Mr. Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge, Prime Minister of the DRC – in office in 2024

Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde will strengthen the power of SAEMAPE

Among the mining sector leaders with whom Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde spoke on the sidelines of the Indaba Mining forum which he recently attended in South Africa, was the Director General of the Service for Assistance and Support of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mines (SAEMAPE).

Jean-Paul Kapongo, who had deemed it necessary to meet with the head of government to explain the difficulties he encounters daily in the operation of his department, is pleased with the outcome. He states that the Prime Minister has entrusted the handling of the SAEMAPE case to his deputy chief of staff to resolve the situation.

 »It was important, in such a context, to meet with our head of government, His Excellency Prime Minister Sama Lukonde, who, moreover, received us with great privilege, because it was important for me to be able to try to explain to him, since my arrival at the head of SAEMAPE, the difficulties my department is currently facing. SAEMAPE supports millions of artisans, who live in a lower class, and whom we are trying to uplift so that they can become the leaders the President of the Republic alluded to when he spoke of making Congolese millionaires. We explained to the Prime Minister that since its creation, ,

SAEMAPE lacks the necessary support for its operations. We don't have any administrative regulations. The Prime Minister promised to find a solution to this situation. He has even assigned his deputy chief of staff to handle this matter. That's a victory for us. Next, there was the issue of the 16%, which, according to the Mining Code, should cover the service's operating expenses. The current chaos at the mining sites stems from SAEMAPE's failure to collect these fees, despite them being recognized by Article 198 of the Mining Code and Article 402 of the Mining Regulations. These fees would have allowed us to supervise and maintain control over the cooperatives. We have millions of US dollars that we can't trace. We don't know who receives them, even though we have our own technical department. And because we don't have these funds, these cooperatives are turning to the Chinese and Indians. This creates disorder and dysfunction. We raised this issue with the Prime Minister, who also promised to find a solution,« he explained.

It is worth noting that Saemape is the secular arm of the Congolese government for the support of artisanal and small-scale miners.