Invasion of artisanal miners in the KCC site: Godard Motemona reassures prompt return of peace

The Deputy Minister of Mines, Godard Motemona met, on Tuesday, June 14, with the caucus of deputies of Lualaba on the issue related to the invasion by artisanal miners from this province to the facilities of the mining company Kamoto Copper Company KCC. 

Evicted from their mining area in Lualaba, the artisanal miners invaded the site of the KCC mining company. The deputies of Lualaba met the Deputy Minister of Mines, Godard Motemona with a view to demanding the involvement of the government in order to restore calm between the two protagonist camps.

Albert Tshilemb, rapporteur for the caucus of elected Lualaba called on the Ministry of Mines to ensure the protection of investors.

“We came to talk with the Minister of Mines on a current situation in Lualaba, particularly in the facilities of the mining company Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) which is invaded by artisanal miners with disruption of the production. We came to see the supervising minister to make sure of the measures that are taken to secure the investors so that they feel at ease and continue their production in the best conditions. It happens that when these operators are dislodged in the areas where they mine, they turn to the mining companies where they will take the minerals illegally. And that is distorted to discourage investors,” he said. 

In addition, he called on artisanal miners to calm down while reassuring them that new mining areas will be found to their advantage. 

“We ask our compatriots to avoid malicious destruction and to attack investments. We ask them to calm down. There are actions that will be carried out to make certain areas available to them where they can exploit, he added.

In turn, the Deputy Minister of Mines, Godard Motemona reassured these elected officials that the ministry is already hard at work to provide appropriate solutions to this troubled situation. Among other things, correspondence was sent to the Ministries of Defense and the Interior with a view to urgent intervention to restore peace in this mining area. A team from the Ministry of Mines also went down to the site to propose concrete solutions and report to the hierarchy.