Michela Wrong
Journalist and writer specialising in sub-Saharan Africa, ex-Reuters, ex-FT, author of five books, including one novel.
- So here's Kagame admitting he lied a year ago when he told CNN he didn't know if Rwanda had troops in DRC. His audience laughs sycophantically. When I said in "Do Not Disturb" that Rwandan culture regarded lying to outsiders as an admirable art form, it caused an uproar. x.com/larrymadowo/...
- Washington Post puts the frivolous and time wasting activity of serious journalism behind it, announcing a "strategic reset" as, err, well, hmm, something or other..... www.theguardian.com/media/2026/f...
- Debating the contest for critical minerals in DRC with Nicolas Niarchos, author of the fascinating "Elements of Power" - just out - and Henry Sanderson, author of "Volt Rush". It was a full house at Paddington's Frontline Club last night. youtube.com/live/T9JsT5j...
- Whenever a figure in authority “discovers” an atrocity in this belated way, the public is reminded of just how much gasp-inducing lying we are normally subjected to. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- Poignant essay by Eritrean dissident Dawit Mesfin on the claustrophobic paranoia on which Isaias Afewerki's regime is built. What he describes comes straight from the pages of Orwell's "1984" and Eritrea is far from being the only country thus afflicted. martinplaut.com/2026/02/02/i...
- When talking about the smuggling of minerals from Democratic Republic of Congo, people tend to think in terms of coltan, cobalt and diamonds. In fact, the key mineral at the moment is gold. This is an important, overdue report. globalinitiative.net/analysis/tra...
- WSJ review of "Tradecraft" - the exhibition dedicated to John le Carré, currently showing at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. It includes a few photos I took visiting Congo with him in 2006 and I'll be talking about my brief role as his researcher on Friday. www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
- I'm taking part in this event at London's Frontline Club on February 3. We will be discussing Nicolas Niarchos' latest book. All welcome. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/panel-disc...
- The UN Group of Experts has published its latest report on eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which - as expected - makes Trump's entire peace process in that country look like a work of pure fantasy. documents.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GE...
- The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Fascinating story highlighting just how tricky making amends for the colonial theft of African cultural artefacts can prove. apollo-magazine.com/museum-west-...
- What lies behind the nostalgia Gen Z have started feeling for departed African Big Men in countries like DRC and Uganda? My piece in the Spectator magazine: www.spectator.com.au/2025/12/a-la...
- The M23 announcs it is withdrawing from the occupied Congolese town of Uvira just days after Marco Rubio accuses Rwanda of violating the Washington peace accords by seizing the town. So much for any notion that Rwanda has no connection with the rebel movement. www.newtimes.co.rw/article/3200...
- Did Rwanda's Paul Kagame make a fundamental misjudgement in sending his troops to attack Uvira just days after signing a peace deal in Washington? It certainly made Donald Trump look extremely silly and naive, which is not a look he appreciates. www.reuters.com/world/africa...
- US Ambassador Mike Waltz's statement before the UN Security Council yesterday was incredibly hard-hitting. It's worth reading the detail. Rwanda's b*****t has been called out for what it is, in public, by the US. There's no going back from that. usun.usmission.gov/remarks-at-a...
- Has the penny finally dropped? www.reuters.com/world/africa...
- Reposted by Michela Wrong[Not loaded yet]
- Why did Paul Kagame bother going to Washington?https://x.com/ReutersAfrica/status/1998037419157815352
- Magnificent tribute. www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/d...
- This article's focus on Trump and MAGA is inevitable, I guess, but this new facility is also opening up thousands of "sock puppet" troll accounts run by Rwanda's dictatorial regime to public scrutiny - finally. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- This a good time for those who have been systematically harassed/abused for criticising the Rwandan regime to check out where those trolls are based. The answer, in many cases, will be "Rwanda". Which is amusing when they are pretending to be Austrlian surf babes. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
- By God, it would be nice to see British academic institutions showing just a hint of spine on this issue. www.thetimes.com/article/4b37...
- The Miles Morland Foundation today announced the four winners of its year-long scholarship for African writers: authors from Nigeria, Cameroon and Kenya. Judges were Muthoni Garland, Chuma Nwokolo and Goretti Kyomuhendo. Congratulations to all. milesmorlandfoundation.com/morland-writ...
- I've bought the book - haven't yet read it. Interesting interview and review. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
- Sports clubs are, at the end of the day, answerable to their supporters. Fans of all the other teams helping Rwanda sportswash its reputation should take their cue from the Gunners For Peace. www.instagram.com/p/DRPGbqHjNZw/
- Really good to see this shabby deal ending. Congratulations to the fans who campaigned against it. Let's hope the many other Western sports teams helping Rwanda sportswash its image while occupying eastern Congo will do the same. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
- Now the hard part starts: x.com/BBCAfrica/st...
- Je suis actuellement à Kinshasa et j'ai enregistré cette interview avec Radio Okapi hier soir. www.radiookapi.net/2025/11/16/a...
- This is so desperately sad. And it's an incredible tribute to a writer's impact that one can mind their passing despite never having met or communicated with them. She was very, very good at what she did. www.thetimes.com/uk/obituarie...
- The one good thing to emerge from Tanzania's brutal elections: African election observers are no longer turning a blind eye to abuses committed right under their noses. dailyfriend.co.za/2025/11/08/t...
- I contributed a few suggestions to the Spectator's yearly roundup of recommended reading: www.spectator.co.uk/article/book...
- Excellent article from Charles Onyango-Obbo on how the recent bloody election debacle marks the definitive, and overdue, end of Tanzania’s perceived exceptionalism. nation.africa/kenya/blogs-...
- There's too much video evidence of excessive police and army brutality in Tanzania circulating now to pretend this was a normal or remotely credible election. Al Jazeera's report. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIWq...
- What happened to the Mail&Guardian? If they had published an article dictated word for word by Kagame's press spokeswoman, it would still have constituted better journalism than this. Context-free, stunningly-awful reportage. mg.co.za/africa/2025-...
- Bravo to Lindsey Hilsum and C4 for highlighting the shocking violence that has accompanied these Tanzanian elections. www.channel4.com/news/tanzani...
- Tanzania's election has been shockingly violent and the result does not deserve to be recognised abroad. www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
- The cartoonist Gado, on the recent elections in his country of birth:
- President Samia Suluhu Hassan's electoral "victory" in Tanzania (97.66 per cent) is in the same laughable ball park as Paul Kagame's electoral "wins" in Rwanda. Can't they see what a joke this makes them in their contemporaries' and subjects eyes? www.france24.com/en/africa/20...
- Great article on the crumbling city of Johannesburg. In Zaire, these coping strategies were memorably dubbed "Article 15" (Fend for Yourself) - www.wsj.com/lifestyle/tr...
- Tanzania goes to the polls, with the main opposition candidates either in jail or disqualified from running. This seems an appropriate read: www.theafricareport.com/394722/in-th...
- The headline no African leader should aspire to. www.ft.com/content/ce09...
- Just finished this. Gerard Prunier in characteristically provocative mode, going for the jugular of the French state and its history of African intervention. It helps to have some grounding in French politics of the last 50 years to fully appreciate the book. www.hurstpublishers.com/book/colonia...
- This is the best analysis I've yet read on Raila Odinga's style of politics. www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2025...
- Presidential immunity is such a convenient thing. canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...
