DRC: Development of Grand Inga, the Govt and the company Fortescue Metals Group sued
The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as well as the company Fortescue Metals Group may soon find themselves before a judge in an Australian jurisdiction, on the basis of a complaint lodged by the head of the Youth Parliament of the DRC.
The complainant accuses the Congolese Government and the company Fortescue Metals Group of being the source of several cases of human rights violations in the context of the implementation of the development of the Grand Inga project.
The two sides are also accused of corruption, violation of the law on public procurement, violation of the right of access to information, abuse of power and others.
“The Grand Inga hydroelectric project continues to fuel controversy. It is managed in all opacity at the Presidency of the Republic…. The Government not being sufficiently involved, this major project escapes the control of the National Assembly. Only a few special advisers to the President of the Republic are dealing with the file and the sectoral ministries only have the protocol signing ”, denounced Arthur Omar Kayumba, National President of the Youth Parliament of the DRC.
And to add: ” If this convention is not canceled and that the projects resulting from it are not placed under the management of the central Government and the control of the National Assembly with as a preliminary the impact studies, we will continue our legal action until the judicial annulment of this agreement and the conviction of the people involved ”.
The Youth Parliament threatens to make public and accessible this Convention relating to the development of Substantial Green Industries in the DRC in case the Government does not back down.
“ The Kinshasa regime’s quest for legitimacy and diplomatic charm continues to plunge the country into a sort of voluntary coma in classic international relations. Several other sectors such as mines, hydrocarbons,… must have suffered hard blows from the leonine contracts negotiated for the purposes of legitimization ” , estimates the President of the Youth Parliament of the DRC.
The Grand Inga, the largest hydroelectric dam in the world is planned on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This massive dam is part of a global vision of the international economic community to develop an electricity grid across Africa, which will boost the industrial economic development of the continent.
It is estimated that Grand Inga could produce up to 40,000 MW of electricity, more than twice the power output of the Three Gorges Dam in China, and more than a third of the total electricity currently produced in Africa. .
