DR Congo unveils the eagerly anticipated government

It has taken the Democratic Republic of the Congo approximately six months following President Felix Tshisekedi’s inauguration for a second term to eventually establish a government.

The general election for the nation was held on December 20, 2023. Bitter talks amongst the several coalition partners that had assisted Tshisekedi in winning the race ensued.

Prime Minister Sama Lukonde, who resigned in February, was formally replaced by Judith Suminwa in a dispatch that was made public early on Wednesday. Despite being appointed on April 1st, Ms. Suminwa has not yet begun her duties.

She will now have to present the National Assembly with her program, which includes fiscal recommendations. It is anticipated that the 54-minister new Cabinet would be formally approved by the National Assembly as well.

Tshisekedi anticipates that his Cabinet nomination will proceed according to plan, particularly because he has a majority—406 of the 500 MPs support him.

The security dockets are one area where the new government has seen significant adjustments. The Tshisekedi government replaced the ministers of security and defense a little more than a week after the abortive coup attempt, the ongoing conflict, and the armed groups.

The former warlord and vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba is no longer in charge of the Ministry of Defense. He will now serve as the Transport Minister’s deputy prime minister. Guy Mwadiamvita, a close friend of President Tshisekedi and a member of the President’s UDPS party, will take Bemba’s seat in the defense ministry.

Peter Kazadi, another close ally of the Congolese president, has been replaced in the Ministry of the Interior and Security by Jacquemain Shabani. Constant Mutamba, 35, a member of the “moderate opposition” and a failed presidential candidate in December 2023, has been given charge of the Ministry of Justice by Tshisekedi.

Thérèse Kayiwamba will take Christophe Lutundula’s seat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The government spokesperson and minister of communication, Patrick Muyaya, has been reappointed.

For his second term in office, President Tshisekedi should begin putting his program into action by the newly elected administration.

The new administration is “a mission team,” according to Eric Nyindu, the director of communications for the Congolese president of state, and it should “consolidate the achievements of Tshisekedi’s first term in office.”

The president of the Congo has pledged to generate 6.4 million jobs during his second term in office, making job creation a key component of his agenda.

Nyindu continued, “The other goal of Judith Suminwa’s government is to diversify the Congolese economy; to do this, the government will need to increase the purchasing power of the Congolese people, ensure increased security for all citizens, make basic services easier to access, and expedite reforms in the civil service, in particular.”