Minutes of the seventy-seventh meeting of the Council of Ministers

His Excellency the President of the Republic, Head of State, Félix Antoine TSHISEKEDI TSHILOMBO, chaired by videoconference, the seventy-seventh meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Government of the Republic, this Friday, November 18, 2022. Five items were on the agenda, namely:

I. Communication from His Excellency the President of the Republic, Head of State;

II. Information points;

III. Approval of a statement of the decisions of the Council of Ministers;

IV. Examination and adoption of files;

Consideration and adoption of texts.

I. COMMUNICATION FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC The communication of the President of the Republic, Head of State focused on three (03) points, namely:

1. Government support for the Ngaliema Clinic’s open-heart pediatric cardiac surgery program The President of the Republic recalled his permanent desire to ensure and ensure the implementation of actions and public policies leading to the improvement of the well-being of all Congolese, particularly with regard to aspects concerning the health of the most fragile compatriots, in this case, that of children from birth. Based on the programming, by the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Center of the Ngaliema Clinic, of 150 open-heart pediatric cardiac surgery operations for 150 children from January 2023, he encouraged the Government to accelerate the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed on March 31, 2022 between the Ministry of Public Health, Hygiene and Prevention, and 2 the non-profit association Pediatric Surgery in Africa (CHIRPA Asbl in acronym). In this regard, the Minister of State, Minister of the Budget, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Prevention have been instructed to take all necessary steps to ensure that all technical and operational prerequisites are carried out within a short time, so that the children concerned benefit from this medical care at the expense of the Congolese State. A detailed report by the above-mentioned Ministers, each as far as it is concerned, is expected as to the materialization of this recommendation at the next Council of Ministers.

2. The role of the agents of the companies of the State Portfolio, Establishments and Public Services

Addressing this point, the President of the Republic insisted on the imperative need for public officials appointed to various positions to have constantly, in the exercise of their functions, a managerial conduct based on good governance. He recalled that in his understanding, each of these entities, regardless of its social purpose, size, geographical location, is called upon to play a crucial role in the socio-economic development of our country. Thus, it expects from all agents a highly professional behavior in the exercise of their functions, including the results of their daily work, must be manifested by: – the improvement of the quality of the services provided to users by the achievement of their corporate purpose; – compliance with social obligations towards workers; – the real transformation of the exploitation and production potential of assets of all kinds; – reaching break-even thresholds in order to have positive cash margins to increase their assets and their ability to contribute to the State Budget.

For the President of the Republic, advertising insertions and untimely media interventions by public representatives are in no way a guarantee of managerial performance. On the other hand, it is sound management practices that will produce positive results. The Minister of State, Minister of the Portfolio and the sectoral Ministers who have sub-supervision of Establishments and Public Services, were invited to ensure the general interest as the basis of the supervisory power, while avoiding obstacles in the exercise of the functions of the representatives as noted during the communication of the President of the Republic to the 65th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of August 19, 2022.

3. The need to finalize the construction works of the KATENDE Hydroelectric Power Plant and the project to install solar power plants in six (6) provinces of the country

Reminding the members of the Government that energy infrastructure is a priority for the start of the country’s development, the President of the Republic considered that the files of related investment projects need to be treated diligently by the Ministers concerned. Indeed, he indicated that the work of the KATENDE hydroelectric plant should imperatively be restarted without delay, and completed within a reasonable time, in accordance with the content of the letter of the Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Congo to India, of November 1, 2022, addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Our Government’s position to the Indian side should be given as a matter of urgency. With regard to the project to install the six solar power plants mentioned in the above-mentioned letter, the President of the Republic specified that it must also be launched in the short term. These are respectively Gemena in South Ubangi, Karawa in North Ubangi, Lusambo in Sankuru, Manono in Tanganyika, Mbandaka in Equateur province and Mbuji-Mayi in Kasai Oriental.

To this end, the Prime Minister was instructed to urgently convene the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Water Resources and Electricity, and the Grand Katende Commission established at the Presidency of the Republic to deal with the files of these energy infrastructures, and to proceed without delay to the necessary signatures of the related contracts.