Artisanal miners protest in Kolwezi to sell their minerals
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Actualité.cd
Artisanal miners protested again in Kolwezi, DR Congo, demanding that processing facilities reopen and opposing the requirement to sell their minerals at the Musompo trading centre. Gunshots, burning tyres and shop closures were reported after nearly a week of tensions, reports Actualité.cd.
Artisanal miners protested again in Kolwezi, south-eastern DR Congo, on Monday 26 October, demanding the reopening of processing facilities and opposing the requirement to sell their minerals at the Musompo trading centre, reports Actualité.cd. Several said they no longer knew where to sell their output.
Tensions have persisted for nearly a week in the Mutoshi and Kasulo neighbourhoods. Gunshots were heard in the town centre, tyres were burned and acts of vandalism were reported. Security forces contained protesters attempting to move towards the centre. Shops closed and schools did not operate.
The miners are also opposed to assessment operations by the Centre for Evaluation, Expertise and Certification. Buyers, including Chinese buyers, are required to follow legal marketing channels. On 26 September, seven Chinese nationals were turned back from Kolwezi on suspicion of making illegal purchases in industrial mining concessions.
Miners at the Kamilombe site were due to leave on Monday, in line with a protocol signed at a meeting held the previous week. They have been allocated a new site about 35 kilometres away. The government has pledged to pay through banks for minerals already extracted and those from still-active pits, and to ensure stocks are removed. Lualaba Governor Fifi Masuka Saïni had said that no processing facility was closed and urged miners to sell through cooperatives recognised by the state.
The protest follows tensions that had already led to the closure of schools in Kolwezi on 21 October and the arrest of 58 suspects after unrest on 24 October (58 suspects arrested after unrest in Kolwezi).
