Civil society accuses Minister of Mines and Portfolio of having signed a leonine contract transferring mining assets recovered from Dan Gertler to a Canadian company
The collective of civil society organizations that participated in the round table organized by the Presidency of the Republic on the agreement signed between the DRC and the Ventora group of the economic operator Dan Gertler, denounces the signing of a one-sided contract in the Congolese mining sector.
According to information from this collective, the Ministers of Mines and Portfolio proceeded on May 5 to the signing of a “leonine” contract, ceding over the counter to an unknown in the mining sector, the Canadian company AJN Resources belonging to the European citizen Klaus Peter ECKHOF, certain mining assets that the Presidency of the Republic recovered from Dan Gertler’s Ventora. These are the gold mining site of Moku in the Province of Haut-Uélé, the gold deposits of Sokimo and Ituri and Bas-Uélé including those of Zani and Gada as well as the lithium mining site of Manono which must belong to australian AVZ.
For this collective, the signing of this contract violates the revised mining code of 2018 by not respecting the tendering procedure.
“This contract signed yesterday May 05, 2022 by the Minister of State in charge of the Portfolio, Adèle Kayinda, and the Minister of Mines, Antoinette N’Samba systematically violates the revised Mining Code of 2018 by not respecting the procedure of call for tenders, before the signature as well as the legal duration of mining research by a company”, denounce these NGOs.
This collective accuses certain members of the government of sabotaging the policy of the Head of State Félix Tshisekedi which takes into account the improvement of governance and the fight against corruption in natural resources.
“It is in contradiction with the vision and the will of the Head of State Félix Tshisekedi for the improvement of governance and the fight against corruption in the natural resources expressed many times publicly. It is a kind of sabotage of the policy of the Head of State by certain members of the government as we see in the Dossier Gécamines contre TFM”, can we read in their statement.
The civil society organizations members of the Collective and others see in this contract a systematic predation of a good part of the gold and lithium mines in a deal that the company having participated in the Round Table on the Agreement with Ventora and to which the experts of the Presidency of the Republic had the will of the Head of State to henceforth consult Civil Society before, during and after the signing of contracts in natural resources.
The signatories of the press release recall that in 2020, the “TOUS POUR LA RDC” coalition and the elected officials of Haut-Uélé and Ituri had prevented the signing of this sell-off contract under the Ilunga Ilukamba government by providing elements to the President of the Republic. who had divested the government of the file.
Thus, these NGOs ask the Head of State to block the implementation of this contract concluded with the unknown Canadian AJN Resources “because it contradicts all his efforts for good governance in the mining sector and promises of transparency made by its Deputy Chief of Staff, André Wameso, during the Round Table on the agreement concluded with the Ventora group”.
These organizations have promised to send a detailed memorandum to the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister during this week on this contract, which they disapprove of. Among the signatory organizations of this press release, there are: the consultation framework of the Lualaba society, Casmia, Cern-Cenco, Espoir Ongd, Licoco, Odep, Pom, Recic, RND, TPMAC, TPRDC and Carbone Beni.
