Our Congolese civil society organizations and platforms specializing in mining issues (Justicia Asbl, LICOCO, RND Asbl, POM, MDR, GANVE, CDH, ESPOIR ONG, RCEN, CERN/CENCO, TPRDC, MAX IMPACT), monitoring the exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo, have just learned with great satisfaction, through the Tweeter messages of ACAJ ASBL and its President who closely follow the judicial files in the Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo, the arrest of Mr. Athanase MWAMBA, Managing Director ai as well as his colleague Mr. KIBEYA, Technical Director of COMINIERE SA by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Appeal of Kinshasa Gombe. They welcome this act (having already taken place or to take place) against the impunity of poor managers of public state enterprises under the supervision of the Ministry of Portfolio. Public opinion will remember that in a series of correspondence to the authorities Congolese, including the letters referenced No 003/ONG/TIM/2022 of 12/11/2022 addressed to the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals and No 004/ONG/TIM/2022 addressed to the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation with copy to the Inspector General of Finance, our organizations citizens had invited these judicial authorities to take up the case of the sales illegal by the managers of COMINIERE SA of its undervalued shares in DATHCOM MINING, which is a real sellout according to reports officials and a shameful scandal against the Republic and the populations of Manono and Tanganyika. Our organizations respectfully inform His Excellency Mr. President of the Republic and Head of State, Prime Minister Head of Government, Mr. Attorney General in charge of the said file that although prior to the report of the General Inspectorate of Finance of April 2022, the Board Superior of the Portfolio (at the request of the Minister of the Portfolio) had sent to the government an “observation sheet” on COMINIERE SA on January 28 2021, under the signature of Mr. BEYA TSHIDIBU (Expert) and MALENGELA MBIY (Head of Mission). The said document pointed out, among other things, what follows: '' Lethargy observed in the follow-up of certain JVs. For example, the contract DATHCOM MINING SA initially covered six (6) mining titles, namely: PR 12436, PR 12449, PR 12450, PR 12454, PR 12459 and PR 13359. Ultimately, only one was favoured, PR 13359 (deposit containing lithium) and the five (5) remaining should be returned to COMINIERE for disposal… Verification made, two of these mining titles were listed in the file of CAMI on behalf of HONGKONG EXCELLENT MINING INVESTMENT CONGO, a Company Chinese who has no business relationship with COMINIERE. These are the titles following mines: PR 12436 and PR 12454. What is it exactly?’’ In the IGF Report of March 30, 2022 on COMINIERE SA, there are three PEs of DATHCOM MINING sold, after their recovery by COMINIERE SA of DATHCOM MINING SA, in 2018 and 2019 to the same famous Chinese company HONGKONG EXCELLENT MINING INVESTMENT CONGO SARL with no business relationship with our portfolio company: PE 12436, PE 12449 and PE 12450. And at the IGF of ask the directors of COMINIERE SA: “These successive disposals are illegal, what actions have you taken to protect the interests of the state and what are the results? Our civic organizations consider this judicial inquiry, present or to come, of these two senior officials of COMINIERE SA as a step positive in the application of the will of His Excellency Mr. President of the Republic and Head of State to fight against corruption, fraud and impunity that plague our country in general and the resource sector especially natural. From the above and considering several documented facts, our organizations and platforms recommend: To His Excellency the President of the Republic, Head of State: - To dismiss the Minister of Portfolio of the Government of the Republic for not having respected the vision of the Head of State on the fight against anti-values in the companies of the Portfolio and for ignoring the reports of the Council Superior of the Portfolio of 2021 and of the General Inspectorate of Finance of 2022 on COMINIERE SA by protecting agents accused of selling off, bad management of State assets and incompetence for reasons to be given to the justice ;
- To respectfully ensure that no interference or political pressure is done - To kindly change the General Directorate of the Mining Cadastre in office since more than ten years and whose management of the register of State mining assets is more more contested by several people for years; - To respectfully ensure that no interference or political pressure is made on justice about this file (COMMINIERE SA) which should serve example to all the other managers of the companies in the Portfolio. To His Excellency the Prime Minister to urgently propose competent and patriotic new trustees for appointment by His Excellency
Mr. President of the Republic, Head of State at COMINIERE SA in replacement of those who failed to protect the interests of the State and those of the population including that of Manono and Malemba Nkulu. To the Minister of Justice to fight effectively against fraud, corruption that plague the Congolese extractive sector, to guarantee the independence magistrates, especially in cases concerning corruption and embezzlement of public funds, as is the case with COMINIERE SA, which also other dirty files including that of UNITED COMINIERE (UC SAS) and Tantalex Lithium, a company listed in Canada and Germany whose German citizen Klaus Eckoff became a shareholder earlier this year joining the Citizen Canadian Eric Allard sentenced by Congolese justice for forgery and use of forgery, as well as that of the STM (Société du Tailing de Manono) with Buckell and others for which the role played by the Technical Director KIBEYA and the Director General ai MWAMBA should be identified and responsibilities established. It is up to the Minister of the Portfolio to show rigor, objectivity and of patriotism in the management of this file, for having failed on several points and for having authorized the sale of 5% of the shares of COMINIERE SA in DATHCOM MINING to MMCS company despite all history and sightings alarming reports cited above, resigning to put themselves at the provision of justice as a good Christian citizen and above all not to obstruction of the ongoing judicial investigation given his responsibility in as supervisory authority of COMINIERE SA To the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal of Kinshasa Gombe of push the surveys further and broaden the scope of the surveys in order to identify all those involved, Congolese citizens and expatriates, directly or indirectly at all levels in this vast corruption scandal, embezzlement of public funds and sell-off of mining assets in favor of Chinese companies according to the reports of the Superior Council of the Portfolio and the General Inspectorate of Finance in order to bring them before the courts competent; to identify the true shareholders of DATHOMIR MINING SARL (including the names of the Chinese Simon CONG and his Congolese representative often come up in various NGO reports) and determine their role in the selling off of assets mines of DATHCOM MINING in favor of Chinese companies HONGKONG EXCELLENT MINING INVESTMENTS CONGO SARL and ZIIJIN. The seriousness of the facts charge does not concur in favor of any provisional release of all the people who will be arrested before the closure of this file by the courts. To the Director General of the Mining Cadastre to explain to the Government of the Republic, to the judicial authorities and to the Congolese people the registration of the illegal transfer of COMINIERE SA permits in HONGKONG EXCELLENT MINING INVESTMENTS CONGO SARL according to the two reports above mentioned and give details of its shareholders of this Chinese company. Our organizations ask any legal or natural person who has a file mismanagement at COMINIERE SA to bring it to justice by constituting civil party or to contact us in order to help the State to recover its rights. IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
AVZ Price at posting:
78.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held