Several mining companies operating in the Lualaba province in the DRC have been negatively cited in a Civil Society report that accused them of polluting the rivers in this province. Activists denounce what they call the “unacceptable actions” of these mining companies. Which, according to the report, are “deliberately” destroying the environment by dumping mine backfill and dumping toxic substances into rivers (which serve as a source of survival for villagers) in Lualaba province. Society organizations have criticized the fact that these mining companies are getting rich by mining cobalt and other precious minerals on the lands of these villagers.
A few years ago, several local media outlets denounced the involvement of members of President Tshisekedi’s family in mining through some of these companies accused of polluting the province’s rivers.
According to the blog mediapart, each month, several thousand tons of copper extracted from Gécamines’ waste would make the fortune of the presidential clan. About ten quarries are reportedly managed by family members. Every day, nearly 150 trucks evacuate 7,500 tons of earth with a content of 3% copper and cobalt, or 225 tons/day of ore. In one year, nearly 80,000 tons of copper are traded by the new Congolese predators.
Taking advantage of the rise in raw material prices, this jackpot represents an annual value of 750,000,000 USD which would be shared by Christian, Kally, Jean-Claude and other affiliates among whom we would find some provincial governors in complicity with Chinese and Indian operators.
According to this website, an investigation was conducted in the provinces of Haut Katanga and Lualaba and made it possible to establish a non-exhaustive list of the activities of the new Congolese predators. They explain that at the center of all the Tshisekedi clan’s business, we find the Chinese Sarah Young, Djang Soleil, Pey, Lee, Commandant Djung and Alex Gung who coordinate all the operations. Quarries, mines, trading centers and processing plants are all said to be under the control of those close to President Tshisekedi.
The site mines.cd indicated that the General Inspectorate of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) investigated, a few months ago, the sponsors of the diggers active on the mining permits of the Kazakh group ERG.
According to the report of the ERG company cited by Africa Intelligence, it was revealed that these various on-site hearings “brought to light the names of eminent members of the presidential family”, but also a cooperative that belongs to the governor of the Lualaba province, Fifi Masuka Saina.