DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi has named a new cabinet, two months after the appointment of Prime Minister Sama Lukonde.
This team of 56 ministers (41 men and 15 women) is his first cabinet after the collapse of the coalition with former president Joseph Kabila’s ‘Front Commun pour le Congo’ (FCC).
President Tshisekedi has appointed more young people to his new government. Some of the new faces in the cabinet are Mr Patrick Muyaya who will head the Ministry of Communication and Government Spokesperson Jean-Pierre Lihau who has been promoted to head the Ministry of the Civil Service. Antoinette Kalambayi will head the Ministry of Mines while Ms Mutombo Kiese Rose is the new Minister for Justice.
He has, however, retained some ministers like former governor of North Kivu Julien Paluku who ditched the Kabila camp.
Mr Jean-Lucien Bussa has been retained in the External Trade ministry. Mr José Mpanda and Mr Augustin Kibassa will continue heading Scientific Research and Telecommunications and New technology of Information and Communication ministries respectively.
The new cabinet will have to be vetted by the National Assembly before Prime Minister Jean Michel Sama Lukonde presents his government’s programmes.
The naming of the cabinet is expected to end the rivalry between the Tshisekedi camp and that of his predecessor.
It has been six months since the country had a cabinet meeting. This period was characterised by the disruption of the national economy.
The new team that President Tshisekedi calls “the warriors” is tasked with reviving the Congolese economy. It is also expected to address insecurity, particularly in the eastern provinces of the DRC.
Prime Minister Lukonde said his government’s priorities will be security, health, education, justice, agriculture, fisheries and livestock, economy, the electoral process, infrastructure, and the digital economy.
Despite the rise in the prices of metals like copper and cobalt, state coffers are almost empty. BY DAILY NATION