DRC: South Kivu mining companies owe USD 12 million to the tax authorities for non-payment of annual surface rights

The Minister of Mines, Antoinette  N’SAMBA KALAMBAYI , presented to the Council of Ministers on Friday, November 26, 2021, the Mid-term report on the level of execution of the instructions of the President of the Republic, Head of State, relating to to the fight against mining fraud in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

From this report, five points emerge, including the list of mining companies that owe USD 12 million to the tax authorities for non-payment of annual surface rights. 

Here, by way of illustration, these five points of the report on the fight against mining fraud. 

• The granting of exploration permits and the conclusion of mining rights contracts for mining companies of the State Portfolio have been suspended;

• The instruction had been given to the Director General of the Mining Cadastre to transmit the list of all holders of mining rights in default of commencement of research, construction and development works in order to allow the initiation of the procedure for their withdrawal in accordance with in article 288 of the Mining Code. To date, the Minister of Mines has already signed 302 Ministerial Orders forfeiture of holders of mining rights for non-payment of annual surface rights;

• The terms of reference for the recruitment of the consultant responsible for carrying out the Technical Audit of the Mining Cadastre have already been drawn up and the Tender File is being prepared by the Experts of the Ministry of Mines. Considering the constraints of the public procurement procedure, this technical audit could start at the beginning of the year;

• A joint Commission between the Ministries of Mines and the Portfolio as well as representatives of the mining companies of the State portfolio is being set up to initiate a systematic control of the management of mining assets of these State companies. It will be able to start its work in early December 2021;

• The list of taxable persons not in order for payment of the portion of 50% of annual surface rights accruing to the Public Treasury has been sent to the General Inspectorate of Finance. The unpaid amount currently stands at US $ 12 million for the period 2017 to 2021.

Note that the Minister of Mines has also indicated that she is working to revitalize and strengthen the National Commission for the Fight against Mining Fraud (CNLFM) in order to make it more effective on the ground. To this end, she requested the support of the Government in this regard.