FILIMBI and LUCHA ask Sama Lukonde to undertake the process of recovering the Royalties of Gécamines in METALKOL and KCC- DRC
The citizens’ movements LUCHA and FILIMBI ask the Prime Minister, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge, to undertake the process of recovering the Royalties of Gécamines in the METALKOL and KCC project, from the start. investiture of his government in view of the opacity that had surrounded these transactions.
“The royalties of GECAMINES in METALKOL represent 2.5% of net revenue, and the finance law requires that Gécamines must transfer 50% of the royalties to the public treasury. It therefore becomes important to know how Gécamines ceded the part that goes to the public treasury? And for what consideration for the public treasury? “, Ask Filimbi and Lucha in their press release.
These two citizen movements welcome the appointment of Sama Lukonde and consider that this is an opportunity to push the recovery of GECAMINES and other public enterprises in the country.
“We believe that your time at Gécamines has made it easier for you to understand the situation and the difficulties it is going through for its recovery, you have also discovered as much of the shenanigans surrounding sales, disposals, in particular the case of the disposal of Royalties. to Dan Gertler, an opaque cession which weakened and tarnished the image of Gécamines throughout the world ”, notes the press release from Lucha and Filimbi addressed to the Head of Government of the Sacred Union of the Nation.
And to add: “Being aware of all these shenanigans, you had better get involved personally by instructing very quickly the people involved to withdraw the Royalties which have been sold off at a low price, because your government needs this money to respond. To the needs of the population, we thus appeal to your courage and your determination to be able without complacency to authorize the recovery of Royalties. At the time as DG your power seemed to be limited which was perhaps the reason for your indifference, today your field of power has widened and therefore the Congolese people will not give you any excuse if these Royalties do not exist. are not recovered in a short time ”.
Recall that as part of the peaceful campaign to fight corruption in the extractive sector, the citizens’ movements Lucha and Filimbi had sent a memo, dated December 7, 2020, to Gécamines to require it to start the recovery process. of its royalties ceded to MULTREE LIMITED under non-transparent conditions which are prejudicial to Gécamines and the entire nation.
Lucha and Filimbi believe that the royalties are secure and permanent payments that GECAMINES should receive from its mining partnerships as soon as they are in production. “It is unacceptable that this recipe is ceded in the dark to a private investor”, they protest.
Therefore, these activists are waiting for “a strong signal” from the President of the Republic to “put an end to the opacity in the management of our common heritage”. They say they are starting a series of peaceful actions to push Gécamines to break illegal agreements and so that “the recovery of our public enterprise is a reality and not remain a slogan of the representatives”.
