Divining the Woman of Endor: African Culture, Postcolonial Hermeneutics, and the Politics of Biblical Translation by J. Kabamba Kiboko

Doran H. Ross: His Fabulous Fowler Years

The purpose of this article is to analyze the psychological stance of Sarnau, the main character of the novel "Ballad of Love in The Wind" of the Mozambican writer Paulina Chiziane. The writer describes the Mozambique of today, which is divided into tradition and modern life, ancestral and native way of life. The analysis of the novel shows that Paulina Chiziane breaks the stereotyped image of the woman by representing her as a being aware of her inferior social situation and as a being who intends to oppose the sexist and patriarchal society. Sarnau must face up to the cultural clash resulting from the encounter between the Western and African cultures. She lives in a polygamous family and has to find her place within this family and within the society. Chiziane’s protagonist tries to change her situation in order to find her identity as a women, mother and African wife.

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a concern in East and Central Africa, particularly following periods of heavy rainfall and flooding. However no human outbreaks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). To assess whether this reflects a true absence of virus circulation, we estimated RVF seroprevalence in Goma (eastern DRC) and examined context-specific risk factors, comparing the findings with data from outbreak-prone countries. A two-year longitudinal study, across six health facilities in DRC, Kenya and Uganda, enrolled febrile subjects aged ≥10 years. Human serum samples were analyzed for RVF virus and anti-RVF antibodies. Demographic, behavioral, occupational and environmental factors were evaluated. 4,806 participants were enrolled: 1,370 (28.5%) DRC, 1,468 (30.6%) Kenya and 1,968 (40.9%) Uganda. 253 participants (5.3%) tested positive for RVF by serological and/or molecular assays: 19 (1.4%) DRC, 29 (2.0%) Kenya and 205 (10.4%) Uganda (p < 0.001). Only in Uganda, subjects tested positive for RVF virus by PCR (10 subjects, 0.5%). Occupations and activities involving contact with livestock, predominated in Kenya and Uganda, whereas handling of raw meat was most common in DRC. No specific occupations or activities were significantly associated with RVF exposure in DRC while several significant factors were identified for Kenya and Uganda. Multivariate analysis across all three countries showed that being from Uganda, male, over 20 years of age, employed as butcher or crop farmer and engaging in animal-related activities, were independently associated with RVF positivity, as was contact with sheep. Despite a prevailing sense that RVF transmission does not occur in DRC, we found a seroprevalence of 1.4%, comparable to Kenya where RVF is well documented. Further research targeting high-risk human and animal populations in DRC is warranted. A One Health approach will contribute to defining the ecology of local transmission of RVF in DRC.

Scholars of African Environmental Ethics have defended Ubuntu Environmental Ethics as an indigenous, attractive and relevant conception that is suitable for African culture and very little criticism has been offered to refine, revisit and problematise the concept. I argue that a generalised version of Ubuntu Environmental Ethics is problematic on several grounds. Firstly, the attempt to describe Ubuntu Environmental Ethics as shared in diverse African cultures commits the fallacy of hasty generalisation by trying to misrepresent diverse versions of environmental ethics into a single understanding. Secondly, considering various linguistic groups that share a common understanding of environmental thinking, it is hegemonic in tendency, to pick up a single linguistic version and come up with Ubuntu Environmental Ethics without showing other variants such as unhu, bunhu, untu, vumunhu and related versions. Thirdly, a generalized view of Ubuntu Environmental Ethics that is abstracted from specific cultural contexts such as Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele, Shona, Ndau, Xitsonga, Venda, Tonga among others, results in ambiguity and vagueness rather than clarity and precision. Fourthly, a general view of Ubuntu Environmental Ethics gives a closed conception that fails to open up for debate and diversity in thinking about the environment in Southern African cultures. Fifthly, a geographical demarcation of Ubuntu Environmental Ethics that describes it as ‘Sub-Saharan’ is not only inadequatebut also arbitrary. The inadequacy of the demarcation is seen in the absence of the idea of Ubuntu Environmental Ethics in West Africa (Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana); East Africa (Uganda, Kenya Tanzania) and Central Africa (Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo) yet all these regions are in Sub-Saharan Africa. The arbitrary nature of the demarcation is seen in failure to give a rational justification of the label resulting in a mismatch between the term and the region it attempts to refer. After examining these problems I shall give a proposal of how to re-conceptualise Environmental Ethics in Southern African cultures without falling into the said problems.

BackgroundIntimate partner violence (IPV) has received increasing attention the last three decades and it has been recognized as health, social, and human right issues across the world. Worldwide, sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region. In the search of putative factors associated with IPV, women in polygamous marriages were found to be more exposed to IPV compared with those in monogamous marriages. However, previous research focused on polygyny at individual level; therefore, ignoring possible heterogeneity of the “acceptance of polygyny” across communities. This paper developed the concept of “community polygyny” in Central Africa and tested its associations with IPV. Furthermore, the paper tested interactions between the community polygyny and (i) polygyny at women’s level; (ii) women’s education; and (iii) urban residence.MethodsThe paper used recent Demographic and Health Surveys of four countries in Central Africa (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Gabon, and Chad). Multilevel binary logistic regression analyses (additive and multiplicative models) were carried out. Findings were reported as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) at 95% Confidence Interval (95%CI).Main findingsFindings indicated an inverse-relationship between the percentage of women living in polygamous marriages and IPV. Indeed, the percentage of polygamous marriages was higher in Chad (34.3%) compared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (18.6%), Cameroon (14.6%), and Gabon (13.9%). However, the percentage of women who experienced intimate partner violence in the last 12 months was lower in Chad (18.9%) compared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (43.5%), Gabon (40.3%), and Cameroon (30.8%). In multivariate results, findings showed that a sizeable percentage of intraclass correlation (ICC) of IPV in the selected countries was explained at cluster level: ICC = 18.2% [95%CI: 15.0%-21.9%]; ICC = 14.3% [95%CI: ICC = 10.9%-18.5%]; ICC = 7.8% [95%CI: 5.3%-11.3%]; and ICC = 29.5% [95%CI: 23.7%-35.9%] in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, Gabon and Chad, respectively. Community polygyny (from Model 2) showed different patterns. In the DRC, it was positively and significantly associated with the likelihood of IPV (aOR = 2.890; 95%CI: 1.461–5.719). In contrast, it showed a negative association with IPV in Cameroon (aOR = 0.278; 95%CI = 0.143–0.539); in Gabon (aOR = 0.504; 95%CI = 0.237–1.074); and Chad (aOR = 0.749; 95%CI = 0.319–1.763).ConclusionFindings from this study substantiates the importance of moving beyond individuals’ characteristics and incorporating the collective mindset of polygyny to fully capture the effects of polygyny on intimate partner violence in Central Africa. Previous research pointed out the negative effects of polygyny at individual level. This study showed that community polygyny, since communities might differ on the acceptance levels towards polygyny, is equally important to understand how polygyny could affect the prevalence of intimate partner violence in Central Africa. Therefore, interventions aimed at eliminating intimate partner violence should integrate communities’ influences on intimate partner violence in Central Africa and worldwide.

Since time immemorial Alaska Natives (AN) lived and aged well, yet today they experience high rates of illness and lower access to care because of colonisation. Aand this research explores successful ageing from an AN perspective or what it means to achieve “Eldership” in the rural Northwest Alaska. A community-based participatory research approach was used to engage participants at every stage of the research process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 AN men and 25 women and the interviews were professionally transcribed. Kleinman’s explanatory model served as the foundation of the questionnaire to gain a sense of the beliefs about ageing and guide the thematic analysis to establish an AN understanding of successful ageing. The foundation of the Norton Sound southern sub-region Model of Successful Ageing is the reciprocal relationship between Elders and family which enables Elders to access meaningful activities, including Native ways of life, physical health, spirituality, and emotional well-being. Community-based interventions should foster opportunities for Elders to share their Native way of life alongside family and community members, which will enable them to remain physically active, maintain healthy emotional well-being, continue engaging in spiritual practices, and contribute to the health and well-being of families.

In the past, knowledge of art from non-Western cultures was often based on the analysis of the physical characteristics, which were interpreted from the perspective of mainstream or Euro-based cultures. For example, sculptural forms in African art were often described as aggressive, bulging, simple, primitively executed, and out of proportion, while wood statues were interpreted as idols and fetishes. These descriptions and interpretations perpetuate misconceptions, parochial views, and stereotypes about African art and the cultures that produced them. They do not take into consideration the perspective of the culture from which the works come and consequently distort their purpose and significance. Understanding the purpose and significance of African works of art from the perspective of the people who created them requires studying them in their cultural context. Some would assert that it is not possible to understand something in the way that another culture does (Blocker, 1993). Though it may not be possible to fully understand the cultural meanings generated by the object, one can gain insight into some of its messages through empathetic understanding. Empathetic understanding is the ability to share someone else's thoughts and feelings about something and see how another culture's philosophy of life, works of art, and other ideas reflect and parallel aspects of your own (Chanda, 1995). Even within African cultures, the purposes and meaning of an African object are not fully revealed to everyone. Understanding of African objects by Africans comes in stages and over time. It depends to a large extent on one's age and status in an African society and the context in which the object is seen or used (Chanda, 1993b). For example, a mask seen by an uninitiated young person in many African cultures might simply recall a story or song heard at some point while growing up; where as the same mask to an initiated older person carries a deeper meaning related to social order or cosmological beliefs. This means an art object can provide multiple layers of information that would generate layers of understanding. This is especially true of Ndop statues from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire). Ndop statues are wooden sculptures said to be portraits of Kuba kings who reigned from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Examples of these statues are found in museums through out the world, Belgium, Switzerland, England, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the United States. In and of themselves they represent the embodiment of history and the royal culture of the Kuba kingship. Ndop statues were chosen for this study because each object or attribute attached to the statue, such as the sword or the hat, relates to some aspect of the kingship, the history, and the culture of the Kuba people. By studying the attributes and their functions, art historians have been able to glean insight into the meaning of the kingship to the Kuba society. But what was the purpose and significance of these statues? The statues functioned in several ways and have several layers of meaning. For the most part they were used to remind people of the power of the various kings, their contributions to the Kuba society, and to represent the king in his absence (Vansina, 1972). This study examines attempts by American children (ages 8-9) to construct a contextual understanding of a series of related artworks from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, using art history constructivist inquiry methods. Contextual understanding means comprehending the purpose and significance of the works in the same manner that the culture that created it would. As we have seen, there can be several layers of understanding connected with African works of art, depending on the knowledge level of the observer. One may understand the composition, the subject matter, the economic value, the expressive quality, the underlying social significance, etc. …

The African continent is considered the largest high endemic area for the oncogenic retrovirus HTLV-1 with an estimated two to five million infected individuals. However, data on epidemiological aspects, in particular prevalence, risk factors and geographical distribution, are still very limited for many regions: on the one hand, few large-scale and representative studies have been performed and, on the other hand, many studies do not include confirmatory tests, resulting in indeterminate serological results, and a likely overestimation of HTLV-1 seroprevalence. For this review, we included the most robust studies published since 1984 on the prevalence of HTLV-1 and the two major diseases associated with this infection in people living in Africa and the Indian Ocean islands: adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and tropical spastic paraparesis or HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM/TSP). We also considered most of the book chapters and abstracts published at the 20 international conferences on HTLV and related viruses held since 1985, as well as the results of recent meta-analyses regarding the status of HTLV-1 in West and sub-Saharan Africa. Based on this bibliography, it appears that HTLV-1 distribution is very heterogeneous in Africa: The highest prevalences of HTLV-1 are reported in western, central and southern Africa, while eastern and northern Africa show lower prevalences. In highly endemic areas, the HTLV-1 prevalence in the adult population ranges from 0.3 to 3%, increases with age, and is highest among women. In rural areas of Gabon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), HTLV-1 prevalence can reach up to 10-25% in elder women. HTLV-1-associated diseases in African patients have rarely been reported in situ on hospital wards, by local physicians. With the exception of the Republic of South Africa, DRC and Senegal, most reports on ATL and HAM/TSP in African patients have been published by European and American clinicians and involve immigrants or medical returnees to Europe (France and the UK) and the United States. There is clearly a huge underreporting of these diseases on the African continent. The genetic diversity of HTLV-1 is greatest in Africa, where six distinct genotypes (a, b, d, e, f, g) have been identified. The most frequent genotype in central Africa is genotype b. The other genotypes found in central Africa (d, e, f and g) are very rare. The vast majority of HTLV-1 strains from West and North Africa belong to genotype a, the so-called ‘Cosmopolitan’ genotype. These strains form five clades roughly reflecting the geographic origin of the infected individuals. We have recently shown that some of these clades are the result of recombination between a-WA and a-NA strains. Almost all sequences from southern Africa belong to Transcontinental a-genotype subgroup.

Reviewed by: Performing Trauma in Central Africa: Shadows of Empire by Laura Edmondson Karin Waidley Performing Trauma in Central Africa: Shadows of Empire. By Laura Edmondson. Indiana University Press, 2018. Cloth $90.00, Paper $42.00, eBook $9.99. 308 pages. 15 illustrations. I begin this review at the book’s end. Chapter 6, “Confessions of a Failed Theatre Activist,” of Laura Edmondson’s Performing Trauma in Central Africa: Shadows of Empire provoked a disquieting blue streak of recognition. I too have felt the urge to rush headlong into a situation in East Africa where I believe I know the answer to “what can I do?” But Edmonson warns readers that there are no simple questions in regions that have “a dense regional history of colonial and post-colonial violence” (5). Her book is a sweeping “sideways glance” (20) at the voracious appetites for consuming representations of trauma through performative means. Thus, her final chapter’s call-out is an unsettling one: take heed of your role on the “trauma stage” (3). Better to practice a “radical passivity,” to dwell in the discomfort of mere presence and to resist impulses of “headlong (Western) activist manifest destiny” (279). In a time when many can relate to the debilitating fatigue of inaction, this is the book’s most applicable and timely lesson. Performing Trauma in Central Africa surveys an increasing tendency toward cliched representations of mass trauma and its effects on the people of Sub-Saharan Africa. Edmonson measures ways in which the powers of empire collate complex horrors into a banal predictability of content and approach to performance in Central Africa. Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) share externally-mapped and fraught boundaries and people whose histories are deeply entrenched and inextricably intertwined. Edmondson interrogates how the “white savior industrial complex” is fast at creative work in Uganda, how culpable governments brandishing “genocide credits” (111) in Rwanda keep the 1994 travesty well within the performance frame, and how well-intentioned NGO endeavors in the DRC, some championed by well-known playwrights Eve Ensler and Lynn Nottage, shape testimony from tactically-resistant survivors of the region’s violence into victim myopia. Trauma-laden dramaturgy is performed by insiders and outsiders, not only for emotional catharsis but for financial gain. Without sentimentality, Edmondson exposes how, when resources are limited and playing fields far from level, stakeholders get mired in an “epistemic murk” or “‘the unstable interplay of truth and illusion’ that characterizes cultures of terror” (26). The Introduction combines humanitarianism, sovereignty, and empire with an “aesthetics of murk” (26) to explore taut relationships and the means through which trauma and performance are mostly marketed and sometimes resisted. Edmondson conducted two decades of extensive fieldwork, resulting in a deep perspective on the profiteering of hardship in an area where access to theatre scholarship is scant. The author foregrounds her own outsider/insider position as suspect, one that [End Page 219] readers should be wary of when reading her analyses of the “murky” performances that follow. The author’s transparency calls attention to the burden of empire she both carries and casts off whenever possible. From this position, Edmondson tasks readers: if “we” will not choose to “stay home” (271) then be two things at once: both radical and passive. She demonstrates this necessary paradox by virtue of the (failed) activist performance models set out incisively in each of her following chapters. In chapter 1, “Competitive Memory in the Great Lakes,” Edmondson deftly explicates the interwoven pasts of the three nation-states that figure in later chapters. These are the formal landscapes of performative trauma displayed through music, dance, and drama (MDD) and on the informal “stages” of museums, memorials, and NGO-sponsored sites. More historiographic than performance analysis, this chapter introduces readers to the interconnectedness of the Lake Victoria region in a jaw-dropping portrayal of colonial pasts with a dizzying cast of characters. She demonstrates how histories are forcibly flattened into three singular narratives, one per country (genocide in Rwanda, child abductions in Uganda, and weaponized rape in DRC), with “a curious predictability” that “insistently cuts across representations of violence” (5). But like the “shadows of empire,” simplified narratives...

Jurassic-Cretaceous tectonics, paleogeography and sedimentary provenance of central Africa are poorly constrained and continue to be debated. The lack of constraints on the timing and controls on late Mesozoic sedimentary basin development, drainage evolution and paleoenvironments is problematic because central Africa is well endowed with natural resources, and good understanding of these issues is fundamental to a better assessment of hydrocarbon and alluvial diamond exploration targeting. Moreover, by improving our understanding of Mesozoic strata across this vast region, we can also help to contextualise the ecological and evolutionary relationships of floras and faunas from central Africa with contemporary floras and faunas from different parts of Africa and throughout Gondwana. In particular, refining the depositional age of late Mesozoic units is key to understanding and reconstructing regional paleogeography and drainage patterns during this poorly resolved time period in Africa, which also furthers our understanding of the origins and dispersal pathways for Mesozoic, Cenozoic and modern African floras and faunas, as well as economically significant alluvial mineral resources, such as diamonds, that are important to the economies of this part of the world. To address these issues a detailed and multifaceted sedimentary provenance analysis of 14 late Mesozoic units from seven sedimentary basins across central Africa (spanning seven different countries) was conducted. This integrated sedimentological approach incorporated sandstone petrography, paleocurrent analysis, U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology, Lu-Hf isotope and trace element geochemistry to investigate Jurassic and Cretaceous continental deposits from central Africa. The main objective was to investigate late Mesozoic sedimentary basin development, drainage evolution and provide constraints on the age of deposition, sediment source and paleofluvial drainage patterns, using core and outcrop samples from across the region; including Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Angola, Sudan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Sandstone petrography and paleocurrent data indicate mixed sediment sources mainly to the south of study areas. Maximum depositional age analyses performed on U-Pb detrital zircon sample results demonstrate that most of the late Mesozoic units in central Africa are younger than previously accepted. Detrital zircon provenance analysis points to primary contributions from Neoproterozoic Pan-African Mobile Belts (e.g., Mozambique and Zambezi belts), which were probably exposed at this time are the dominant (>75%). The Lu-Hf isotope geochemistry results also show a mixed sediment provenance consisting of juvenile mantle and reworked crustal sources, which corroborates the sandstone petrography results. Western areas of central Africa (e.g. DRC and Angola) are dominated by sediments from reworked crustal sources, whereas eastern parts of central Africa (e.g. Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania) are dominated by sediments of juvenile mantle sources. The results further suggest a pattern of large ephemeral lakes in the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous in the Congo and Zambezi basins, followed by the development of a large, dominantly north directed fluvial systems across central Africa in the middle Cretaceous. The results are supportive of a uniform northward continental drainage pattern throughout late Mesozoic, which supports the assertion that the paleo-Congo drainage system was likely north flowing, rather than east flowing out of the Congo Basin and into Indian Ocean as previously suggested. The results of this thesis are also supportive of the hypothesis of a major drainage divide between southern and central Africa during the late Mesozoic and the concept of a major NW trending fluvial drainage pattern into the shear zones within the Central African Rift System, although the ultimate depocentre still remains uncertain. The maximum depositional age of three Cretaceous sedimentary units, including the dinosaur-bearing Wadi Milk Formation of Sudan has been constrained. The new ages shows a generally much younger age of deposition than previous assignations, calling into question the reliability of these overly broad biostratigraphic age for these important sedimentary units.

NTDs in the Heart of Darkness: The Democratic Republic of Congo's Unknown Burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases

BackgroundOnchocerciasis is a disease caused by infection with Onchocerca volvulus, which is transmitted to humans via the bite of several species of black fly, and is responsible for permanent blindness or vision loss, as well as severe skin disease. Predominantly endemic in parts of Africa and Yemen, preventive chemotherapy with mass drug administration of ivermectin is the primary intervention recommended for the elimination of its transmission.MethodsA dataset of 18,116 geo-referenced prevalence survey datapoints was used to model annual 2000–2018 infection prevalence in Africa and Yemen. Using Bayesian model-based geostatistics, we generated spatially continuous estimates of all-age 2000–2018 onchocerciasis infection prevalence at the 5 × 5-km resolution as well as aggregations to the national level, along with corresponding estimates of the uncertainty in these predictions.ResultsAs of 2018, the prevalence of onchocerciasis infection continues to be concentrated across central and western Africa, with the highest mean estimates at the national level in Ghana (12.2%, 95% uncertainty interval [UI] 5.0–22.7). Mean estimates exceed 5% infection prevalence at the national level for Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, and South Sudan.ConclusionsOur analysis suggests that onchocerciasis infection has declined over the last two decades throughout western and central Africa. Focal areas of Angola, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, South Sudan, and Uganda continue to have mean microfiladermia prevalence estimates exceeding 25%. At and above this level, the continuation or initiation of mass drug administration with ivermectin is supported. If national programs aim to eliminate onchocerciasis infection, additional surveillance or supervision of areas of predicted high prevalence would be warranted to ensure sufficiently high coverage of program interventions.

A new species of the freshwater crab genus Potamonautes MacLeay, 1838, is described from Ivindo National Park in Sofala Province, Gabon, Central Africa. Potamonautes nheenae n. sp. is morphologically distinct from the other species of this genus found in Gabon and nearby countries in Central Africa, and is most closely related to P. paecilei (A. Milne-Edwards, 1886) from the Lower Congo River basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The new species is recognised by a unique combination of morphological characters of the adult male first gonopod, anterior sternum, mouthparts, and major cheliped. Illustrations of P. nheenae n. sp. are provided and differences with congeners found in Central Africa are discussed. In addition, the male gonopods, pleon, and sternum of the unusual freshwater crab Erimetopus brazzae (A. Milne-Edwards, 1886), are illustrated for the first time since its description in 1886, following the discovery of the first known male specimen of this species in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.

An examination of the language of divination in the Hebrew Bible, particularly in 1 Samuel 28:3-25-the oft-called “Witch of Endor” passage. Kiboko contends that much of the vocabulary of divination in this passage and beyond has been mistranslated in authorized English and other translations used in Africa and in scholarly writings. Kiboko argues that the woman of Endor is not a witch. The woman of Endor is, rather, a diviner, much like other ancient Near Eastern and modern African diviners. She resists an inner-biblical conquest theology and a monologic authoritarian view of divination to assist King Saul by various means, including invoking the spirit of a departed person, Samuel. Kiboko carries out a Hebrew word-study shaped by the theories of Mikhail M. Bakhtin regarding the utterance, heteroglossia, and dialogism in order to understand the designative, connotative, emotive, and associative meanings of the many divinatory terms in the Hebrew Bible. She

The variety in climate, vegetation, and population density in Central Africa is enormous, but some of the main features of policymaking and informal rules of politics—at first sight at least—appear quite similar between N’Djaména and Kinshasa, between Libreville and Bangui, in a vast territory bigger than the European Union: clientelism, personalization of power, politicized ethnicity, the impact of external intervention, and a legacy of repeated political violence establish some constant features. On the other hand, the variable size of countries (from island states in the Gulf of Guinea to large territorial states) has also come with various challenges. Also, Central Africa features land-locked countries such as Chad and Central African Republic, which negatively impacts economic development, in contrast to countries located at the Gulf of Guinea with an easy access to maritime trade routes. At closer inspection all of the eight countries have a specific history, but this overview article rather stresses the commonalities. Featuring in this contribution are the countries of Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial-Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The limited achievements of pro-democracy movements in Central Africa in the 1990s have enduring consequences on politics in Africa. Authoritarian regimes have consolidated their grip on power after surviving severe crises in most Central African states. Big man politics continue to prevail, only few opposition parties have upheld their initial strength and lack internal democracy. Enduring violent conflicts in DRC and CAR (and arguably to a somewhat lesser extent in Chad), have undermined conviviality between groups and state capacities in providing public goods with dramatic consequences on effectiveness and legitimacy of the state and its representatives. Prospects for a future allowing for more participation, truly competitive elections, and a peaceful change of government are therefore also grim. However, both violent and peaceful forms of contestation since about 2015 are also signs of renewed mobilization of citizens for political causes across Central Africa. New topics, including consumer defense and ecological issues, plus now-ubiquitous social media, may all be drivers for a new episode of engagement after two decades of frustration. The limited achievements of regional integration and the lack of dynamism of subregional organizations means that Central Africa is still a much less consolidated subregion compared to, for example, West Africa.