Glencore to pay $180m to DR Congo as part of corruption settlement

Glencore to pay $180m to DR Congo as part of corruption settlement

Global mining giant Glencore will pay US$180 million to the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of an agreement to settle all corruption claims alleged between 2007 and 2018 by various authorities, including the United States Department of Justice and the Congolese National Financial Intelligence Unit and Ministry of Justice….

Report puts Kabila, BGFI at center of global financial investigation

Report puts Kabila, BGFI at center of global financial investigation

Explosive allegations in an investigative report released Friday put former president Joseph Kabila and his associates at the center of embezzlement claims of at least US$138 million taken from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s state coffers. The “Congo Holdup” report, a product of European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), is based on…

New DR Congo government charts a course beyond Kabila

New DR Congo government charts a course beyond Kabila

Congolese Prime Minister Sama Lukonde said Monday that the announcement of a new government is “a first step taken” toward progress in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as the nation distances itself further from former leader Joseph Kabila. Lukonde, who became prime minister under President Felix Tshisekedi in February, presented…

U.S. reinstates sanctions against Dan Gertler

The United States has reinstated sanctions against international businessman Dan Gertler, a close ally of former president Joseph Kabila whose interests in the Democratic Republic of Congo are under renewed scrutiny. Gertler was placed under U.S. Magnitsky sanctions in 2017 but was issued a one-year reprieve in January by outgoing…

Denied visas for COP25, Congolese activists to speak from Kinshasa

Greenpeace Africa, alongside a coalition of groups from central African neighbors Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Brazzaville, says it is promoting climate action from Kinshasa instead of COP25 in Madrid because eight delegates were denied timely visas. The annual climate conference is hosted in Spain this year instead of…

Congolese welcome home the body of Etienne Tshisekedi

The body of longtime Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi arrived Thursday evening in Kinshasa as his son Felix – now the nation’s president – waited expectantly at the airport. The younger Tshisekedi then accompanied the body during a formal procession that stopped at his home and at the headquarters of…

Etienne Tshisekedi’s final return offers a moment for reflection

It was February 2017 when longtime Congolese opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi died in Brussels, amid the turmoil of former president Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step aside after two terms leading the Democratic Republic of Congo. Now, the body of the late Tshisekedi will return to Kinshasa at last. His repatriation,…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

Tshisekedi finally announces new DR Congo prime minister

President Felix Tshisekedi has finally named a prime minister for Democratic Republic of Congo, and it’s longtime politician Dr. Sylvestre Ilunga Ilukamba who gets the nod. The announcement of Ilukamba, most recently the head of the nation’s railway system, was made Monday in a television address. The new prime minister…

Katumbi returns to hero’s welcome in DR Congo

Exiled political leader Moïse Katumbi returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, arriving in Lubumbashi by air to throngs of thousands, many clad in white, who heralded his long-awaited arrival. Katumbi greeted the crowds with expressions of joy for once again seeing Katanga, the province he governed before…

Katumbi plans again to return to DR Congo

Exiled Congolese political leader Moïse Katumbi has promised to return to the nation before, but this time his expected arrival on May 20 may really happen. If so, Katumbi will arrive in Lubumbashi – a town near the Zambian border, in the Kananga province he once governed – exactly three…

Report: DR Congo military leader involved in illegal timber trade

An investigative report from Global Witness accuses a high-ranking though disreputable military leader in Democratic Republic of Congo of acquiring illegally traded timber licenses in a matter of days, and then selling the associated company to a Chinese timber kingpin already operating in the country. General Gabriel Amisi Kumba is…