On October 31, 2024, Dr Denis Mukwege, a world-renowned gynecologist, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate from east Congo, addressed the U.K. Parliament testifying before a newly launched inquiry into conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

As he emphasized, “During the last decades of continued war and instability, our country has been subject to repeated wars of aggression by neighboring countries, including Rwanda and Uganda. Women and girls have paid and continue to pay a very heavy price in this forgotten war and neglected crisis.”

The issue of CRSV in the DRC is not a new problem, but one that has been enjoying impunity for decades. Dr Mukwege can testify to this having treated thousands of victims/survivors of the crime. Indeed, since the establishment of the Panzi Hospital in 1999, Dr Mukwege treated more than 83,000 victims/survivors. 

Despite awareness raising and some steps taken to combat impunity, CRSV in the DRC persists to this day. As emphasized by Dr Mukwege, in 2023, “more than 123,000 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) were reported, a 300% increase in only three years, and over 61,000 victims have been treated by humanitarian partners in the first half of the year 2024.

This represents one victim every four minutes.” Dr Mukwege added that “Even though [these numbers] are extremely shocking, they represent only the tip of the iceberg, as many places affected by the ongoing conflict remain inaccessible for health and humanitarian aid workers, and many victims died or are too traumatized to talk and seek much needed support and care.” 

This spike is attributed to the escalation of armed violence since 2021 resulting from the resurgence of M23 rebel armed group and the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF).While the DRC has laws criminalizing sexual violence, implementation continues to be a challenge.

Furthermore, as Dr Mukwege explained, “Shame, silence, stigmatization, and fear of reprisals too often prevent women from filing a complaint. On top of these obstacles, the lack of confidence in State institutions, particularly in the justice system, dissuades many Congolese victims from filing complaints and often leads them to resort to friendly settlements under local customary law.”

Dr Mukwege mentioned some efforts to combat impunity. Among others, on July 27, 2018, the DRC High Military Court upheld the conviction of 11 men, including a provincial deputy, found guilty in December 2017 of crimes against humanity for the rape of dozens of young children and girls and for murders in the village of Kavumu, 25 km from Bukavu.

On May 15, 2023, the Military Tribunal of Uvira sentenced Munyololo Mbao, alias Ndarumanga, former leader of a faction of the Raia Mutomboki armed group in the DRC, to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity. Among the charges confirmed by the court are the crime of murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery as well as forced pregnancy, which constitutes a historic precedent before a national court. 

Nonetheless, access to justice remains very limited, if not nonexistent, for most victims/survivors. Mr Mukwege made several recommendations on how to address the issue of justice and accountability, including by expanding mobile courts and other community-based justice mechanisms, with increased funding and long-term sustainability plans. These initiatives should be supported by robust witness protection programs to ensure the safety of victims/survivors and their families.

Furthermore, Dr Mukwege indicated that: “Congolese men and women also have the right to their Nuremberg. This is why we are advocating alongside victims and survivors for the establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal for Congo and/or mixed specialized chambers. The high level of involvement of foreign armies on Congolese territory, the international or internationalized dimension of the conflicts and of the crimes committed in the DRC require an international and/or internationalized response from justice.”

Dr Mukwege added: “All levels of responsibility – national, regional and international – must be established, and Rwanda and Uganda must be held accountable for their repeated violation of international law and human rights, their destabilization activities as well as their leading roles in the plundering of natural and mineral resources and the commission of international crimes committed in the DRC. Coordinated international sanctions of the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and the UK, and legal action should be considered against individuals and entities authors or complicit in these crimes.”

As Dr Mukwege stated, the responses must ensure the restoration of the dignity of victims of CRSV. However, as he also added, victims/survivors are provided with very little assistance. He mentioned conversations with victims/survivors who were not able to leave their shelters due to lack of clothing.

In light of the dire situation in the DRC, the new ad-hoc inquiry, led by cross-party British Parliamentarians aims to hear from victims/survivors and organizations helping them, and experts, and identify recommendations for the U.K. Government and other states. Over the next months, the inquiry will accommodate oral testimonies, as accompanied by a call for written submissions.

As the situation in the DRC continues to be neglected by the international community, more needs to be done to shine a light on the evidence of the crimes, and to drive comprehensive responses. Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes

Irregular land allocation, human encroachment, and allegations of human rights abuses form the core of a simmering conflict in one of Kenya's most crucial and scenic natural ecosystems-Amboseli. 

This vast wildlife haven, renowned for its breath-taking views and rich biodiversity, is now at the centre of a bitter dispute involving state agencies, Kajiado county, conservation groups, and disenfranchised landowners. 

What was once a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature is now a battleground, with livelihoods, property rights, and conservation all at stake.  

At the heart of the conflict is the enforcement of county zoning regulations, a move that has sparked accusations of excessive brutality and human rights violations.  

Landowners within the ecosystem, particularly those in the Eselenkei group ranch, are grappling with a rising tide of violent confrontations. 

Kajiado County askaris and other enforcement bodies stand accused of terrorizing residents in the name of land use regulation, some currently nursing deadly wounds. 

For landowners, particularly those who bought parcels with the promise of freehold titles, the zoning enforcement has been a rude awakening.  

Many claim they were unaware of restrictions placed on land use, that have effectively rendered their investments worthless. 

One such frustrated landowner is Joseph Maina, a businessman who invested all his savings here, currently owning more than 100 acres in Eselenkei. By Francis Ontomwa, The Standard

Sudan has cancelled a $6 billion deal with the United Arab Emirates to develop a Red Sea port, Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim said on Sunday, accusing Abu Dhabi of supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country’s ongoing conflict.

The deal, signed in December 2022, would have seen Abu Dhabi Ports and Invictus Investment, a company managed by Sudanese businessman Osama Daoud, build and operate the Abu Amama port, located about 200 km (124 miles) north of Port Sudan.

“After what happened, we will not give the UAE a single centimeter on the Red Sea coast,” Ibrahim told a news conference in Port Sudan. He was referring to allegations that the UAE has provided backing to the RSF, which has been battling Sudan’s army since April 15.

The scrapped project was part of a larger investment package that also included a free trade zone, an agricultural project, and a $300 million deposit to Sudan’s central bank.

Ibrahim, who also heads the Justice and Equality Movement, denied reports that he had resigned as finance minister in protest over the dismissal of the head of the tax authority. “We are still in our position, but we have reservations about the signals from our executive body,” he said. “Reservations are not managed by resignations.” Sudan Tribune

The biannual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was held last week in Apia, Samoa in the Pacific. Kenya was represented by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.

Samoa is famous for rugby and has a population of about 250,000 inhabitants. The CHOGM website says leaders “discussed how Commonwealth countries work together to build resilience, boost trade, innovation, growth and empower the Commonwealth’s 1.5 billion young people for a more peaceful and sustainable future.” 

Beyond the usual pleasantries and speech by King Charles III, a hot-button issue cropped up. Reparations. The members of the commonwealth were former British colonies and felt it was time Britain paid reparations for the suffering of colonies before their independence.

It’s an emotional issue more if it’s extended to slavery. It’s also an economic issue. In the debate on reparations, I got a new term, ‘blackbirding’. Check it out. 

Reparations is an emotional issue because of the suffering the colonised people went through. From the destruction of their cultures to working on low pay under conditions that would not have been allowed in the mother country. If you talk to former mzungu workers, they have their story. 

Beyond low pay, there were restrictions in movement. Remember the passbook? And why was it about Gikuyu, Embu and Meru—at least the ones I have seen? Remember removing your hat if you saw a mzungu? Remember ‘bwana’ and ‘memsahib’?

It is an economic issue because the workers were not allowed to compete with the master in growing cash crops. They remained at the subsistence level. Education was limited, ensuring no enlightenment came, centuries after Europe’s own renaissance. Why didn’t plantations have schools for their workers and their children? Check when your village got its first graduate. 

With cheap labour and benefits from economies of scale, the plantation owners made lots of money. The palatial houses they built left no doubt they made money, or brought money. Some colonialists were quite affluent and came to Kenya for adventure and for some mischief like the Happy Valley lot.

Another question is where that money was invested. It’s likely at home, the same way Kenyan immigrants send money home. Tracing where that money was invested would be a good PhD thesis. But snippets suggest it was well invested and some families will enjoy it for generations to come. We have underrated the economic facet of colonialism. Was colonialism a gold rush? It was not just money from plantations, add money from forests, minerals and other wealth sources. I have wondered privately who professional hunters were and how much money they made from their kills.

We often forget about civil servants who ran the colonies. Were they well paid? 

Should Britain pay reparations? Clearly, based on below-the-market rate wages and getting land for free, reparations make economic sense. How would we value emotional distress and other ravages of colonialism such as attenuating our self-confidence?

The British government is not keen on reparations. It would open a can of worms. The ‘reparations’ for Mau Mau veterans demonstrated the unintended consequences; it is hard to decide who to pay. It’s possible a few Mau Mau imposters were paid. Do all settlers have records for their workers? Getting enough data would be the major handicap in getting a fair value for reparations.

But UK has past data on salaries and wages and even interest rates both in UK and its colonies. We could even let AI do the number crunching for us. What of data on minerals, forests and other wealth? Technology exists to estimate that. We have statistics for colonies, check old copies of the Kenya gazette.

For UK it gets more complicated. It has been argued that Britain developed the colonies, giving them a semblance of modernity. They brought hygiene, modern medicine, schooling, and new institutions such as the government. Never mind they destroyed old institutions, some which worked. Remember our kingdoms? Ashanti in Ghana?

Should that benevolence be subtracted from reparations? What if UK asks for reparations for ending slave trade too? The biggest question is where the money to pay reparations would come from. Would there be a reparations bond? Would there be a reparations tax? How would citizens of UK or another coloniser react to that?

How far into the past would we go? Think of when Britons got into India, the Caribbean or South Africa. Would USA, Canada, Australia and even Ireland ask for reparations? Would UK ask for reparations from Romans? Would Spain ask for reparations from the Mongols? Would Balkan countries ask for reparations from the Ottomans or the Turks? Could we end up with a reparations war?

What would we do with reparations if paid? Will it be paid to families or governments? Can we trust the leaders to put it into good use? What percentage of GDP or budget would reparations be? Would we feel the impact?

Where do we go from here?

Reparations could even come home through historical injustices. Even families could start demanding reparations. My family lost ancestral land. Should we ask for reparations? From who? We can even demand reparations for misrule, miseducation and even corruption.

There is a better option out of reparations. Economics. China should ask for reparations from UK, remember the opium wars? But she is unlikely. She has grown her economy, it’s now bigger than UK. India is now a bigger economy than UK too.

Why can’t we grow our economy to a level that we don’t need reparations? USA is a bigger economy than UK, her former coloniser. Think of the national pride if we did that! We could even start lending money to our former colonial master. Check who are the key buyers of UK or US long-term bonds.

What if we ensured an annual economic growth rate of 10 per cent for the next 10 years? Should we not spend less time and energy on politics? What if all the energy in impeachment was focused on economic issues?

History flows one way. We can learn from history and make today and tomorrow better. What have we done with 60 years of independence? By XN Iraki , The Standard