CNPAV urges DRC President to withdraw request for lifting Dan Gertler sanctions
The Congo is not for sale (CNPAV) have sent a letter to the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Félix Tshisekedi to express his “deepest dismay” following the discovery, in the columns of the New York Times newspaper, of his letter dated of May 05, 2022 addressed to his American counterpart Joe Biden, requesting the lifting of sanctions against Dan Gertler.
According to CNPAV estimates, the losses for the Congo in cases linked to Dan Gertler amount to more than $2 billion.
Indeed, this platform of the Congolese civil society calls on the Congolese Head of State to reconsider his request and to preserve the interests of the populations.
“We very respectfully urge you to reconsider this request and take all necessary measures to preserve the interests of the Congolese populations in a possible settlement of the disputes between Mr. Dan Gertler and the Democratic Republic of Congo”, informs the letter from the CNPAV.
This Congolese civil society platform shows Félix Tshisekedi that the agreement signed between the Congolese government and Dan Gertler’s Ventora company is “unbalanced” and not beneficial to the population because it obliges the DRC to pay Dan Gertler and legitimize illegal transactions.
“The agreement concluded in February 2022 by Your Administration and the Ventora company of Mr. Dan Gertler is very unbalanced and does not benefit the population.
Not only does this agreement ignore the enormous past losses incurred by the DRC, it obliges the latter to pay cash to Mr. Dan Gertler.
Worse still, the agreement legitimizes the illegal and fraudulent transactions that led to the transfer of Gécamines’ royalties to Mr. Dan Gertler’s company Ventora, which retains the right to collect these royalties for the next fifteen years. For the year 2022 alone, the Ventora company of Mr. Dan Gertler was entitled to receive approximately $ 130 million in respect of these royalties”, denounces the CNPAV.
The member organizations of this platform reminded the Head of State of the meaning of their fight.
“As a reminder, our Coalition Le Congo n’est pas à Vendre (<< CNPAV “) is fighting for an end to the practices of corruption, retro-commissions and bribes, in order to put an end to the looting of natural resources of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the impunity enjoyed by those responsible for corruption and embezzlement of money intended for roads, schools, hospitals, drinking water, the war effort and the recovery of public enterprises” , they say.
Note that Dan Gertler is an Israeli businessman sanctioned by the US Treasury for “corruption and fraud in the Democratic Republic of Congo”.
