Cyrille Mutombo: “the demolition of anarchic constructions within Kibali carried out in accordance with the standards”

Contrary to what some call illegal and brutal, the anarchic building demolition in the Kibali no-go zone took place in the nomes. These are the words of the Country Director of Kibali Gold Mines who was the guest, this Friday, November 5, 2021, on Top Congo FM.

He thus wanted to dispel any misunderstanding and enlighten public opinion on what really took place during this whole process which dates back several years.

According to Cyrille Mutombo, all the people concerned by this demolition, before being dislodged, have been informed for more than a year.

“ Then, a provincial decree was taken from the beginning of the year 2021 and several press releases and information were given to these people by a commission set up. They were even invited to go to the site in preparation to pick up macaroons to have plot spaces. Unfortunately only a few responded favorably to this proposal and others refused. The Provincial Government has been preparing this site since March, so 7 months later, the Government should take the next step, especially when you have barely 10% of people who respond to this call ”, he said. -he explains.

And to add: “the problem is that these people never believed that this was going to happen. But we are not going to condemn the Provincial Government when these people have chosen not to respond to the proposal made by the Government, that of going to take their materials. We are not going to force them, even less Kibali who does not have the force of coercion. The solution is that everyone must learn to respect the laws and we will live in a peaceful way, ”explains Cyrille Mutombo.

History of this demolition

The demolition of the houses in the Kibali Gold Mines exclusion zone was carried out by order of the Haut-Uélé provincial government.

The act respected the law because these houses had been built in an anarchic manner, underlines the Country Director of Kibali Gold Mines, Cyril Mutombo.

It is not a question of a brutal relocation but rather of the editions having proceeded by the demolitions of the residences illegally established and for which a moratorium has been given by the Provincial Government.

“ And it should be noted that this moratorium has been extended several times for this exclusion zone, zone B established since May 2021.
According to the mining code, in its article 282, a mining operator is granted the right to request the establishment of a no-go zone for its mining work. Kibali did it in 2019, and got it in 2010. ”he said.

Cyrille Mutombo also recalls that the resettlement of Kokiza was made for the displaced persons who were in the Kibali exclusion zones. These were taken to this reception site.

“ We did it for zone A and zone B. It followed that after this resettlement from 2015, people started to build houses and yet we had demarcated this zone and we had even planted trees. We have gone from less than 50,000 inhabitants to more than 500,000 inhabitants. All these people are by no means indigenous because they were displaced between 2010 and 2014 ”, deplores this senior Kibali executive.

It should be noted that the people who had settled in these areas had obtained new land with materials before the demolition.

“ We have seen the Provincial Government act responsibly. They prepared an alternative reception site to allow the displaced people to be accommodated. We visited these sites ourselves when we were in Durba a few weeks ago and these sites are doing well. We saw well established water sources and subdivided plots. And the Government offered them sheets, wood and some building materials , ”he insists.

In 2010, it should be remembered that the population was not dense there, all the displaced were resettled.

And between 2010 and 2014, there was a void in these places and then suddenly between 2015 and 2019, there was a population explosion. The population which had grown to more than 100,000 people settled there without having followed the laws in force.

Note that only the localities of Durba, Mege and Bandayi located in the territory of Watsa, in the province of Haut-Uélé, are concerned by this legal operation.

This mining giant, which only exploits part of its deposit, would now like to extend these activities to other portions to increase its production. This explains the recourse to these zones of interdiction which return by right to Kibali.