Independent researcher and writer, focused mainly on African affairs. Formerly @CrisisGroup @UN @FT @Reuters @guardian. PhD candidate at @LSEIRDept
May 19 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
1/ The plot thickens in the attempted coup in DR #Congo. Christian Malanga, the deceased coup leader, had previously set up mining companies in #Mozambique with at least one of the Americans now arrested as part of the coup attempt.
2/ One of the arrested American guys Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun, from Maryland, whose passport has been pasted all over X and which I attach below, set up a number at least three companies in Mozambique in 2022, all of which are mining or related companies.
May 19 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
1/ Alleged coup in D.R. #Congo. Authorities say they neutralised it fast. Diplomatic sources tell me it is linked to a 41 year old man called Christian Malanga. His name first came up in an alleged assassination attempt targeting former president Joseph Kabila. 🧵 2/ Kabila's former head of military intel, General Delphin Kahimbi (now dead) told me (when I was a UN political officer) in Kinshasa in January 2018 that he was tracking Malamba who he described as a former US military officer of Congolese origin, a native of Kwilu province.
Jun 17, 2021 • 17 tweets • 9 min read
1/ A thread with links to reports and other media relating to a panel hosted today by @CrisisGroup and the @mailandguardian, where we will be discussing how to prevent a new jihadist front in #Mozambique.
When: today at 15.00 CEST/SAST
Register bit.ly/3gsVW8G2/ Fears are mounting that Mozambique's northern province of #CaboDelgado could become the next frontier for prolonged jihadist rebellion on the continent. @CrisisGroup has just published a report on this, available here:
The tragic events in #Palma, #CaboDelgado#Mozambique, over the last few days have major implications for peace and security on the Swahili coast of East #Africa. Herewith some thoughts in a mega thread -->
This is an insurgency that has been snowballing since October 2017. It started attacking in the form of small groups of young men, brandishing mainly blunt weapons, and attacking remote security posts. It has evidently now grown into something much more serious.
Nov 4, 2020 • 15 tweets • 6 min read
Today #Ethiopia is entering civil war territory as federal troops deploy to take on #Tigray (TPLF) forces after what Addis said was an attack by the northern region against a federal military base. This is a disaster for the region, for Africa, for the world. Thread -->
Many Ethiopians on all sides hoped it would never get to this, although it has been like watching a train crash in slow motion for months. At each step of the way it has been possible for each side to de-escalate but everyone has chosen to press ahead with hardline positions.