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Congo Research Group, Peace and Security

Aide to Congo President Sentenced to 20 Years for Corruption

Bloomberg interviewed Congo Research Group's Fred Bauma about the sentencing of President Felix Tshisekedi's former chief of staff Vital Kamerhe on corruption charges.

“The verdict gives hope to Congolese who continue to decry the theft of their resources by political elites and the impunity they’ve enjoyed until now,” Bauma said. “However, Vital isn’t the only guilty one and justice will be incomplete if he’s the sole person prosecuted and convicted.”

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Jun 20, 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa
Congo Research Group

The DRC is riveted by a political thriller

The Institute for Security Studies interviewed Congo Research Group senior researcher Fred Bauma about the corruption case against Vital Kamerhe, President Félix Tshisekedi’s chief of staff.

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Jun 12, 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa
Congo Research Group
Rule of Law

For the Army, With the Army, Like the Army? The Rise of Guidon Shimiray and the NDC-Rénové in Eastern Congo

Formerly a small local militia, Guidon Shimiray’s Nduma Defence of Congo-Rénové (NDC-R) is today one of the most powerful armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A new report from CIC's Congo Research Group (CRG) draws on 18 months of fieldwork to provide the first in-depth investigation into the origins of this armed group, showing how it is part of a proxy war led by the Congolese army.

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May 13, 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa
Fragile States, International Security
Congo Research Group

COVID-19 on the African Continent

Congo Research Group director Jason Stearns co-authored this correspondence article in The Lancet modeling the effects of a COVID-19 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"To illustrate the potential burden of SARS-CoV-2 epidemics within the most vulnerable countries in Africa, we simulated a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in DR Congo in the absence of interventions," write Stearns, Chad R. Wells, Pascal Lutumba, and Alison P. Galvani. "Given the high prevalence of comorbidities in DR Congo, as there is in Africa more broadly, the death toll could even be much higher."

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May 06, 2020
Jason Stearns
Sub-Saharan Africa
Congo Research Group
Crises, Humanitarian Crises

SA Advised to Cancel its Commitment to Giant DRC Hydroelectric Power Project, Says New Report

The Daily Maverick covered a new report by CIC's Congo Research Group about South African support for the Inga III hydroelectric project.

"The authors of I Need You, I Don’t Need You conclude that because buying Inga III power doesn’t make economic sense, Pretoria’s commitment appears to be based mainly on foreign policy reasons, including solidarity with the continent," the article observes.

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Mar 20, 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa
Congo Research Group
Post 2015 Development

I Need You, I Don’t Need You: South Africa and Inga III

South Africa is preparing to back one of the largest infrastructure projects on the continent: the Inga III hydroelectric dam in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A new report from CIC’s Congo Research Group and Phuzumoya Consulting, I Need You, I Don’t Need You: South Africa and Inga III, places South Africa’s backing of Inga III in the context of foreign policy, arguing that the contradictory and uncertain dynamics of South African support for the dam puts into question the bankability—and indeed the feasibility—of the whole project. 

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Mar 19, 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa
Congo Research Group

Nearly 200 killed in two eastern DRC provinces last month: monitor

An Agence France-Presse/Yahoo News article references the Kivu Security Tracker, developed by CIC's Congo Research Group and Human Rights Watch. The article quotes the findings that "armed groups and security forces killed at least 197 civilians over the course of the last 31 days of 2019," which made December "the deadliest month for civilian deaths" the tracker has recorded since its creation in 2017.

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Jan 27, 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa
Congo Research Group

Congo’s $14 Billion Dam Project Threatened by Disagreements

Bloomberg cited the "Inga III: Kept in the Dark" report by the Congo Research Group and Resource Matters.

The article mentions the report's revelation of a letter exchanged between the Chinese consortium and Congolese agency responsible for the project, after the parties involved in the construction failed to agree on the shares each would receive.

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Oct 27, 2019
Sub-Saharan Africa
Congo Research Group

Inga III: Kept in the Dark

Inga III Dam

In this new report, Resource Matters and the Congo Research Group tell the story of the negotiations around the world's largest hydroelectric site, the Inga III Dam project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The report argues that there is currently no guarantee that the Congolese population will benefit from the electricity generated by the planned power plant.

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Oct 28, 2019
Sub-Saharan Africa
Congo Research Group

Exclusive: Behind the Front Lines of the Ebola Wars

A recent article about the fight against Ebola in Nature references a recent report that CIC's Congo Research Group published with Human Rights Watch. As the story notes, "around 1,900 civilians have been massacred in North and South Kivu in the past three years and another 3,300 people have been abducted," according to CRG's report, and the ongoing conflict is one of the root causes behind the continuing spread of the Ebola virus.

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Sep 01, 2019
Sub-Saharan Africa
Congo Research Group
Humanitarian Crises

Related Publications

  • For the Army, With the Army, Like the Army? The Rise of Guidon Shimiray and the NDC-Rénové in Eastern Congo

    Formerly a small local militia, Guidon Shimiray’s Nduma Defence of Congo-Rénové (NDC-R) is today one of the most powerful armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A new report from CIC's Congo Research Group (CRG) draws on 18 months of fieldwork to provide the first in-depth investigation into the origins of this armed group, showing how it is part of a proxy war led by the Congolese army.

    Read more
    May 13, 2020
    Sub-Saharan Africa
    Fragile States, International Security
    Congo Research Group

  • I Need You, I Don’t Need You: South Africa and Inga III

    South Africa is preparing to back one of the largest infrastructure projects on the continent: the Inga III hydroelectric dam in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A new report from CIC’s Congo Research Group and Phuzumoya Consulting, I Need You, I Don’t Need You: South Africa and Inga III, places South Africa’s backing of Inga III in the context of foreign policy, arguing that the contradictory and uncertain dynamics of South African support for the dam puts into question the bankability—and indeed the feasibility—of the whole project. 

    Read more
    Mar 19, 2020
    Sub-Saharan Africa
    Congo Research Group

  • Inga III: Kept in the Dark

    Inga III Dam

    In this new report, Resource Matters and the Congo Research Group tell the story of the negotiations around the world's largest hydroelectric site, the Inga III Dam project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The report argues that there is currently no guarantee that the Congolese population will benefit from the electricity generated by the planned power plant.

    Read more
    Oct 28, 2019
    Sub-Saharan Africa
    Congo Research Group

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