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Congolese politicians established armed militia to protect their mining sites
Artisanal miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo often work for politicians.
Congolese President Félix
Tshisekedi told his ministers that he wanted to end the squandering of mining
assets by unnamed political actors and officials involved in the administration
of the mining register which records mining concessions.
Tshisekedi claimed that: “This
recommended clean-up will increase the contribution of the mining sector to the
state’s budget and help, as a priority, the people benefit from the mineral
wealth of our country."
However, sources including the
UN group of experts in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) confirmed that,
Tshisekedi is among those who formed militia groups in the east of the country, to
protect their mining sites, claiming that they were there to combat fraud
within the sector.
In 2019, Tshisekedi ambitiously claimed that he will create 6.4 million jobs during his second term in office; that is about 1.3 million jobs per year by turning to mining, the country’s biggest export; ambitions he can never fulfill since he is busy enjoying the mines' revenues with his family. Tshisekedi’s clan is heavily involved in the former Katanga province's mining Wild West.
Key figures from the Congolese
government involved in fraudulent mining, including Lualaba's current governor
Fifi Masuka Saini who was appointed head of the province in 2021. Thanks to the
decisive support of President Tshisekedi and First Lady Denise Nyakeru
Tshisekedi.
Saini has a long history in
the mining sector where she prospered with her Coopérative Minière pour le
Bien-Etre des Exploitants Artisanaux du Katanga (Comibakat).
Her business dealings in the
mining industry, have nevertheless stirred up discontent among the local civil
society. In August 2023, several organisations expressed concern about an
artisanal sector taken hostage by a few powerful members of the regime,
including the presidential family.
Thierry Tshisekedi, the
president's younger brother, is also involved in the affair. "Maman
Marthe," the president's mother, is the artisanal mining operation's
ultimate beneficiary.
The government has raised a
militia called Wazalendo ostensibly to assume security responsibilities.
However, it is a coterie of militiamen brought together by superstitious
beliefs and lacks the credibility of an organized security force.
The military says it has trained
40,000 Wazalendo in response to Tshisekedi’s call in November 2022 for
vigilante groups to rise up against M23 rebels in the country's volatile east, where more than 260 armed groups wreak havoc. The Congolese have a fraught
history of militiamen who tax them illegally, engage in gross human rights
violations with impunity, recruit their children, and cause massive population
displacement.
Adding to the complexity and
confusion over whose interests are being pursued, the government has also
reportedly hired foreign mercenaries from Eastern European countries like
Romania to secure key mining sites in the region.
The Congolese government, led by Tshisekedi, played an overwhelming role in multiplying the number of militia groups operating in eastern DRC.
