Félix Tshisekedi speaking of the miners in Katanga: “They have stolen enough from us. That’s enough “
Will the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo renegotiate mining contracts? This is the big question that everyone is asking themselves in light of his remarks in front of the Lushois on Wednesday. Félix Tshisekedi expressly said that he is going to Kolwezi to discuss with the miners so that the DRC can finally do well in mining. He no longer accepts that the miners get richer and richer while the Congolese get poorer.
Carrying out a roaming visit in Katanga since Wednesday May 12 and which will lead him this Thursday May 13 to Kolwezi in Lualaba, the President of the Republic, Félix Tshisekedi, addressing the crowd who came to welcome him at the Square Moïse Tshombe in Lubumbashi, said his intention to rediscuss mining contracts so that the Democratic Republic of Congo also finds its interest, as well as investors in this sector.
“I am going to Kolwezi to check things with which I do not agree. Our country has a lot of strategic minerals. In the immediate future, the DRC will be at the center of global lusts and strategies for control of cobalt and copper that we have. But it is not normal that the Congolese continue to suffer ”, declared, in Lingala, Felix Tshisekedi under the applause of the thousands of Lushois.
The Head of State was of the opinion that so far it is more mining in the DRC has benefited more foreign investors than the Congolese population. Therefore, he wants to change the situation.
“Those who mine (our minerals) get richer while we, the owners of the land, get poorer. It’s finish. I’m going to Kolwezi to talk to the miners because I want to see clearly. I want the DRC to develop. It is not normal that this soil which allows the others to get rich misses the schools, the hospitals, the roads and that its population is in misery. This is not normal. I would like to know those who keep the DRC in poverty. And I hear to see if they will continue to do their “dirty” work “, hammered Felix Tshisekedi.
Speaking during an academic meeting at the Economic and Social Council, Albert Yuma, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gécamines and President of the Federation of Enterprises of Congo, indicated that the DRC lost about 6.5 billion USD to the continuation of unbalanced mining contracts ”between Gécamines and multinationals between 1996 and 2009.
“Our country has been systematically looted and none of our partners, nor the NGOs which are traditionally giving lessons in moral matters, have dared to attack or criticize this economic and financial tragedy”, denounced the PCA of Gécamines in front of the Councilors of the Republic in his presentation entitled “The challenges of the revised Mining Code”, argued Albert Yuma.
According to Gécamines PCA projections, here is what Gécamines revenues should have been, assuming that the operating and investment costs would have been similar to those estimated in the joint feasibility studies. ventures,: “-The mining should have made it possible to generate positive net results from the first years of operation, thus allowing the STATE to collect significant tax revenues (taxes on profits, taxes on securities) , or nearly an additional $ 3.3 billion. -GECAMINES could have benefited from dividends estimated over the period 2008-2016, estimated at 1.4 billion USD ”.
Note that with the mining contracts signed with multinationals over the past 20 years, Gécamines, according to Albert Yuma still, has been dispossessed of more than 40 million tonnes of copper, 4.5 million tonnes of cobalt and 4.3 million tonnes of zinc.
