Louis Watum Inspects Musompo Centre as DRC Strengthens Mining Oversight
DRC’s Louis Watum Inspects Musompo Mining Centre as Weighing and Testing Resume
DRC Mines Minister Louis Watum Kabamba inspected Musompo’s mining facilities in Lualaba on 26 October 2026, supporting President Félix Tshisekedi’s mining-sector reforms.
Watum arrived in Kolwezi on 25 October. At Musompo, he inspected restored weighbridges and the Centre for Evaluation, Expertise and Certification (CEEC) laboratory. Inaugurated in 2023, the infrastructure had experienced years of inactivity.
A first truck was weighed, and mineral sampling and analysis began. Technical adjustments continue as operations gradually increase towards the centre’s stated capacity of 250 trucks daily.
Watum called for transparent trading conditions for mining cooperatives through reliable weighing, accurate analysis and fair valuation of minerals and by-products.
He ordered daily monitoring, clearance of compliant trucks and a sustainable management plan benefiting Congolese artisanal miners.
At the provincial immigration directorate, he met an interagency commission joined by military judicial authorities and Mines Ministry representatives.
The commission presented arrangements for removing uniformed personnel occupying mining sites and strengthening artisanal mining oversight through designated exploitation zones.
Watum urged rigorous implementation to restore state authority and improve sector governance.
