Bishop says new government must reorganize mining sector in Congo

Published: 2006-04-05

MONTREAL (CNS) -- After elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the new government must reorganize the mining sector so that it benefits the population of one of the world's poorest countries, said Congolese Bishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu of Kilwa-Kasenga. "First, we need to resurrect the Congolese state. Nothing will change without a strong state founded on laws and governance," he said at a late-March University of Quebec conference on Congo's resource extraction. "Next, existing mining contracts should be re-examined. Mining is currently too much in the service of local elites and foreign investors. It should be at the service of communities -- and these should be implicated in management and overseeing of mining projects. We have mineral riches that we do not have the capacity to exploit. The Congolese people must profit from this mineral wealth. We can find a compromise in transparency," said Bishop Muteba Mugalu, who described the mining sector as a nightmare at the service of politics rather than people.

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