Raymond Tchedya: “out of the sum of 17 million USD paid by Kibali Gold Mines to SOKIMO, 7 million USD should be invested for the social of the workers”

The national deputy Raymond Tchedya, elected from the electoral district of Djugu in the province of Ituri, pleaded for a fair distribution of the fees paid by Kibali Gold Mines to SOKIMO.

This parliamentarian suggests that out of the total sum of 17 million US dollars paid to the Kilomoto Mining Company (SOKIMO) as a dividend by Kibali Gold Mines, at least 7 million dollars should be oriented for the social welfare of SOKIMO staff.

This position of Raymond Tchedya is also shared by some elected officials from the provinces of Haut-Uélé and Ituri. They think that this envelope of 17 million US dollars should contribute largely to the social welfare of the workers of SOKIMO, and to the revival of the activities of this public company so that it becomes a major mining operator.

The revival of SOKIMO’s activities, said Raymond Tchedya, will result in the production of gold on behalf of the Congolese Government.

“It is incomprehensible to see private companies producing gold while the owner of the mining plots, which is SOKIMO, is unable to present a single gold ingot”, he regretted.

Before questioning himself in these terms: “How do you expect private individuals to have gold to sell on the international market and SOKIMO, the gold parent company, to lack gold? »

In a report published in January 2022 by civil society organizations in the province of Ituri entitled “SOKIMO, corruption kills”, they indicated that nearly 164,063,685 million USD collected between 2009 and 2017 by the Kilomoto Mining Company, have not been used to revive this state enterprise.

Indeed, these structures, among others “The Congo is not for sale”, had asked the courts to initiate investigations to discourage this practice.

This report focused on the analysis of governance and potential corrupt practices within the Kilomoto Mining Company.

In conclusion, members of civil society had thus noted the fact that the management of the public company SOKIMO has remained chaotic for several decades.