News we missed last week

News I failed to blog on last week:

• The newly ordained cardinal of Kinshasa, Laurent Monsegwo, arrived in Kinshasa from Rome on Wednesday to huge acclaim. Monsengwo is usually considered to be opposed to Kabila, but rarely takes public stands;
• In another case that is bound to undermine investor confidence in the Congo, South African businessman Frans van Jaarsveld is trying to recover his $5.7 million in debts owed by the Congolese government from South African Airways, which pays landing fees to a Congolese parastatal;
• Open Society Institute's AfriMap pubished a 282-page report on challenges to democracy in the Congo, with detailed descriptions of issues relating to the constitution, parliamentary oversight, political education, political parties and elections;
• ASADHO, one of the leading human rights groups in the country, published a statement protesting President Kabila's forced retirement of the Supreme Court president on November 26th. This is not the first time, according to ASADHO, that Kabila removes and appoints judges without seeking the necessary input from the Supreme Council of Judges;