This is one of the questions to ask following the current events taking place there. I’m looking into it this evening to try to understand…
Henock Inonga Baka is comforted by a member of the staff after the defeat of the DRC against Ivory Coast in the semi-final of CAN 2024. REUTERS – LUC GNAGO / RFI
While the end of the African Cup of Nations is fast approaching and the poster for the final between the host country and Nigeria is more than tempting, we must face the facts: euphoria collective will not have distanced us from sad realities for long. Between the forcing orchestrated in Senegal, the Bopda affair and the rise in the price of fuel in Cameroon, the Nigerian currency which continues to tumble a little more or the killings which continue to mourn the east of the DRC, football will have been a very temporary palliative and there is no doubt that we will STILL have to count on the famous resilience of the African people. It’s actually a notion – resilience – that ends up annoying me over time…
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Cameroon: police arrest businessman Hervé Bopda, accused of sexual assault
I am from the DRC!
The documentary “The empire of silence – The unpunished crimes of the Congo” released in Belgium since 2022 resurfaced in African news this week. The reason: an attack perpetrated by the ADF-Nalu armed group on February 5 caused at least 18 deaths in Ituri, in eastern DRC.
This tragedy recalls the numerous unpunished injustices that have marked the history of the DRC and which are displayed in the aforementioned documentary… which reappeared on social networks, following a wave of mobilization on TikTok and by the young Congolese diaspora.
Thierry Michel, already recognized for his work on this country, breaks the silence in this moving documentary which had already received an enthusiastic reception when it was released more than a year ago. For 110 minutes, the film exposes the brutal realities of the Congolese conflict since 1996, highlighting the crimes and the devastating consequences on the population. The documentary benefits from the participation of Dr Denis Mukwegewinner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, who gravely expresses the plundered wealth of the Congo and the extreme poverty of its people.
Available for a month on until and already viewed by nearly 400,000 people…
Dr Denis Mukwegewinner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. C: The empire of silence – the unpunished crimes of the DRC
And yesterday, at the start of the highly anticipated Ivory Coast Vs DRC match, I really liked the symbolic gesture of the DRC players during the performance of their national anthem. But not only that, many Congolese had posters in the stadium during the meeting.
A Congolese with a poster expressing the current situation in the country. C: Kinoiseries (with consent)
The seum is indeed the involvement of the leopards coach, Sebastien Desabre in synergy with its players andth comment by captain Chancel Mbemba at the end of the match.
Some photos from this moment. C: Pic Grid/Badal Fohmoh
The cost of living in Cameroon
A few stone’s throws from the DRC, Cameroonians complain constantly. This country is killing young people, the committed artist Valsero predicted it, one would say a prophet. This country is really killing young people – otherwise, I don’t understand how in a normal country you have to wait 2,3,4 years for the luckiest before getting your national identity card but wait a few days or even a week maximum to obtain your passport. This country is killing young people, I tell you, it was Valséro who was right. He is always right – since current events force us to prove him right… The lions have barely returned from their misadventure in Ivory Coast when the prices of basic necessities have already increased. What can we say about fuel, domestic gas, the ever-increasing electricity and water cuts, the growing youth unemployment, the worrying state of the roads, embezzlement of public funds by the authorities… Just last week, the morals affair concerning sieur Bopda broke out on Cameroonian social networks, there was radio silence from the State. But as long as a journalist invites the people to take responsibility by demanding accountability from local elected officials regarding the rise in prices, he is already in custody at the State Secretariat for Defense (SED), he looks like a criminal… I am tired of the injustices in this country, it’s revolting, it’s contemptuous, it’s unacceptable…
So many situations which make me increasingly nourish my project of immigration abroad. If there is an opportunity to get a job abroad, even at the bottom of the ladder, I will not hesitate to take it.
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What can we say about current Senegal?
The Constitutional Council, in Dakar. © William de Lesseux/RFI
Politics and I are like cats and water but really… I am speechless. Every time I see African presidents who never stop wanting to confiscate power. I am in pain. Each day that passes is one day of democratic regression too many. 314 days separate us from December 15, 2024….the date on which Macky Sall wants to postpone the presidential election, although scheduled for February 25. He who had nevertheless affirmed that he would not run again…
Have we become the laughing stock of the world? It’s a SHAME… Why are our leaders putting us through this?
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In March 2021, Macky Sall’s regime faltered, and yet no major blow came to bring Senegalese democracy to its knees. Who would have imagined 3 years later that the presidential elections will not be held on February 25, but postponed to December 15? That Ousmane Sonko has been in prison for several months under the guilty silence of all Senegalese? That there would have been so many deaths due to politics? Who would have thought that a laughable image of the Senegalese National Assembly would be provided to the eyes of the world? Africa is suffering from its leaders. The people are demanding something new but the old people do not want to give up power. They increase fuel, and therefore everything related to it.
They cut the electricity on average 6 hours a day. How are we supposed to find the money to support this rising cost of living?
I end up believing that these presidents will exit through the smallest of doors and bring their honors with them. Which would be a shame!
In short, today I have no comment to make. I at least hope you’re okay from where you’re reading me right now.
Please take good care of yourself, your path matters.
With all my affection, Badal.