The sweeping operation continues in DRC… After the removal of Jeanine Mabunda, president of the National Assembly on December 10 last, after the eviction of Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga last week, it is the Senate president, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, who is in the crosshairs.

Justice accuses him of embezzlement of public funds, reports notably the news site Congobuzz. In early January, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba allegedly drew three checks worth several million dollars on behalf of the Senate.

As a result, "more than 60 senators filed a petition against him yesterday," reports Cas-Info, another Congolese news site, with the main "objective of bringing him down."

Comment from the Politico site: "clearly, this is a bad season looming for Alexis Thambwe Mwamba."

"They want to bring me down for political reasons…"

So the man in question defends himself… notably on the Jeune Afrique website: "the funds (that I am accused of embezzling) were indeed paid to the Treasury, it is traceable, asserts Alexis Thambwe Mwamba. (…) An audit is being conducted. Let us wait for it to be completed and we will see if anyone comes to tell me that I signed or did something that was contrary to what was planned. I challenge anyone to present me with such a document. The petition of the senators was not filed, in my view, for reasons related to management problems, but for political reasons."

Prison?

In any case, comments Le Pays in Burkina, "it is not good to be pro-Kabila in the Democratic Republic of the Congo these days. Indeed, since the divorce between the Common Front for Congo (FCC) of Joseph Kabila and the Cape for Change (CACH) of Félix Tshisekedi, there has been a relentless hunt for all supporters of the former president. (…) Even if Alexis Thambwe Mwamba seems to be putting up resistance, he knows, all the same, that the game is up for him. (…) And he would do well to take the initiative, estimates Le Pays, by stepping down in order to better prepare his defense. Because, unlike the president of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister who were removed without prejudice to legal proceedings, he risks, after his imminent removal, going to prison."

Free primary public education compromised

Still regarding DRC: President Félix Tshisekedi's major project to make primary public education free is currently compromised… Indeed, points out Le Monde Afrique, "the World Bank has suspended financing of 100 million dollars intended for this project." Following the discovery of "inflated lists of fictitious teachers in non-existent schools, fake invoices, as well as a suspected embezzlement of 31 million dollars, two senior officials, the national director of the Teacher Payroll Control Service and the Inspector General of Primary, Secondary and Technical Education, have recently been arrested, pending trial."

AQIM's designs on Gulf of Guinea countries

Finally, also in the headlines, the warning from the head of French secret services…

According to Bernard Emié, head of the DGSE (French Foreign Intelligence Service), AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb), which already operates in the Sahel, is on the warpath in Côte d'Ivoire and Benin. "The threat is neither new nor surprising," comments Aujourd'hui in Ouagadougou, but this reminder from the head of French intelligence is not superfluous. It has the merit of underlining that this oblique war raging in the Sahel, and which national armies, Barkhane and G5-Sahel are facing, this shadow war, is shifting geographically and is now setting its sights on the Atlantic coast countries of Africa. A posture that matches the doctrine of these katibas that want to transform the sub-region into a Caliphate."

And "if the DGSE is sounding the alarm," continues Aujourd'hui, "it may also be so that the reduction in Barkhane's personnel (by 600 soldiers) that is in the works might be postponed or reviewed in a different format. Pending the belated and even hypothetical arrival of European soldiers, and the optimal operationalization of the G5-Sahel, Takuba will have to maintain its striking power, and the French will still have to remain in the Sahel, rifle in hand. This is the subliminal message of Bernard Emié."