The Democratic Republic of Congo has hit the headlines in recent days with the arrest of the special and political adviser to the opponent and declared presidential candidate of December 2023, Salomon Kalonda Della Idi. After a brief hearing at the Gombe military prosecutor’s office in Kinshasa, he was transferred to the Ndolo military prison, a highly secure prison environment.
According to information from military intelligence, Salomon Kalonda Della Idi was accused of being in collusion with Rwanda and the M23 terrorist movement to overthrow the power of Felix Tshisekedi with a view to installing a Katangese national there. This information prompted a series of searches of his residences as well as those of his mother and his boss Moïse Katumbi in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, the capital of the province of Haut-Katanga. Justice also accuses the special adviser of the illegal possession of weapons.
These events plunged the population into amazement, while some hoped for a climate of peace and serenity in the country. However, this arrest shows that the burden of politics is heavy in a country where political rivalries are glaring.
The security situation in the country is also worrying, with the resurgence of attacks against civilian populations in certain provinces such as North Kivu. As a reminder, it is in this province that two British researchers were kidnapped last April.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that the Congolese government is actively modernizing its population identification and census system for future sustainable development. In addition, the mining industry, one of the main pillars of the Congolese economy, is in the process of reinventing itself and projecting itself into the future thanks to the organization of the DRC Mining Week 2023, where nine sponsor companies gathered to share their experience and discuss the future of the mining sector in the DRC.
Finally, to emerge on the international scene thanks to its tourism sector, the Democratic Republic of Congo has decided to reintroduce certain endangered species, such as white rhinos, thanks to an ambitious conservation program.
This means that despite the hardships the country is facing, there is reason to hope that the DRC will reinvent itself for a more prosperous future.