Saturday, December 6, 2025
Fears of new clashes as police in Tanzania outlaw Independence Day protests
DODOMA, Tanzania
Police in Tanzania have announced that any protests during next week’s Independence Day would be illegal. The news is raising concerns of further clashes after last month’s post-election violence.
President Samia Hassan’s victory in the October presidential vote triggered protests across the country after her main rivals were disqualified. Hundreds of people were killed, opposition parties and international rights organizations say, and thousands more arrested.
A spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner on Friday reminded Tanzanian authorities of “their obligation to ensure the rights to peaceful assembly.”
He also urged security forces to “refrain from using force to disperse non-violent assemblies and make every effort to de-escalate tensions.”
Police say that the organizers of the 9 December protests are inciting participants to seize property, disrupt hospital services and block the streets in order to paralyse economic activity.
The United States said on Thursday that it is reviewing its relationship with Tanzania over concerns about religious freedom, freedom of expression, barriers to US investment and violence against civilians.
Thousands flee South as fighting intensifies days after DRC and Rwanda recommit to peace deal
SOUTH KIVU, DR Congo
The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo is once again descending into chaos. Thousands of people are on the move, fleeing the intense fighting.
Men, women and children, carrying their belongings, are leaving their villages in South Kivu, a forced exodus as clashes between the Congolese army and M23 rebels intensify.
On Saturday, thousands of Congolese fled under the relentless pounding of bombs.
“The M23 and the Congolese army are dropping many bombs on Luvungi," Mulumbulwa Gabriel, a resident of Luvungi displaced by the conflict, told Africanews.
"Since the day before yesterday, they have caused numerous deaths. Yesterday, people were killed in my neighborhood, which is why we decided to flee today.”
The fighting has been escalating since Tuesday, hitting Katogota, Kamanyola and surrounding areas hard.
On Saturday morning, fierce clashes continued around Luvungi in the Ruzizi plain. Local sources report around twenty civilians killed — innocent victims of this endless war.
“We are walking to Uvira," said Aline Sambuka. "May the authorities help put an end to this war! We want to go back home and live like everyone else. Many people have died because of the bombings. I survived with my children.”
This surge in violence comes just days after a glimmer of hope. On Thursday, the DRC's President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame signed an agreement in Washington meant to ease tensions and restore peace in eastern DRC.
An agreement now reduced to ashes on the ground, as the Congolese Armed Forces and M23 accuse one other of violating a ceasefire that clearly never held.
Friday, December 5, 2025
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Trump praises leaders of Rwanda and DR Congo as they sign a peace deal
WASHINGTON, United States
United States President Donald Trump on Thursday praised the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo for “settling a war that has been going on for decades”.
The televised signing of an agreement to end the conflict in the eastern Congo offered Trump another chance to tout himself as a dealmaker extraordinaire on the global stage.
"These are two men that are doing a great job," Trump said. "They want to get onto other ways of living for their people and they are great leaders."
The ceremony in Washington took place even as there were reports of clashes between the Congolese army and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels in South Kivu province.
Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and the Congo’s Felix Tshisekedi offered a hopeful tone as they signed onto the agreement.
“No one was asking President Trump to take up this task. Our region is far from the headlines,” Kagame said. “But when the president saw the opportunity to contribute to peace, he immediately took it.”
“I do believe this day is the beginning of a new path, a demanding path, yes. Indeed, quite difficult. But this is a path where peace will not just be a wish, an aspiration, but a turning point,” said Tshisekedi.
Indeed, analysts say Thursday's deal is not expected to quickly result in peace and may not change the humanitarian crisis on the ground.
The M23 did not attend the Washington meetings and it is not bound by the terms of the Congo-Rwanda agreement.
It has been participating in separate, Qatar-mediated talks with Congo.
Thursday's pact, lauded by the White House as an “historic” agreement brokered by Trump, follows months of peace efforts by the US and partners, including the African Union and Qatar and finalises an earlier deal signed in June.
It will also build on a Regional Economic Integration Framework previously agreed upon that officials have said will define the terms of economic partnerships involving the three countries.
Trump also announced that Washington was signing bilateral agreements with the Congo and Rwanda that will unlock new opportunities for the US to access critical minerals--deals that will benefit all three nations’ economies.
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