DR Congo: Interesting, .......sort of.

New Vision ( Uganda ) reports

One-on-one with . . . M23 rebel leader

(SUNDAY VISION) - Goodluck Musinguzi had a chat with M23 rebel leader Bertrand Bisiimwa about his vision for the Democratic Republic of Congo.
How did M23 start?

On March 23, 2009, different groups signed an agreement with the government of Kinshasa in Goma, but after three years, we asked the government to implement the agreement in January 2012. Instead of implementing it, they threatened to attack us. In February, they attacked. CNDP and other groups decided to form an alliance and defend themselves. This is how the M23 was born.

One would have to be incredibly naive to believe that explanation. 

A recent UN report says M23 is supported by Rwanda and Uganda. Is this true?

The problems we have are not Rwandan or Ugandan, they are Congolese problems. In our claims, we do not have Rwanda or Uganda there.

As I have said I have seen no evidence to suggest Uganda was playing silly buggers over this. Rwanda on the other hand even had troops working with M23 during the run up to the invasion of Goma. Historically there can be no doubt  of Ugandan interference in the DR Congo, but it does not seem to be ongoing at the moment.

How do you feel about the presence of foreigners in the name of peace keepers and the like?

Congolese want to be free, without war. The only thing we want is good governance and security. Eastern Congo harbours foreign militias that kill people. We ask government to protect us but they refuse. When we insist, they call us Rwandans. We have a right to live. The government must answer these fundamental problems.

I actually think Bisiimwa is telling the truth here rather than avoiding the question. He ignores the the MONUSCO as irrelevant because that is actually from his and increasingly the world's perspective the reality of the UN involvement in the DR Congo. They are worse than useless and might as well be disbanded because it has become fairly clear they will not do their  job, in even so far as protecting civilians. 

Women and children are the most vulnerable during war. How are you protecting them?

Ladies are raped everyday by the government army and the marauding groups. The government has failed to sheild its people from these barbaric attacks. Women and children under our territory are secure from these attacks. You visited our area, ladies are working normally, girls going to school.

The Kinshasa propaganda machinery is trying to shift the blame, but the UN recently said it is fed up with some battalions which raped people. We call for the investigation to absolve us of these crimes, but we also hope those responsible be brought to justice.

I have no doubt that M23 have been involved in sexual violence against women in the Eastern DR Congo. This is not in anyway support for M23 but it seems that while in Goma they refrained from raping a pillaging unlike the army of the DR Congo FARDC. Everything he claims about FARDC is backed up by independent verification. I have personally been able to confirm some allegations against the FARDC bastards.  

But the continued fighting is creating IDPs and refugees

We have many problems. Gen. Bosco Ntaganda tried to manipulate some of our soldiers and former president to influence decisions in the Kampala talks. It has brought insecurity, but we are managing it. Ntaganda is collaborating with negative forces, and he has started fighting us. We have to provide security for IDPs going from Kichanga to Rwanda. We want our people to go back home next month.

There would be very few refugees who have any time for M23. They just want them all to piss off and let people live there lives in some security. That includes the Mai Mai pricks and other assorted liberation groups as well as FARDC.

Will you arrest Ntaganda?

Arrest is not our priority but fighting indispline. We can arrest and try him in our courts, but it is not our mandate to arrest him. We do not have an agreement with the International Criminal Court. If they ask to arrest him, we shall look into the matter.

That is not so much throwing down the gauntlet as taking a theoretical AK 47 and and emptying a magazine into Ntagada's chest.

What do you think went wrong with the peace talks in Kampala?

If we do not have agreement from Kampala our people will not agree with us, they do not want war. We are still waiting for a word from the Kinshasa government. We hope they will accept to negotiate and reach an agreement.

Basically nothing has so much gone wrong as nobody can agree on what to talk about.

What do you say about the use of drones in Congo?

They want to make another mistake in Congo. Our people do not want war. If the UN brings drones and soldiers to fight, we shall not accept. War is not a solution, but dialogue for peace. The UN should support the Kampala talks, so that we have a peace agreement soon.

Yawn.

My vision is not for myself, but to bring peace and good governance to the country. I will make sure the talks resume and we reach an agreement. I will tell the people why we are fighting so that we stop existing on paper only. My predecessor did not do much to build institutions but I have already started.

More yawns.

DR Congo: Rwanda should just STFU. ( Shut The F... Up )

news.com.au reports

UN wants troops and technology for Congo

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon wants more soldiers and sophisticated equipment to strengthen the peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters on Wednesday that Ban sent a letter to the Security Council on December 27 outlining proposals aimed at improving the protection of civilians from armed groups in the vast mineral-rich eastern region. The area has been engulfed in fighting since the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

It is surprising that he has to ask the Security Council for anything operational. Troops are a different matter.

UN diplomats said Ban was expected to send a report to the council later this month with specific recommendations for additional troops - up to 2000 - that could actively intervene, for example, to prevent another takeover of the key eastern city of Goma.

I would have thought that the extra AU troops that are due to arrive would have been sufficient in addition to the UN troops already on the ground. This may well refer to those troops but they already have security council approval. 

He also wants night-vision equipment, surveillance drones with cameras, and enhanced river patrols.

As I said this is operational and the Security Council has no business dealing with issues at a micro level like this. The security council should approve manpower and budgets if they are micro managing to this level then it is little wonder that MONUSCO is failing to achieve its mission. 

On Tuesday, UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous briefed the Security Council on the proposed measures but ran into opposition from neighbouring Rwanda, which is believed to be backing M23 rebels.

Rwanda has no place in these deliberations as a Security Council member. They may hold the African seat on the council but on issues relating to trhe Congo they should excuse themselves from deliberations declaring a conflict of interest.

Rwanda was especially against the possible deployment of unarmed drones. Rwanda's UN Ambassador, Eugene-Richard Gasana, said after that meeting that his government and others have legitimate concerns about the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, especially before an assessment from the UN Secretariat later this year on the legal, technical and financial implications of using UAVs.

What The Fuck ? This is just beyond belief, the UAV's or drones are flying over sovereign DR Congo territory they are unarmed. They can't kill Rwandan troops that may be  illegally deployed in the DR Congo. They can tell the world that they are there though. Rwanda it would seem takes the line that the world are gullible fools.

But here's the rub lets ignore all the evidence and assume that Rwanda is behaving in an honourable manner. They are then paranoid fools.  Some paranoid fools we have to take seriously, Rwandan President Paul Kilgame  does not fall into that category.

"It might have a precedence on other countries," Gasana said. "We owe them a kind of explanation. It is about human beings, it is not about 'Star Wars.' We need this new technology, but at which cost?"

Pathetic, in fact, worse than pathetic.

The Rwandan government denies any support for the M23, which is made up of hundreds of soldiers who deserted the Congolese army in April, mainly from the Tutsi ethnic group that was targeted for extermination by Hutu militias during the Rwanda genocide. Since withdrawing from Goma, M23 has taken steps toward negotiating with the Congolese government.

That is a generous interpretation of both M23 and the Government of the DR Congo's actions to date.

UN officials say drones could also be useful in other African conflicts and possibly in the search in Central Africa for leaders and members of the Lord's Resistance Army, a brutal gang of jungle militiamen headed by warlord Joseph Kony who is accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

I had no idea that this was the "precedence " Rwanda was on about, it however makes a lot of sense, brutal gangs of thugs obviously have standards of professional courtesy.  

 

DR Congo: Whats M23's game now ?

The Daily Monitor ( Uganda ) reports

KINSHASA, DRC: Opposition MP in DR Congo joins M23 rebel movement

                                                                                       Roger Lumbala

Roger Lumbala, a opposition parliamentarian who was elected on the ticket of the Congolese Rally for National Democracy (DR Congo/National), has joined the March 23 (M23) movement, a rebel movement operating in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), M23 officials said on Wednesday.

"Comrade Lumbala is now a member of M23, he is here with us. Lumbala understands that the revolution being launched by M23 is identical to his revolution that he has been engaged in against the regime of President Joseph Kabila since the rigged elections of Nov. 28, 2011," said Amani Kabasha, M23's deputy communication officer.He noted that Lumbala had not abandoned his parliamentary privileges to go to M23 for positions.

OK a couple of interesting points. As indicated below Lumbala is wanted for treason by the DR Congo Government. Secondly that he according to the report would seem to be in Kampala which is at odds with the Uganda Picks report. 

From  Uganda Picks 

" The DRC opposition MP, Roger Lumbala joined the M23 rebels and is currently seeking asylum in the South African Embassy in Burundi as he is being hunted down by the DRC government.

Lumbala was elected on the ticket of the Congolese Rally for National Democracy.  DRC government wants him to answer to charges of treason as he is being accused of aiding Rwanda support the rebellion in Eastern Congo. Spokesperson for the Congolese government, Lambert Mende said Lumbala had been trying to win asylum at the South African embassy in Bujumbura, the Burundian capital, and had evaded arrest by Burundian security forces whom Kinshasa had asked to detain him.

“We’re convinced he is in a group who are helping the Rwandans in North Kivu,” Mende said, referring to the province where the M23 rebels operate. Negotiations were underway to try to get Lumbala transferred to Kinshasa, Mende said, but there had been no response yet from South Africa."

It would seem Mende was correct in that assumption that he has links with M23 but it is a bit of a stretch on the evidence available so far to link him with Rwanda.

Kabasha announced that in the coming days, five other senior Congolese politicians living in Europe and the U. S. will be joining M23."If I am here, it's first because I am persuaded and convinced that it's my brothers who are fighting for among other things, the re-establishment of the truth from ballot box, something that Etienne Tshisekedi has been fighting for as the elected president of DR Congo," Lumbala said when he spoke to Xinhua on phone. Investigations by the Congolese interior ministry indicate that Lumbala, an opposition member of parliament who supports the opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, was involved in a plot to overthrow the government in Kinshasa. (Xinhua)

This will add a new and not very palatable dead rat for the DR Congo government delegation to swallow if they want the talks to proceed. M23 seem to be playing games but they should remember that others can and will want to play and at the moment they should be establishing rules not re-selecting the team. 

DR Congo: Heinous crimes all round

The Daily Monitor reports

Kabila government insists M23 committed terrible crimes

MUNYONYO

The Congolese Government delegation yesterday hit back at the M23 rebels, accusing them of committing “heinous” crimes in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo aimed at a peaceful resolution of the conflict during talks in Kampala.

The Congolese Foreign Affairs Minister said the rebels were guilty of, among other crimes murder, rape, torture and looting. The rebel delegation, which boycotted an earlier session on Monday for the government response, listened quietly as Mr Raymond Tshibanda read out what he called a “litany” of human rights violations committed by the rebels. He said the rebels were working closely with and were still being led by individuals indicted and wanted by the International Criminal Court for human rights violations, pointing particularly to General Bosco Ntaganda and Col. Sultan Makenga.

“M23 is an armed group which participated in a mutiny,” Mr Tshibanda said, “majority of their leaders are young people who have already committed heinous crimes, majority are former leaders of the NCDP,” he added.

He said both Kinshasa and international agencies had evidence to pin the M23 on murder, looting, recruitment of child soldiers among other charges. On the opening day of the talks, the leader of the M23 delegation, in a statement had accused Kinshasa of among others discriminating against Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese nationals in the east of the country and denying the region services.

Mr Francios Ruchogoza also accused the government of corruption and other violations.
The government delegation which was apparently taken by surprise on Sunday demanded an opportunity to respond to the accusations but on Monday, the day that had been set for the response the rebel delegation refused to attend the session, forcing a postponement to yesterday.

While the M23 did not respond to the statement in conference room, Mr Ruchogoza dismissed the accusations in comments to journalists outside after the talks closed. He said the leaders of M23 for both the political and military wing were well known. Bishop Jean Marrie-Runiga heads the political wing, he said.

The chief facilitator for the dialogue, Uganda’s Defence Minister, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, said he was keen to see the negotiations progress to agenda setting and ground rules as soon as possible.

“I would like to reiterate, what the leaders of both delegations have already reiterated and emphasized to me that we are here to find peace for our people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, so that they can go home, they can have services,” he said. “That is the position that has been reiterated by leaders of both delegations. I will keep in touch with both delegations so that we can agree on the agenda,” he added.

cmwanguhya@ug.nationmedia.com

Just for the record it occures to me that it might be an idea to point out the scale of the armed groups killing civilians in the DR Congo.

FARDC - DR Congo armed forces.
FNL - Burundian rebels
FRONABU aka FPM - more...

Burundian rebels
ADF - Ugandan rebels ( Muslim fundimentalists ).
Al Shabaab - Somalie Islamic fundimentalists.
M23 - DR Congo rebles ( backed by Uganda and Rwanda )
UPDF - Ugandan armed forces
RDF - Rwandan armed forces.
CNDP - Congolese rebels thought to be defunct and succeded by M23
FDLR - Rwandan rebels ( thought to be backed by FARDC and DR Congo government.
Mia Mia - Local war lords as far as I can see quite a few of them supporting who ever offers the best profit opportunities robbing and killing civilians.

Trotter on Obamas Victory

Chris Trotter opines

Obama's Victory

NO MATTER which way you read it Barack Obama’s victory is a progressive triumph. To have emerged the winner after four years of economic hardship, laced with the most toxic political poisons available to the modern communications industry, is nothing short of heroic. Remember all those MSM descriptions of the race as being “too close to call”? Wrong, wrong, wrong. As Nate Silver’s “Five-Thirty-Eight” blog always insisted, a Romney victory was never on the cards.

America moved decisively to the left in 2008 – and it stayed there. Everything we have seen since – especially the Tea-Party phenomenon – was the frenzied response of the Republican minority in denial. That frenzy wasn’t manufactured. It was real. But it was also amplified way beyond its actual significance by some of the most malign political forces America has had to contend with since the years immediately preceding the Civil War.

Taxed Enough Already. ( TEA )

 "America is ready for another revolution," she said. In a barb pointed at President Barack Obama, she said the movement is "about the people, and it's bigger than any one king or queen of a tea party, and it's a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter."

Sarah Palin

How ironic.

Why didn’t the MSM get it? Because it didn’t want to. Taking the leftward shift of the US population seriously would have meant trouble. Trouble with advertisers. Trouble with owners. Trouble with regulators. Rather than face these forces down, mainstream American journalism simply defaulted to the uncritical reporting of a “he said/she said” partisanship and called it “balance”. There were exceptions, of course, Fox News and MSNBC, but these openly partisan outlets only succeeded in pumping-up the volume in the political echo chambers.

Which left the Democratic Party, almost alone, as the only force in US politics which truly understood the extent of the shift that had occurred in 2008, and how to keep it. In the key “swing states” Obama’s people kept their offices open. In the backrooms their boffins refined and extended their capacity to mine the nation’s databases for political information the Democrats could use. The channels were kept open to the key components of Obama’s victory: Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, single women, professional men, university students, trade unionists, the LGBT community.

" While Democrats are usually the target of Tea Partiers' ire, Republicans have not always been spared. In New York, many members of the movement endorsed third-party candidate Doug Hoffman in the 2009 special election for the House seat vacated by John McHugh, over the moderate Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, pro-choice and a backer of gay marriage. Their plan backfired: Scozzafava withdrew from the race, and Democrat Bill Owens went on to win the election, albeit narrowly."

The Republicans actually ended up selecting the unelectable in many cases this time around. Batshit crazy doesn't really do them justice. 

And the Pundits missed it. They believed the Tea Party spin. They interpreted the 2010 mid-term elections as a decisive swing to the Right. And they missed the real story – the strategic decision of the Democratic Party not to issue a mobilisation order against the far-Right’s reckless bid for power.

Was it simple caution that stayed their hand? Were they not yet confident that 2008 was anything more than an unrepeatable surge of hope after years of war and in the face of the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression? Was there insufficient money in the war-chest? Or, did they simply underestimate the sheer mendacity of the far-Right Republicans: unable to envisage the extent to which they would gerrymander congressional district boundaries and crank-up the machinery of voter intimidation?

Or maybe, just maybe, it was intentional. Maybe Obama and his Machiavellian Chicago Boys played out just enough rope for the Right to hang itself? Maybe they deliberately gave the emerging Democratic majority a chance to witness and absorb just how bonkers the Tea Party crazies really were? Because, in fairness, if they had simply told their followers that Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum were completely and utterly nuts – rather than letting them prove it by their own words and deeds – who would have believed them?

Take a victory lap....
" Michelle Bachmann was the night’s other big name: another disappointed Presidential contender, transformed, more or less convincingly, into an enthusiastic supporter of the Republican ticket. “You have succeeded wildly—take a victory lap,” she said. In her view, it was the enthusiasm of Tea Party groups that inspired the Republican nominee to declare his intention to repeal Obamacare on the first day of his Presidency."

The point being that they were totally and remain mad. What Trotter has missed possibly deliberately is the racial agenda of the far right.

And if the Republicans really were lured into a political version of Muhammad Ali’s infamous “rope-a-dope” strategy, what will Obama do now? Safely returned to the White House, with evidence of the nation’s rejection of the Reagan Era’s social conservatism there for all to read in progressive referendum results from Maine and Maryland, Colorado and Washington, and (most radical of all) California – what’s his next move?

The answer was there in the speech he gave to 10,000 cheering supporters at Chicago’s McCormick Centre. Just about everyone who witnessed it remarked on how like the “old” Obama he sounded. On how his passion was back – along with his vision and outreach.

It was this passage that pointed the way forward:

Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual.

You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our deficit. Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We've got more work to do.

This is problematic. The House is still Republican controlled and not conciliatory at all.

" House speaker John Boehner, who has proved adept at controlling his Tea Party-infused caucus when it comes to setting a rightwing agenda, has made some conciliatory noises this week. At the same time, he has vowed not to pass any tax increases, already putting him at odds with a key plank of Obama's second-term aims – his promise to raise the tax contributions of the wealthiest Americans.

"Raising tax rates is unacceptable," Boehner said bluntly, in his first press interview since the election, with ABC News."

But that doesn't mean your work is done. The role of citizens in our Democracy does not end with your vote. America's never been about what can be done for us. It's about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That's the principle we were founded on.

Some have interpreted these words as a step back by the President, I read them as a call to arms. Not overt – not yet. But I believe he is telling his followers to rest, yes, but not to disarm. Because the time is coming when the full weight of the majority he has attached to himself and his party will need to be brought to bear against those who would recklessly and with malice aforethought obstruct their will.

The new, progressive America has, as their leader warned them, “got more work to do”.

Opinion would seem divided.

"There is no legislative programme. There is not going to be another Obamacare," said Professor Shaun Bowler, a political scientist at the University of California at Riverside. "But at the same time, Obamacare is one for the ages. He can sit on his laurels with that one."

This call for his people to take up “the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government” will either be celebrated as the most audacious hope of his presidency, or vilified as Obama’s cruelest deception.

I cannot believe the USA’s first black president has led the Democratic Party to such a magnificent triumph on the field, only to pass the spoils of victory to his Republican opponents.

"From the granite of New Hampshire to the Rockies of Colorado, from the coast lines of Florida to Virginia's rolling hills, from the valleys of Ohio to these Iowa fields, we will keep America moving forward."
Obama.

As President Obama told his supporters; the American people; and the world:

“The best is yet to come.”

Detroit: Three years on for hell on earth ?

Detroit News reports

Major crimes in Detroit

The Detroit News will show where the city's deadliest crimes take place. Click on

a marker to see the details of all major homicides and shootings reported by

the Detroit Police Department since May 1, 2012. The addresses are not

specific, but rather refer to the block or intersection where the crime occurred.

I wrote this blog about Detroit on MySpace November 7, 2009. I had no way of knowing then

that MySpace was about to follow Detroit into a spectacular decline. I have had to update the

photos.

 

Detroit The Recession Ground Zero For America

I have never been to continental USA. I have been to American Samoa but that

 doesn't really count. The only real difference I could see from Samoa or New

 Caladonia or Vanuatu was the cops had guns, something I think is a bit over

 the top in American Samoa. Despite never having been to the USA I keep a

 close eye on the United States and an Observer story today made me realise 

just how little I actually know.

The American economy is growing 3.5 % in the last quarter, stocks are rising

 and banks that were being bailed out by the American tax payers are back to

 paying out billions in bonuses but for millions of Americans Wall Street must

 seem like another country. The richest 1% of Americans have more wealth

than the bottom 95% and that is obscene. It is a third world statistic.

Ground Zero is Detroit once one of the wealthiest city's in the USA, 50 years

 ago Detroit had a population of 2 million now it is down 900,000. This is the

work in the marine industry and if I ask what is powering the boat the answer is

 often Detroits.

The city has an unemployment rate of 27% and the average house price is

US$7500 but knowbody is buying at a recent auction of 9000 houses 1800

sold

Time magazine bought a house in Detroit and sent in reporters to cover the city's decline and there has been no shortage of bad news for "Assignment Detroit" to cover

Detroit is now 300 million in debt and has to cut public services such as transport and lighting. The outlying suburbs are now being effected these are the white middle class areas Professor Robin Boyle of Wayne State University likens it to a geographic doughnut " The doughnut is sick now. But what do you think that means for the poor people who live in the hole "

A small sign of hope and I love to hear about guys like this, Mike Coington lost his job so decided to clean up his Georgia Street neighbourhood he planted vegetable gardens and asked his neighbours to pick them for free to put food on their plates. Local youths practiced in vandalism have not touched his gardens he has done a lot of other things but can't get a bank loan to do more "We just can't get a loan to help us out. The banks are not lending". 

Fuck you  American banks infact fuck the whole American military industrial complex.

President Obama taxation is not a bad thing Detroit is a disaster, tax your rich and build a strong multi cultured middle class.

My heart goes out to the people who have been destroyed this picture should have kids having fun in it. " The rich get richer the poor get the picture the bombs never hit you when your down so low ". America you are not the greatest democracy you are not the land of the free you are becoming a failed state.

The crime figures caught my eye so I thought I might catch up on Detroit. From Michigan State University 

Why is FY 2013 Different?

» The City of Detroit faces budget challenges every year. Why is this year different?

FY 2011 was the seventh consecutive year that the City of Detroit had an accumulated General Fund deficit. Expenditures have consistently exceeded revenues. That scenario was no longer an option for the City.

In early 2011, the City became aware that it was in jeopardy of not having enough cash to provide even the most basic services. As the City adopts the FY 2013 budget, it faces an accumulated $265 million General Fund deficit. To reset its financial course, the City’s budget strategy required more than curtailing expenses. Instead, the challenge for FY 2013 was to restructure City operations, service levels, cost commitments, and re-examine revenue sources.

It would seem very little has changed in Detroit. 

African Prosperity the lack of.

Some interesting issues for Africa

The 2012 Legatum Prosperity Index™

REGIONAL ANALYSIS:

SUB SAHARAN AFRICA

Among the 30 lowest ranking countries in the Index, 24 are in sub-Saharan Africa. The highest ranking sub-Saharan African country is Botswana (70th), followed by South Africa (74th) and Namibia (83rd). The 2012 Index includes 16 new sub-Saharan African countries, all of whom rank among the bottom 40 of the Index.

I am guessing that being ranked means that there has been some improvement over last year.

Many African countries perform best in the Social Capital sub-index, including Zambia, Sudan, Uganda, Mali and Tanzania, who rank among the top 60 countries, in this sub-index overall.

The role of social capital in a developing country is complex. For example, when social capital is high, and citizens are able to rely heavily on networks and connections, it can be a symptom of failing institutions. In other words, when institutions are weak and cannot deliver public goods, networks and social ties provide an alternative that facilitates collective actions.

In other words high social capital is a symptom of a failed state. That isn't so comforting. 

Instead, when strong institutions are in place, the role of the state in delivering public goods and services is best accomplished when combined with social trust and community participation.

The link between Governance and Social Capital is seen in the graph (below) where we observe countries such as Zimbabwe, Chad, Sudan, and Liberia ranking low on Governance, but high on Social Capital.

I actually don't see a lot to take comfort from in the following tables.

Well I guess I have been pointing out the great value of the African Diaspora but it comes at a high price. The truth is that skilled migrants are in demand and those are the very people Africa can't afford to lose.

Well it could be worse. It is interesting to note that the DR Congo isn't featuring as one of the poorest performers but the Republic of Congo Brazaville surprisingly is in the bottom 10.

Ironic that New Zealand should lead the world from the perspective of this blog. Education is bloody diabolical for Africa and as it effects future prosperity it is almost a vicious circle not forgetting that many of Africa's best educated are also joining the diaspora.

 No surprises here.

 Actually I am not at all sure I agree with this at all. If ongoing survival is a was a measure  of taking opportunities and entrepreneurship then I suspect Africa would do much better. This is an economic measure that doesn't to my mind fit.

 Again no surprises. Amazing what a few centuries of colonialism and theft can do followed by corrupt governments and more theft.