CLAN chiefs of Loango on Congo’s southwest coast have enthroned a new monarch, Moe Tati I, ending a four-year row over the succession in the five-centuries-old kingdom. The 72-year-old king succeeds his uncle, Moe Poaty III, under tribal law awarding the succession to a nephew of a deceased monarch. Trouble erupted when one of Moe Poaty’s sons broke with tradition and proclaimed himself king. Before his enthronement, Moe Tati underwent numerous initiation rites, which will continue for another seven years, during which he must submit to arduous tests by clan chiefs in accordance with “magico-religious practices.” – AFP