the lands these people once roamed freely and hand them over to logging or mining companies, mostly foreign. The rest is transformed into agro-industrial farms
and agricultural land for the non-pygmy population or for large multinationals. Or in reserves and natural parks from which
they were expelled where they can neither hunt nor practice
their traditional lifestyle.

The little ones are still considered a blessing and are loved by all the members of the group. File swm

The Pygmies have been forced to become sedentary. This has had many negative consequences for them, bringing some groups, such as the Bayeli, to the brink of extinction. This community, living near the Kibri region of Cameroon, has been driven out of its natural environment to make room for planting large areas of oil palms. Without forests and rivers, they threw in the towel and sank into depression. Alcoholics without a future, the Bayeli are destined to disappear. One of the clearest symbols of change is represented by houses. The traditional one, the mongulu – a sort of igloo made of branches and leaves – was erected in a couple of days. They were easy to abandon when the family moved elsewhere and easy to rebuild when they returned a few months later. Now they have been replaced by rectangular mud buildings with palm leaf roofs, like those of the villages in the area where they were forced to settle. These are permanent structures, meaning they no longer move through the jungle following animal tracks or plant cycles, as they have done for generations. This is not just an aesthetic change but something deeper. The women built the Mongols, while the men went into the forest to look for branches and sticks. Now mud houses are men’s work and women are not assigned to this work.

The jungle provides them with everything they need to live and there is no need to hoard or conserve. File swm

At most they transport construction materials. By doing so, they gradually lost control over the family residence and so, little by little, women see the mechanisms of social power that they traditionally exercised over men and which allowed them to interact on equal terms with them disappear. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Assimilation by the peoples with whom they are forced to share road space is introducing new customs that always work to the detriment of women, as in the case of marriage dowry. “Before, it didn’t exist –  explains Faya – but now parents, copying the Bantu, ask for it.” It’s usually around 50,000 CFA francs (76 euros), plus food, machetes, clothes and household goods. If a man ‘buys’ a woman with a dowry since money is not easy to collect and involves a lot of effort in which the groom’s entire family is involved, he will consider her as his personal property and not his equal, as was the rule among the pygmy peoples. This results in other problems such as gender violence, rape and polygamy, which were previously practically unknown. Likewise, the division of labour between males and females is gaining ground.

Traditionally they are organized in small groups. File swm

All these attitudes are becoming normalised as a direct consequence of the disruption of the balance that once prevailed in the Pygmy culture. Young people also imitate their neighbours in the way they dress, their hairstyles, their cell phones, headphones and motorbikes, for those who can afford them, imitating any other young people of their age. They no longer live in the jungle; they have settled down and adopted new customs. The only thing that seems to have survived the degradation of the Pygmy culture is their parenting style. Parents still take care of their children, playing with them, carrying them, feeding and washing them. Moïse Toixton lives in the village of Namikumbi, sitting on a log, playing with his five-year-old son, Dany. He tickles him. The child laughs. It’s true, that there are things which, despite external threats, do not change. The little ones are still considered a blessing and are loved by all the members of the group.

Chema Caballero

 

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

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