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DRCONGO-POLITICS
DR Congo’s Tshisekedi names new PM after power struggle
KINSHASA, Feb 15, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi on
Monday named Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge, head of the state mining giant
Gecamines, as prime minister following a prolonged tussle for power with
allies of his predecessor.
Sama Lukonde, 43, whose appointment was announced in a decree read on
nationwide TV, succeeds Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba, who was forced out after
a coalition between supporters of Tshisekedi and former president Joseph
Kabila broke down.
The months-long crisis was seeded in the outcome of elections in December
2018 that led to the first peaceful transition of power in the Democratic
Republic of Congo’s history.
Tshisekedi, the son of a veteran opposition leader, was declared the
winner but was forced into a governing coalition with Kabila supporters who
at the time wielded a huge majority in parliament.
Tensions boiled over last year when Tshisekedi declared that power-sharing
was blocking his agenda for reform, vowing to seek a new majority in
parliament.
In a series of moves, he won over many Kabila legislators, gaining the
perceived support of almost 400 out of 500 members of the National Assembly –
– a group he has named the Sacred Union of the Nation.
The new majority enabled him to force out Ilunga as well as the pro-Kabila
speakers of both houses of parliament.
– ‘Heavy responsibilities’ –
Sub-Saharan’s biggest country, a nation the size of continental western
Europe, the DRC has a notorious reputation for corruption, poor governance
and inequality, despite its mineral riches.
Tshisekedi campaigned on promises to change this and improve the country’s
poor record on human rights.
But his first two years in power were largely overshadowed by his
predecessor.
Kabila took the helm of the country in 2001, succeeding his father,
Laurent-Desire Kabila, who was assassinated by a bodyguard. His 18 years in
power enabled him to build a powerful web of support in politics, the economy
and military. Sama Lukonde, who hails from the mining region of Katanga,
previously served as a sports minister under Kabila.
He is a member of a small political party called Congo’s Future (ACO),
which was once allied to Katanga power-broker and tycoon Moise Katumbi but
supported Tshisekedi in the runup to the 2018 elections.
He was named managing director of Gecamines by Tshisekedi in June 2019.
Katumbi, who moved closer to Tshisekedi in the past few months as the
president strengthened his position, threw his weight behind the new
appointment, saying he wished Sama Lukonde “every success in his heavy
responsibilities, among which peace and security for all Congolese remain the
major challenge.”
Separately, Floribert Anzuluni, coordinator of a citizens’ campaign group
called Filimbi, said the appointment was “the symbol of the renewal of the
ruling class” in DR Congo.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0009 hrs