Artisanal mining tensions shut schools in Kolwezi
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Actualité.cd
Tensions between artisanal miners and security forces have flared again in Kolwezi, Lualaba, prompting the preventive closure of several schools and shops and disrupting traffic. The miners are challenging inspections and the closure of processing centres and demanding the promised creation of 33 artisanal mining zones, Actualité.cd reports.
In Kolwezi, capital of the Congolese province of Lualaba, several schools sent pupils home and shops closed on Wednesday amid fears of renewed violence linked to tensions between artisanal miners and security forces. Traffic has also been slowed in several neighbourhoods, Actualité.cd reports.
Disruptions have affected UCK, Kapata and Luilu, as well as the road to Musonoie. Patrols by the Congolese National Police and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been deployed, while arrests have been reported. Artisanal miners are protesting against inspections and the closure of processing centres and buying offices, and are demanding the opening of 33 artisanal mining zones promised by the government.
The first two days of mobilisation were marked by barricades, burning tyres and clashes. Vehicles, including trucks carrying minerals, were set alight. On Tuesday evening, demonstrators ransacked and then set fire to a police post in Dilungu, in the Biashara neighbourhood, according to the neighbourhood chief. Several injured people are receiving treatment at health facilities.
On Tuesday, Lualaba Governor Fifi Masuka Saini called for calm after a meeting with traders, officials from SAEMAPE, the Congolese service overseeing artisanal mining, and Chinese nationals. She also met young leaders from Luilu and discussed miners’ access to a legal mining zone. A commission from Kinshasa is meanwhile continuing inspections at mineral-processing facilities.
Summary produced with the help of artificial intelligence tools, under AFREEQUE’s editorial responsibility.
