In the city of Kenge, the conference of the former Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Augustin Matata Ponyo Mampon, was banned this Friday, May 26, 2023. The doors of the Salle du Cinquantenaire de la Procure des missions, place of the conference, were closed and monitored by police, according to a member of the organization.
People on the ground in Kenge think that Matata Ponyo should be ashamed to go to Kwango province, since he did not know it existed when he was Prime Minister. Moreover, some accuse the former Prime Minister of bad faith, since the population of Kwanga did not benefit from the fallout from the Bukangalonzo agro-industrial park, a government project while he was in office.
But others are of the opinion that Matata Ponyo is free to move around as a Congolese citizen, and that his guilt in the hijacking of the Bukangalonzo Agroindustrial Park has not yet been established by the courts.
This ban once again testifies to the political tensions still present in the DRC