Tourism professional in the DRC for 20 years and Supervisor of the “Sustainable Development and Tourism” commission at the National Committee of the IX Games of La Francophonie, John Katumba is an expert in his field. In an interview granted to CONGOPROFOND.NET, he underlines the importance of the issues related to the Games of La Francophonie, well beyond the event itself.
According to John Katumba, the Games of La Francophonie should help to develop the host country economically and socially. He insists on the importance of anchoring development after the Games, in order to maximize the benefits of this event which brings together 88 French-speaking countries. With this in mind, he was responsible for supervising the “Sustainable Development and Tourism” Commission and set up a system focused on concrete projects such as sanitation, cleaning, planting trees, education on eco-citizenship, etc.
During the Games, John Katumba’s team notably took part in a competition aimed at tracking down any waste visible on the sites. The objective was to achieve “zero visible waste” and to guarantee quality sanitary facilities, thus reassuring participants and visitors.
In addition to his work during the Games, John Katumba pleads for the establishment of a team of experts after the event. The mission of this team would be to guide the Head of State on the use of the infrastructures built for the Games, in order to maintain them to international standards. He insists on the importance of not letting these infrastructures become unused “white elephants”, but of enhancing them for the development of the country.
In summary, John Katumba highlights the importance of sustainable and economic development issues related to the Games of La Francophonie in the DRC. His work supervising the “Sustainable Development and Tourism” commission during the Games made it possible to implement concrete actions in favor of sanitation and eco-citizenship. It also calls for the creation of a team of experts to ensure the sustainability of the infrastructure built for the event