Opposition Ensemble Pour la Republique party led by Moise Katumbi have reacted with disappointment the recent installed government of Prime Minister Judith Suminwa as it does not reflect the ambitions and challenges facing the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Katumbi’s party have noted that the Prime Minister herself neither respected nor sticked to the criteria she had set in advance to be part of the new government.
“It is a mountain that has given birth to a mouse, given the time it has taken we would have expected that this platform, which is the sacred union that has taken the country and the institutions hostage, would produce a government that still reflects the ambitions and challenges that our country is facing” spokesperson of the Ensemble party Herve Diakiese said.
Diakiese recalled that Suminwa had promised to make significant adjustment to the size of the new cabinet due to reduce the financial burden on the public purse of a country grappling with economic challenges.
“The premier had said she wanted a smaller, tighter team with portfolios lower than the previous government. We have almost one or two ministries close and in addition to the fact that we have tried to separate the same format and the same number of people, we have almost half of the outgoing team back, which actually implies that it is more of a cabinet reshuffle perhaps with a new prime minister. It is not at all a new government team,” he said.
Katumbi also described the new government as a reflection of the wrangles and that had hit the Union Sacree structures who had been scrambling power in the establishment functioning of institutions and the National Assembly.
“We tried with a few new heads and some old recycled heads. The Prime Minister wanted technocrats, but here we are dealing more with career politicians who have certainly not distinguished themselves by a record that can give us hope. All these arguments of form already lead us to believe that this team has no profile to face the challenges of the moment. The issues of defense and integrity of the national territory, especially since we have barely escaped a coup d’état at the Palace of the Nation.
You have a former Deputy Prime Minister who was Minister of Defense who was demoted to Minister of Transport to raise to this ministry a personality who may have his qualities but of whom we know no precedent to his credit on issues of defense, security or strategies,” remarked Hervé Diakiese.
The appointment of the new government comes nearly five months after the inauguration of President Felix Tshisekedi and is made up of 54 ministers all from the Union Sacree coalition.
