DJ Bwakali
The Maji Maji Rebellion’s Powerful Lessons for Today’s Tanzania
Imagine a crowd moving through the bush of southern Tanganyika in 1905, carrying spears, bows, a few old rifles, and a new kind of...
Congo’s Deadliest, Most Consistent Import: Mercenaries
There is a pattern in Congo’s modern wars that keeps repeating like a bad chorus. When the national army looks tired, when commanders panic,...
The Pinga Pact: How Congo’s State Birthed Wazalendo Militia
In eastern Congo, war does not only happen at the front. It also happens in meeting rooms, in decrees, in recruitment drives, and on...
Five Reasons Why Congo’s Army Lost Uvira to M23
I cannot stop seeing Uvira the way I see a tense football match when the crowd slowly realizes their team is in trouble. At...
A Rolled Joint, a Stopped Breath: West Africa’s Kush Crisis
A rolled leaf, a stolen future
I keep thinking about how a society can collapse quietly. Not with bombs. Not with tanks. With a small...
Uvira Has Fallen. Is Katanga Next?
Why M23’s Warning Should Terrify the Global Economy
“Uvira est tombée. Nous mettons le cap sur le Katanga.”
That was the message attributed to M23 after...
Nyerere Would Have Called for the Presidential Election to be Nullified
What Nyerere Would Have Said Today
I have walked the streets of Dar es Salaam enough times to understand why Tanzanians still whisper Mwalimu’s name...
How a Failed Coup Exposed France’s Grip on Benin
Cotonou at Dawn: A Memory, A Question, A Warning
My only encounter with Benin was brief, almost whispered. I was in transit through the Cotonou...
Tanzania’s D9 Shutdown and the Struggle for Freedom
On December 9th 2025, the people of Tanzania spoke more powerfully than the government expected. They did not need large crowds or dramatic clashes...
Why Trump’s Congo Peace Deal is a Blood Business Deal
A Baby in Flight and the Truth Behind a Signature
In the first week of December, as three presidents smiled for cameras in Washington, a...
