William Ruto and the Quarantine Deal

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Kenyan President William Ruto (Source: Nairobileo.co.ke)

Since William Ruto came to power in Kenya, it has been one thing after the other, or rather one shady deal after the other. From deploying Kenyan troops to Haiti, deploying Kenyan nurses to Germany or who knows where, welcoming the Africa Forward summit with French President Emmanuel Macron who could not help showing open disdain for Africans on national television (he promised $27 billion investment in Africa… maybe that’s why he forgot manners?); Ruto appears to have tried to sneak in another controversial deal! It’s as if the man is in a hurry to cut deals! He has now signed a $13.5 million deal with the United States to open an Ebola quarantine center for US citizens in Kenya. This US-built facility was set to open at the Laikipia Air Base last week, but the High court of Kenya halted the launch. The facility was intended to host Americans from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who had contracted Ebola. This facility, located 200 km from the capital Nairobi, was built by the American army on Kenyan soil, to house American doctors, to treat American patients with state of the art medicine. Why not treat them in America where such advanced medical care already exists? The US president says he cannot risk infecting his population, but what about the risk posed to Kenyans?

Protests erupted on Monday near the facility when people stood against this project, and the Ruto’s government responded with teargas and violence! The population is angry, and rightfully so! Is Kenyan/African life worth nothing? Why have an Ebola quarantine center in Kenya? Why not Rwanda which is a neighbor to the DRC? Oh wait… Rwanda cannot have cases with its M23 forces looting Eastern DRC…

Flag of Kenya
Flag of Kenya

President Ruto defended his plan on X, posting on today, that the proposed US facility was “neither unique nor exceptional but part of a broader national preparedness system“, adding that it “will be there to serve the people of Kenya and to serve our friends, including the Americans“. On Monday, he said: “I can assure the people of Kenya that the agreement between the government of Kenya and the American government is for the good of our country and for the partnership.”

The man is ready for deals, deals, deals… it does not matter what the people want so long as he gets his deals. The US is mad and vowed to have this treaty respected, i.e. open the quarantine facility in Kenya at all costs. Let’s pray no sudden cases are now discovered in the country.

Check out the summary of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s call to President Ruto about the Ebola quarantine facility. ” The Secretary and President Ruto discussed coordinated efforts to secure vital medical supplies for Kenya and ensure the strength and preparedness of Kenya’s health system. The United States Government intends to commit $13.5 million toward Kenya’s Ebola preparedness efforts and has already committed to providing $112 million in bilateral assistance to the regional response.”

Recall that in December 2025, The Trump administration signed the first in what were expected to be dozens of “America First” global health funding agreements to prioritize combating infectious diseases in countries deemed to be aligned with the president’s broader foreign policy goals and positions. The five-year, $2.5 billion agreement with Kenya was signed by Kenyan President William Ruto and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to replace a patchwork of previous health agreements that had traditionally been run by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for decades…

Check out Kenya faces backlash over proposed U.S.-funded Ebola facility and Kenyan President defends his position.

Is Ousmane Sonko Playing 5D Chess ?

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Ousmane Sonko (Source: Leral.net)

The past few days have been quite eventful in Senegal. On Friday, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, the President of Senegal, suddenly sacked his Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko by a decree read on national television! On Saturday, Ousmane Sonko observed a day of strategic silence. On Sunday he became deputy of PASTEF, his party, at the parliament, and on Tuesday, he was elected the President of the National Assembly or parliament, the second person in the nation! If this is not some 5D chess, then tell me what is!

Diomaye mooy Ousmane (Source: Kalenews.net)

Imagine this: Ousmane Sonko who was denied running for the presidency by all the crooked ways (falsely accused, lied about, thrown in jail, denied from running in the presidential election…) of the previous government of Macky Sall, chose Diomaye Faye one of his lieutenant in the party to run in his stead. He campaigned in the entire country under the slogan “Diomaye mooy Sonko” i.e. “Diomaye is Sonko,” telling people that a vote for Diomaye was a vote for him, that voting for Diomaye would ensure victory for the party PASTEF and its ideas. The people trusted Sonko. Thus, Diomaye became President of the Republic and Sonko his Prime Minister (Senegal Presidential Elections: Bassirou Diomaye Faye is set to be the next president) … Now on Friday, after a year and half, Diomaye sacked Sonko via presidential decree read on public television. That night Sonko responded simply on Twitter by “Alhamdoulillah. Ce soir je dormirai le coeur lèger à la Cité Keur Gorgui” (Alhamdulillah. Tonight, I will sleep with a light heart in Cité Keur Gorgui)” and the crowds came to acclaim him at home. Saturday, radio silence! On Sunday, Deputy at the National Assembly and then Tuesday elected as the President of the Parliament, the second most powerful person in the nation! Simply Wow!

Flag of Senegal
Flag of Senegal

For those of us who grew up reading the stories of the great Senegalese author Birago Diop (Les contes d’Amadou Koumba, …), one can see that Sonko is a proud son of Birago Diop with twists reminiscent of a Leuk-le-lievre. This past week, we all went to Sonko’s school to learn! The move was harmonious and perfect,… I don’t think anybody would have predicted that. Even Western media were all stunned! Those who were laughing were definitely shocked! There is so much to talk about : the betrayal of a protégé, the loyalty of the previous president of the parliament El Malick Ndiaye who stepped down, the trust of the people, the deputies of PASTEF, and even opposition, and the political genius of Sonko (who many probably thought would take to the streets in anger). Congratulations to the new President of the Parliament. His entrance at the parliament and his speech made us proud! Senegal is always giving us lessons in democracy! Senegal first! Senegal always!

Please enjoy Ousmane Sonko’s speech after being elected President of Parliament of Senegal, and learn!

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Pope Leo XIV Apologizes for Slavery ?

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Pope Leo XIV (source: Cruxnow.com)

On May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV supposedly ‘apologized’ for the Church’s historic role in legitimizing slavery, and the apology appeared in his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas [Magnificent Humanity]: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. This is the first time any pope has directly acknowledged the papacy’s own role in authorizing the enslavement through 15th-century papal bulls like Dum Diversas or The Vatican’s Authorization of Slavery.

Pope Leo XIV said in his encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, “It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord. For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.” He further described the Church’s record as “a wound in Christian memory.“

To me, the above text is confusing, i.e. what is he really asking pardon for? Not trusting MSM, I read the encyclical directly. I looked everywhere, and found an apology for the ‘delay’ with which the Church in the past condemned ‘the scourge of slavery.’ What the ??? If the words above are considered an apology for slavery, then why is not written clearly? Why are the newspapers acting like we are fools who should applaud for the way the Pope talked about slavery as a parenthesis to highlight the dangers of Artificial Intelligence? Thus, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which has recently been recognized by the UN as the gravest crime against humanity, was mentioned as a parenthesis in his encyclical, and we are supposed to clap (The UN Recognizes the Transatlantic Slave Trade as the Gravest Crime against Humanity, Dum Diversas or The Vatican’s Authorization of Slavery, Vatican rejects ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ used to Justify Colonial Quest and Theft of Land)? I read in the encyclical about “new forms of slavery.” Then in this parenthesis, he tells us that as a matter of fact, many already practiced slavery even in the Middle Ages; it was just not as organized. What should we expect when Pope Leo XIV gave his Last Blessing in Angola on April 19, 2026, at an Old Slave Trade Hub? O Africans, how can you continue to follow these people?

Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição Muxima pilgrimage site in Bengo province, Angola (Source: Wikipedia)

It is important to note that, the Pope’s encyclical has been written primarily to safeguard the human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence, arguing that human beings can never be reduced to data, productivity, or technological utility. He said “AI must serve humanity not concentrate power.” Does the Pope know something we don’t? He highlights the challenges posed by artificial intelligence, calling for AI to be “disarmed” from logics of domination, exclusion and war. Drawing parallels with Rerum Novarum, the Pope urges the global community to place technological progress at the service of human dignity, solidarity and the common good. This is where the Pope wants to make sure AI does not turn humanity into slavery. He talks of transhumanism and posthumanism thought current. At this point, the newspapers should talk about the Pope’s message as it pertains to AI the way it really is, instead of trying to lump together an apology for slavery that is not there, to appease (or fool) the largest population of Catholics (Africans).

Below are the words of Pope Leo XIV in the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, as it pertains to slavery. Read it for yourself and tell me: is this an apology?

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…

174. …  In continuity with the tradition inaugurated by Leo XIII, the Church renews her firm condemnation of all forms of slavery, trafficking and the commodification of persons….

175. Human trafficking must be recognized as a contemporary form of slavery and a grave violation of human dignity. Failing to respond firmly, or tolerating these practices in any way, is in some way to become complicit in today’s sins, which are akin to those of the past when slavery was being concealed and justified.

176. In the development of her doctrine, the Church has gradually come to a deeper awareness of the gravity of these issues. It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery. In antiquity and the Middle Ages many individuals and even ecclesiastical institutions had slaves. Already in the early modern period, the Apostolic See of Rome, responding to requests from Sovereigns, intervened several times in order to regulate and legitimize forms of subjugation, and, in certain cases, the enslavement of “infidels.” [174] It was only in the nineteenth century that a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated, notably under Pope Leo XIII. [175] This development offers a clear example of the Church’s growth in understanding the perennial truths of Revelation that she safeguards. Although there was not always consistency in practice — given that slavery was long tolerated before being unequivocally condemned — there has been a continuous affirmation throughout history of the dignity of every human being, created in the image of God, even if it took eighteen centuries for its full incompatibility with slavery to be explicitly recognized. This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached. [176] It is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many in stark contrast to their immeasurable dignity as persons infinitely loved by the Lord. For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.

…

How the Powerful Exerts Power

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Hyena
Hyene

A hiena rouba apenas por hábito, não por fome (provérbio Ovimbundu – Angola). – O homem poderoso fá-lo por mero hábito e para demonstrar o seu poder.

La hyène ne vole que par coutume et non par cause de faim (Proverbe Ovimbundu – Angola). – Le puissant nuit par simple habitude et afin de témoigner de son pouvoir.

The hyena steals only out of habit and not out of hunger (Ovimbundu proverb – Angola). – The powerful inflicts harm out of mere habit and to demonstrate his power.

The Lobito Corridor Opens Up

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A map of the Lobito Atlantic Railway project (Source: LobitoCorridor.org)

The Lobito Railway Project has now become a reality. The railway opened up with trains transporting cobalt and copper from the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the port of Lobito on the Atlantic coast of Angola.

Recall that the Lobito Corridor was already in the pipeline and was a contract given to China before being reallocated to the US/European interests at the end of President Biden’s term. It has been built around the historic Benguela railway. As stated officially, it is designed to speed up mineral exports while reducing reliance on long-distance trucking, for which Nicholas Fourneir, CEO of Lobito Atlantic Railway, said rail transport offers major environmental benefits says in the Africanews article, “Having a train moving these goods is ten times more environmentally friendly than thousands of trucks.” 

The corridor links the port of Lobito in Angola, to the copperbelt in the DRC, and Zambia, and has been framed as a strategic alternative to Chinese dominance in African mining infrastructure, with interest also coming from Europe and the United States. It covers 1,300 km (810 miles).

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) mineral map (Source: Atlas du continent africain, Jeune Afrique et editions Jaguar, 2000)

At this point, it is good to remind everyone that the DRC has about 75% of the world’s coltan, the material at the heart of the mobile phone revolution; about 70% of the world’s cobalt reserves, over 30% of diamond, 10% of copper. The uranium used for the bombs that detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from the DRC. It is what some call a geological scandal! (The New Scramble for Africa, The Geological Scandal that is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), DRC and Zambia Sign Over Cobalt and Copper Resources Rights to the United States?, When Einstein Wrote to the US President about Congo for its Uranium).

Thus, create conflict in the DRC so as to get minerals dirt cheap, and then ship them faster now directly via the Atlantic Ocean and not the Indian ocean, which as we know is currently under tension with the Iran war. Isn’t it a win-win for those selling us “clean energy” and the likes?

To read more, check out the article at Africanews, African Pact, and The Conversation.

So Long to Cameroonian Filmmaker Bassek Ba Kobhio

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Bassek Ba Kobhio (Source: Infomediaire.net)

The great Cameroonian filmmaker Bassek Ba Kobhio, the creator of Sango Malo or Le grand blanc de Lambaréné (the Great White of Lambarene), the founder of  Écrans Noirs Film Festival in Yaoundé, one of Central Africa’s most vital platforms for regional stories and cinematic resistance, has joined his ancestors.

I remember watching ” Le grand blanc de Lambaréné (The Great White of Lambarene)” and thinking about all the pains Africans endured at the hand of the European explorers and missionaries who visited Africa. The cruelty of these missionaries, who claimed to have had a civilizing mission in Africa. The vivid scene in the movie where the doctor removes the teeth of a villager with pliers and without any anesthesia is still stuck in my mind. Ba Kobhio had a way of showing the portraits of flawed idealists like Albert Schweitzer, the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize winner whose biopic Le grand blanc de Lambaréné is, who had ‘good’ intentions but turned to authoritarianism, and paternalism towards Africans who he (Schweitzer) thought in a way inferior, seeing himself as an “elder brother” to them. In that movie, Bassek showed a part of the Gabonese history and Equatorial French colonies through the lens of an African.

Le Grand Blanc de Lambarene by Bassek Ba Kobhio (Source: imdb.com)

His filmography, including masterpieces like Sango Malo (which won the 1992 public prize at the 2nd Festival du cinéma africain of Milan, in Italie), Le grand blanc de Lambaréné and The Silence of the Forest, consistently sought to reclaim the African narrative, portraying the continent with a dignity that rejected the traditional, condescending external gaze. Beyond his work behind the camera, Bassek Ba Kobhio was a visionary architect of the African film industry’s infrastructure. In 1997, he founded the Écrans Noirs Film Festival in Yaoundé, one of Central Africa’s most vital platforms for regional stories and cinematic resistance, contributing to African cinematography.

Excerpts below are from an article written by Henri Matip Ma Soundjock for the African Intercontinental Press (AICP). I could not have written a better eulogy! Enjoy!

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* PUBLICATION – AICP | AFRICAN INTERCONTINENTAL PRESS 

Nécrologie & Hommage – Yaoundé, 10 mai 2026 

Par Henri MATIP MA SOUNDJOCK

Tel: 237 6 72 71 81 64

 BASSECK BA KOBHIO N’EST PAS MORT : IL EST ENTRÉ DANS SES PROPRES IMAGES 

Hommage au cinéaste camerounais, père du Festival Écrans Noirs, qui vient de rendre l’âme

Il filmait pour que le Cameroun se voie. Il a créé Écrans Noirs pour que l’Afrique se regarde. Basseck Ba Kobhio vient de s’éteindre. Mais un homme qui a donné des images à un peuple n’entre pas dans la mort. Il entre dans le montage final. Celui où les vivants reprennent le scénario. 

I. LE CINÉASTE QUI A REFUSÉ QUE LE CAMEROUN SOIT HORS-CHAMP

1. Le nom : Basseck Ba Kobhio. Deux K. Comme Kamer. Comme Kribi, où il naît en 1957. Comme Kolatier, le quartier de Yaoundé où il installe ses bureaux. 

2. L’œuvre : Sango Malo 1991. Le Grand Blanc de Lambaréné 1995. Le Silence de la Forêt 2003. Il ne filme pas l’Afrique des cartes postales. Il filme l’Afrique des dilemmes. Le maître d’école qui gifle la colonisation. Le docteur Schweitzer vu par les Gabonais. Le Pygmée qui juge les Bantous. 

3. La thèse : Chez Basseck, la caméra n’est pas neutre. Elle est témoin. Elle est tribunal. Elle est confessionnal. Il filme comme on rend justice. Plan par plan, il a fait comparaître 100 ans de non-dits camerounais. 

Et nous ? Nous regardions. Pour la première fois, nous ne regardions pas Paris ou Hollywood. Nous nous regardions. Et nous avions mal. Et c’était bien.

…

 III. LE PÈRE, LE PUGILISTE, LE PASSEUR

1. Le Père : Il engueulait. Il exigeait. « Un plan mal cadré est une faute morale », disait-il. Ses stagiaires pleuraient. Puis ils devenaient chefs-op. Il ne formait pas des techniciens. Il formait des héritiers.

2. Le Pugiliste : Il se battait avec le MINFI pour 10 millions de subvention. Avec les hôtels pour loger les réalisateurs. Avec Air France pour des billets. Il perdait souvent. Il revenait toujours. Écrans Noirs a eu lieu même quand il n’y avait pas de courant. Groupe électrogène. Même quand il n’y avait pas d’argent. Dette personnelle. 

3. Le Passeur : Il a passé 30 ans à connecter. Connecter Douala à Ouagadougou. Connecter le FESPACO à Cannes. Connecter le jeune de Mvog-Ada au producteur de Paris. Il était le câble HDMI de l’Afrique. 

Aujourd’hui le câble est coupé. À nous de devenir la fibre.

…

God’s Wisdom

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Ane / Donkey

Heureusement que Dieu n’a pas donné les cornes à l’âne (Proverbe Kanuri – Tchad).

Thank goodness God did not give horns to the donkey (Kanuri proverb – Chad).

Pope Leo XIV gave his Last Blessing in Angola at an Old Slave Trade Hub

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On April 19, 2026, Pope Leo XIV gave the last blessing of his Angolan trip at a place which used to be pivotal in the slave trade! The irony is not lost on us. Can you imagine? The church that authorized and condoned the slavery of the African race, denying it of its humanity, now comes to bless the continent at an ancient slave fort? In 1452, the church authorized the eradication, subjugation, and enslavement of African people. Who told the pope that this was okay? Dum Diversas or The Vatican’s Authorization of Slavery, Vatican rejects ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ used to Justify Colonial Quest and Theft of Land.

Pope Leo XIV at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Muxima in Angola (Source: OSV News Photo, Vatican News)

Pope Leo XIV visited Africa last month: visiting Algeria (first time for a pope to visit the predominantly Muslim country), Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. While in Angola, he delivered a message of peace and reconciliation at the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima in Angola, a revered Catholic site that once served as a hub of the trans-Atlantic slave trade !!!

The Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Muxima was founded in the village of Muxima in the 16th century. It stands on the left bank of the Kwanza River and is a contemporary of the Fortress of Muxima. Muxima was occupied by the Portuguese in 1589 and ten years later in 1599, the fortress was founded and the church was built with a prayer invoking the intercession of Nossa Senhora da Muxima – Muxima means ‘heart’ in Kimbundu. It was an important center in the Portuguese slave trade in Angola, protected by the fortress, and the church played an important role as it is where slaves were baptized before being deported. Picture this, a subhuman getting baptized to get his soul purified to be deported to another continent to be tortured and enslaved (didn’t even know that subhumans or things had souls!) ! The church was a hub of the Atlantic slave trade. Today, it has become the most important place of pilgrimage in Angola, getting over one million visitor from August 31 to September 1. It became a place of pilgrimage for Marians in the 19th century because of a suspected apparition of the Virgin Mary in 1833. In 1924, the church was listed as a historical monument and was later added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 1996. Is this freaking serious? Why, oh why are Africans so gullible? A place where our brothers and sisters were sold to slavery, where our ancestors lost their lives, a slave trade hub, is now a place of pilgrimage for Africans, because there were apparitions of the virgin Mary there? And you believe? Those ‘apparitions’ must have been the spirits of those who were sold into slavery and deported! And a century later, the same church who relegated us to below human beings, comes to talk of peace and reconciliation where they used to baptize these same subhumans to be sold out? And we go there? No matter what anyone says… we have to admit that there is something unpalatable with this picture!

Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição Muxima pilgrimage site in Bengo province, Angola (Source: Wikipedia)

Excerpts below are from Africanews.

Pope prays for healing at Angola shrine marked by slave trade history | Africanews

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Pope Leo XIV on Sunday delivered a message of peace and reconciliation at the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima in Angola, a revered Catholic site that once served as a hub of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Set along the Kwanza River, the sanctuary became a pilgrimage destination after reported Marian apparitions in the 19th century.

Yet the Church of Our Lady of Muxima was originally built by Portuguese colonizers in the late 16th century as part of a fortress linked to slavery.

Enslaved Africans were gathered there, baptized by priests, and forced to march more than 100 kilometers to Luanda before being shipped to the Americas.

… “It is love that must triumph, not war,” Leo said in a prayer invoking the Virgin Mary, urging believers to act as “messenger angels” spreading compassion and blessing [Compassion? on a site which was the hub of slave trade in Angola?].

Praying the Rosary inside the modest church, he recalled centuries of “sorrow and great suffering” endured by Angolans, without directly referencing slavery. [of course… how could he? When they visit other continents they acknowledge it, but in Africa… silence].

Happy Mother’s Day 2026

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La mere et le bebe
La mere et le bebe

Doomu ndey dañu mel na baaraamu benn loxo

Les frères et sœurs issus de la même mère sont comme les doigts d’une seule main (proverbe Wolof – Senegal, Gambie).

Siblings of the same mother are like the fingers of a single hand (Wolof proverb – Senegal, Gambia)

Forced Labor and ‘La Marseillaise’ in Congo in 1934

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Senegalese Tirailleurs serving in France in 1940

There was a time when Africans of another generation, proudly sang La Marseillaise… That was the generation of the tirailleurs, the generation of those trained in France before and after ‘independence’, the generation who loved the Métropole. There was a time when, like the kids described below by Marcel Homet in Congo Français: Terre de souffrance (Paris 1934), Africans believed that France, the land of Marianne, could want their freedom or at least a ‘fair’ partnership. The current generation, after seeing the sweat and blood of their parents and grandparents in the uranium mines or banana plantations, after suffering, after witnessing the NATO attacks on Libya, Cote d’Ivoire, or the repeated putsches funded by France on their territories, or seeing their economy and savings fall to the exchange factor of their currency FCFA in Francophone Africa, or seeing these French and foreign companies plundering their resources for over a century with no roads no hospitals and barely any taxes paid… this generation has become disillusioned, and can no longer sing La Marseillaise. They have learned that singing La Marseillaise equates with the massacre of Thiaroye, the genocides in Algeria, Cameroon, Madagascar, and so many other places, or more recently the joint attacks of NATO on Libya. Singing La Marseillaise has equated to so much blood so much so that this generation no longer wants anything to do with France or imperialist forces.

Decapitated Heads during the French repression of Cameroonians in Cameroon

As you read the description below from another time, it is interesting to note how the gruesome conditions of from another era do not seem to have changed much with time. We are fighting today, whether in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso for dignity and for respect owed to any human being. We are fighting for the right to use our resources as we see fit. We are fighting for simple, human dignity. Below are excerpts from Marcel Hormet in Congo Français: Terre de souffrance (Paris 1934) where he describes a time of forced labor in French colonies, in this case Congo which was part of the French Equatorial Africa (Afrique Equatoriale Francaise (AEF)).

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In the village square of Loko, a few children – aged eight to ten – pass by, singing *La Marseillaise* in French. They vanish around the bend in the path.

Slowly, the tricolor flag rises up the mast planted before the chief’s dwelling. Everyone uncovers their heads. That anthem, still echoing in the distance, that song of liberty and hope, which can be so deeply moving, takes on a poignant significance here. Unwittingly, the children who proclaim it, understanding nothing of its meaning, are thereby giving voice to the aspirations of a people looking to France for some alleviation of the colony’s pitiful plight: empty bellies, festering sores, and an undisguised slavery, more rigorous than the trade ever was in the era of “ebony wood.”

In French Equatorial Africa, when exhausted slaves die, the local government replaces them, one for one.

Why, then, bother to hold back?

(Sur la place de Loko, quelques enfants de huit à dix ans, passent en chantant “en français” la Marseillaise. Ils disparaissent au tournant du chemin.

Au mât planté devant la demeure du chef monte lentement le drapeau tricolore. Tout le monde se découvre. Ce chant qui, là-bas, résonne encore, ce chant de liberté et d’espoir qui peut être si émouvant, prend ici une signification poignante. Sans s’en rendre compte, les enfants qui le clament et qui n’y comprennent rien manifestent ainsi les aspirations d’un peuple qui attend de la France un adoucissement au sort pitoyable de la colonie : ventres vides, plaies suppurantes et cet esclavage non déguisé, plus strict que ne l’a jamais été la traite à l’époque « du bois d’ébène ».

En AEF, lorsque les esclaves épuisés sont morts, le gouvernement local les remplace, nombre pour nombre.

Pourquoi alors se gêner ?)