Author: Dieumerci Ilunga

Government tightens oversight on sensitive goods Without prior fanfare, a ministerial circular dated 30 October 2025 reached customs posts and importers across the Republic of the Congo, instructing an immediate suspension, « until further notice », of all shipments of machetes and motorcycles. The wording leaves no exemption for engine capacity, blade length or private consignments, and positions the two commodities on a growing list of so-called sensitive goods subject to heightened scrutiny. In the accompanying note, the authorities highlight the need to “preserve public tranquillity through a proactive control of products liable to be misused for violent ends”. Such…

A Journalist Steps Onto the Political Stage When Alexis Bongo faced the cameras of DRTV each week to moderate the current-affairs programme “Homéosthasie”, his questions helped shape public debate. On 16 August the seasoned broadcaster reversed the logic of the studio, stepping before reporters at Brazzaville’s Zola Cultural Centre to confirm that he will seek the presidency in March 2026. At fifty-six, Bongo frames his entrance less as a personal odyssey than as part of what he calls “Le Congo nouveau”, an appeal to national renewal couched in pan-African vocabulary. His declaration reprises an ambition first voiced in 2016 but…

Contextualising Youth Vulnerability in Congo-Brazzaville The Republic of Congo, mirroring wider continental trends, confronts a delicate nexus of juvenile delinquency and gender-based violence that threatens both its social fabric and its long-term development outlook. Recent national crime data indicate a gradual rise in offences committed by minors, while civil-society organisations document persistent cases of violence against women and girls. These challenges do not occur in a vacuum; they are compounded by rapid urbanisation, limited employment prospects and the lingering psychological effects of past conflicts. Officials in Brazzaville increasingly frame the issue not merely as a policing matter but as a…