Gbadolite

I didn't get there, but in thinking about African dictators, I was reminded of former President Mobutu's "Versailles in the Jungle", Gbadolite. In the tradition of dictators everywhere, Mobutu lavished attention and money on his hometown, building palaces, an international airport, a hydroelectric dam, and even, reportedly, a nuclear bunker (which didn't, in the end, help him). On Mobutu's ouster from power by Laurent Kabila in 1997, Gbadolite was raided and the palaces (and hospital, etc.) sacked ...

The Obama Effect

Spotted this campaign poster in the toilet of the MSF team's residence in Gety, Ituri province.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila assumed his post in 2001, as head of an interim administration established following the assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila. In 2006, aged 35, he won the Congo's first democratic election in more than 40 years.

Will Barack Obama try to leverage the "youngest presidents" angle when he runs for re-election in 2012?