WHY JOHN LEGEND'S CONCERT IN RWANDA MATTERS

In this clip from Episode 18 of our ‘Pan-African Attitude’ podcast on the three-decade-long, Western-backed proxy war over natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), African Stream Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Kaballo (@ahmedkaballo on X) elaborated on how ruling elites use entertainment to exert soft power in politics. Kaballo’s explanation came in response to some audience members, who have questioned why Congo activists have asked @JohnLegend (X) to cancel his concert on 21 February in Kigali, Rwanda, in collaboration with NGO Global Citizen (@glblctzn on IG and X).

Rwanda- and Uganda-backed M23 rebels' offensive on 27 January in the eastern DRC’s Goma city—home to over 2 million people—has k*lled around 3,000 Congolese and left at least 700,000 internally displaced. This figure includes more than 100,000 people who fled the 200,000-person Kanyaruchinya refugee camp on the outskirts of the city.

In Rwanda's case, a concert can sanitise the country's image, given its well-documented role in fueling the resource war in the Congo. For example, Rwandan President Paul Kagame appeared on stage during @KendrickLamar's December 2023 concert in Kigali.

What do you make of Kaballo’s analysis?

Sources:

https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/dire-health-and-humanitarian-crisis-eastern-democratic-republic-congo-prompts-escalation-efforts-who-partners

https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2025/2/3/dr-congo-near-goma-displaced-people-begin-long-journey-home 

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/5/2/blood-minerals-what-are-the-hidden-costs-of-the-eu-rwanda-supply-deal

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/02/06/africa/dr-congo-goma-violence-deaths-intl-hnk

https://efe.com/en/latest-news/2025-02-07/dr-congo-conflict/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr62/9016/2025/en/