Kinshasa, March 17th, 2023 (CPA) – The dynamic of political and community leaders of the provinces constituting the Grande Orientale area, handed over an envelope of nearly USD 100,000 as a guarantee for the candidacy of Felix Tshisekedi for his second term at the Presidency of the Republic, during a ceremony held on Wednesday at the Cité de l’Union Africaine, the CPA learnt Thursday from the Presidency of the Republic.
« The collective of nationals of the Great East has decided to make an internal fundraising to collect and pay the deposit of our candidate Felix Tshisekedi during the presidential elections of December 2023, » said their delegate the notable Jean-Paul Nemoyato, who said that this commitment is part of the decisions taken by the dynamics after also reviewing some problems of the eastern space, the major challenges of the country and the political issues of the day.
In his turn, President Tshisekedi, marked by this initiative, reiterated his call for the unity of the Congolese people to block the road to the enemy, and for the union of forces to make effective the implementation of the development programme at the grassroots of the 145 territories.
« Thank you for your initiative, and I have carefully followed the needs of each of the provinces. I assure you that others are being resolved through the 145 territories grassroots development programme, for which I call on us to get involved and work hand in hand to succeed. And above all, I call on us to be united, because division greatly benefits the enemy to cause us harm, » he stressed.
« I had initiated the programme of grassroots development of the 145 territories, knowing that our various remote entities of the country can produce everything the nation needs and promote development. And thanks to this programme, we are going to provide ourselves with schools, hospitals, administrative buildings, or even roads to facilitate the connectivity of the provinces, » explained the Head of State.
Concerns of the provinces
During this exchange with the President of the Republic, the representatives of each province were given the opportunity to present the imminent needs of their region.
These needs are summarised by problems of infrastructure, access to basic social needs and insecurity.
« The success of the Head of State will depend on his involvement in resolving the problems we have submitted to him, particularly on the state of our provinces in relation to the 137 gold mining companies using non-artisanal machines in Haut-Uélé, without taking into account taxes and royalties. We are also waiting for the Mbororo to return to their respective countries, » hammered the national deputy André Lité, elected from Haut-Uélé.
« In the name of the Tshopo province, we have asked the Head of State to strengthen security, to relaunch agriculture, to rehabilitate agricultural feeder roads and urban roads, to rehabilitate the Tshopo hydroelectric power station, to relaunch SOKIMO and the textile processing industries, which have been bankrupt for decades, » said the Tshopo delegate, Christian Ombilingo.
For Ituri, Dieudonné Losa, a member of civil society, emphasised the repatriation to their countries of origin of the armed groups that scourge this part of the national territory. « We have proposed to the Head of State to abolish the state of siege, to repatriate the ADF, Bagnyamwisha, Zaire, Napi and other armed groups to their respective countries, to expel foreigners who are abusively exploiting mining quarries, and to place leaders from Grande Orientale in positions of responsibility at the national level, » he said.
The delegation from Bas-Uélé province, led by Senator Ngbonda Dauly, spoke of the revival of agricultural activities supported by the rehabilitation of agricultural and urban feeder roads as well as the repatriation of Mbororo herders.
The women, represented by Nazele Lola, an entrepreneur, praised the President’s dedication to gender issues, which has resulted in the obligation of equitable representation of men and women on electoral lists.
« We women of the Grand Oriental, who know how to say yes and no, when necessary, we who give birth and support our husbands, agree to support the programme of the Head of State as well as his candidacy for the presidential elections at the end of this year. We also thank him for obliging a representation of at least 50% of women on the lists of candidates of political parties as well as the presence of women in the questures of the two chambers of our Parliament and in the Government, » argued Mrs. Nazele Lola.
This dynamic of political and community leaders of Grande Orientale also includes animators of civil society structures and traditional chiefs, as well as notables and nationals of the provinces of Tshopo, Haut-Uele, Bas-Uele and Ituri.
Several senior figures from these four provinces travelled from the Cité de l’Union africaine to meet the Head of State, including Jean-Robert Bombiti and Madeline Nikoba, respectively Governor of Bas-Uélé and Tshopo, as well as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Congolese Press Agency (CPA), Jean-Pierre Kezamudru.
