Kinshasa, January 1st of 2024.

Today, Moïse Katumbi, the democratically elected president of the DRC, had his inauguration. Surrounded by thousands of people, the event was televised and the radio mentioned it all day long; it was a promising start to a new era in Congolese politics, and Katumbi mentioned that 2024 will be “the year of the Congo”. That is, of course, a reference to the dozens of plans that Katumbi has mentioned to the media over his presidential campaign, and it includes new infrastructure plans, railways, industry development, anti-corruption agencies and cooperation, and dozens of other plans, including international cooperation with its neighbors.

The Ministers

After the inauguration itself was done, and Katumbi was officially the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he congratulated his staff and met with his party officials at the DA; after festivities were over, which did not take too long, Katumbi met with the press to finally announce his Ministers and to discuss his government with the Congolese people.

He talked for an hour about his plans, his ambitions, and how he will publicly release all of his tax returns and expenditures, so that the Congolese people can see it freely on their local administrative region, or on the Internet at the DRC’s government website; furthermore, he published his Ministers, which were the following:

Now, while that is a lot to take in, there is a necessity for a breakdown of a few notable names in the list that are important to the government of Katumbi, and indicate a pivot to certain government policies.

We begin by looking at the fact that Katumbi picked Martin Fayulu as one of his Vice Prime Ministers; Fayulu was one of the supporters of Félix in the 2018 election, and Katumbi clearly picked him as a pivot to party unity and strengthening the coalition; but that’s not the only important endorsement occurring. Seth Kikuni is an entrepreneur in the DRC, and Katumbi saw fit for Seth to manage the Ministry of Communications and Media, this clearly indicates that Katumbi sees the financial acumen of the Congolese entrepreneur as a reliable manner of ensuring a steady growth of the media. Katumbi has reinforced the fact that he has picked these politicians due to their anti-corruption stance and their capabilities of managing and developing the national economy.

The appointment of Marie-Josée Ifoku was also lauded as one of the most important moves in the DRC; the representation of women is crucial in order to manage the lack of gender equality in the nation, and shows that Katumbi is determined to push forward with egalitarian measures in the future. Putting Nobel Prize laureate Denis Mukwege as the Minister of Health was also an outstanding move.

Denis and Katumbi have already pledged to work together in many areas, and Katumbi has mentioned thrice now that he wants to fund major infrastructure projects for hospitals and clinics, and bolster the funding of the healthcare budget; he has said that Denis Mukwege is one of his biggest inspirations in the world, and that working together with him is a privilege.

Putting Hélène Mambu-ma-Disu on a position of foreign policy, is another contributor to Katumbi’s intentions of integrating with neighbors, and Katumbi mentioned in private that there is a lot of potential for a transnational organization for healthcare with CEMAC. Alain Daniel Shekomba for education was also another outstanding move, as the Congolese politician previously worked as a professor at the University of Kinshasa, and can provide a plethora of solutions to the Congolese education, along with providing an unbiased, legal management with education; it is highly unlikely that Shekomba would go for corrupt practices. René Ngongo as the Minister of Environment is an impressive move, and has been lauded by activists and experts both as the “right move”. This is due to the fact that René is a prominent activist for the environment, and has been campaigning for the preservation of nature in the DRC for years now; Katumbi has said that he managed to convince René to participate in politics by pledging to push forward with major policies to protect the environment and to develop ecological industries and a thorough framework for companies to develop in a way which does not harm the environment.

Pierre Pay-Pay wa Syakasighe as the Minister of Foreign Commerce indicates a small reliance on the old guard of the Congolese politicians, but it shows that Katumbi wants reliable, experienced people in his government; Pierre has been lauded as a major economist and a reliable expert, and will certainly ease investors into a trustworthy economy. Pierre Honoré Kazadi Lukonda Ngube-Ngube was picked for the Ministry of Finance, the “Pierre Duo” as dubbed by the Congolese media, are both trustworthy economists that are going to be easing investor fears and providing a steady way to economic development; Katumbi has already said that he wants to work with the two major economists and Jean Bamanisa Saïdi, who is the Minister of the National Economy. To conclude, the final two additions to the Katumbi government are Évariste-Prince Funga Molima Mwata, the President of the Congolese Court of Cassation, and Auguste Mutombo, an activist against abusive practices in mining operations in the DRC.

In general, the Katumbi government and cabinet is looking promising, with a lot of excellent selections and a general mix of DA and MLC government officials; all of the choices presented by the Congolese politician indicate that his intentions are to provide a reliable Congolese government, with fresh political figures and a dedicated group of people with solid political convictions and “clean slates”. With these ministers, it can certainly be the Year of the Congo.