DRC: 69 containers of materials from the Katende power plant blocked in Lubumbashi for lack of disbursement of USD 798,000 for transport

69 of 71 containers of materials and accessories for the construction of the Katende hydroelectric power station have been blocked in SNCC warehouses in Lubumbashi since December 2015. These 69 containers, which represent 3840 tonnes of materials, are part of the batch of 71 containers of 593,293 tons with the materials intended for the construction of the hydroelectric power station of Katende in Kasaï Central. 

This emerges from the mission report carried out by a team from the Kasai Central Provincial Assembly led by Vice President Mathieu Ntolo thanks to the financial support of UNDP from 11 to 18/12/2020 in Lubumbashi (Haut Katanga) that NEWS .CD was able to consult. 

“We must note that important documentation was given to the delegation by the administrative services of the SNCC, a pro forma invoice was given to us as we had requested from the director general” indicates the report which specifies that the provincial deputies on mission had several contacts and at all levels to get to know the situation of these materials. 

According to the sources of ACTUALITE.CD, the invoice for the transport of equipment from Lubumbashi to the Tshimbulu station in Dibaya territory amounts to $ 798,000. The company Angélique International, which had been contracted by the Congolese government for the construction of this power station, is still waiting for the Congolese government to fulfill its part of the contract as agreed to continue the work.

The report of the parliamentary committee which confirms the burning of part of the equipment, a fire that rumors widely spread among nationals of the Kasai area attribute to an act of sabotage provides some details:

“the company Angélique had contracted a security partnership with the security company called Kat Security contract which will be terminated a few months later. The company Angélique will sign another security contract at the end of 2015 with a structure called Fondation de youth solidarity for development, Fosogid (…) for the guarding of materials “indicates the report.

And add:

“It is since 2015 that this structure has kept the Katende materials stored in the premises of the SNCC and to these days accuses more than 32 months of unpayment on the part of the company Angélique. At the time of the fire, there was had a team of this structure present in the warehouses. After the investigations opened by the SNCC, a file was opened at the Lubumbashi public prosecutor’s office where a guard is under arrest and three members of the team have fled “

The commission of the provincial assembly which presents the project for the construction of the hydroelectric power station of Katende as “carrier for the development of the province of Kasaï Central and even of part of the Kasaï space and whose materialization could contribute to consolidation of peace in the region, recommends, among other things, to President Tshisekedi to get personally involved in the resumption of work and to the government to include the Katende project in the national investment budget.

A landlocked province, deprived of water, roads and electricity, Kasaï Central has high hopes for the construction of the Katende hydroelectric power station for its development to take off.