Citizens Rally at US Embassy in DRC Demanding Action on Primera Gold in Anti-Smuggling Fight
Citizen movements organized a sit-in this Friday, August 20, 2023, in front of the United States Embassy in Kinshasa to express their concerns about the positions of the American state through their press release of October 12.
According to these citizen associations, the positions of the United States “verge on a strong observed inconsistency”.
In their memorandum read by Mr. Jeriel Kasia, these citizen associations draw the attention of the United States of America to three areas: the area of security, the socio-economic area and finally the consolidation of democracy.
The citizen movements believe that “in a drive to rebuild the DRC, efforts are certainly still needed and humanitarian or economic assistance from the United States should logically be part of the perspective of encouraging the DRC and supporting it in its quest to regain its dignity by allowing it to fully and independently enjoy its mining, gas and agricultural resources,” their memo states.
They consider it important that the American administration seizes the opportunity to support the DRC, on the path to greatness of its destiny, by supporting it in all the steps which aim to develop and make profitable its natural resources.
These citizen movements show the United States of America the role that Primera gold plays in stopping gold smuggling in the DR Congo.
Primera Gold was created by the DRC with the United Arab Emirates to put an end to gold smuggling in order to normalize the Congolese gold export circuit, by allowing the DRC to benefit from the exploitation of a of the most important minerals in its economy.
“Primera Gold DRC gradually went from 29 kg of gold exported in January to 150 kg in May, then 550 kg of gold in June, before reaching, in particular for the threshold of 650 kg of monthly export , last July.
Hence the satisfaction expressed for the achievements of the order of more than 3,000 kgs, or 3 tonnes, after seven months of activities, representing more than 120 years of exports”, they declare.
These citizen movements urge the United States to be wary of manipulative narratives that seek to demonize Primera Gold.
“While we are stopping the smuggling of gold and gradually strangling the financing bottlenecks of terrorism in Kivu, NGOs, media which publish against Primera Gold with the contents of their publications, tweets… We emphasize that the NGOs foreign interests with obscure interests in no way represent the path of the Congolese people, respect for our sovereignty is not negotiable”, they say.
Therefore, they therefore invite the American State to a balanced coherence of its positions in the face of Congolese problems and “for a better orientation of your future positions, please always consider the deep aspirations of peace, freedom, development and sovereignty of the Congolese in a sincere and serious manner”, they urge.
