President Felix Tshisekedi has made a late night arrival in Lubumbashi with a paltry of people welcoming him. Tshisekedi is accompanied by his wife, First Lady Denis Nyakeru. He is expected to launch his campaign drive by unveiling projects started by his predecessor Joseph Kabila and former Lualaba Governor Richard Muyej, the man he ousted.
Tshisekedi is not only arriving to launch the completed projects but will also have an input in the construction of the bridge connecting Zambia and Tanzania in the Luapula Province. At this event, he will meet his Zambian counterpart President Hakainde Hichilema.
Out of that official business, the real reasons exists for his visit. First, Tshisekedi hopes to warm the hearts of Katangese ahead of the elections on December 20, 2023. Secondly and most important is to collect the millions of dollars his family is making off the mines in Lualaba.
After attending the UN General Assembly in New York, Tshisekedi went to Belgium where he usually goes to rest at his luxury villa on Avenue Prince d’Orange in Uccle. He also met some Congolese resident in Belgium who he informed about his campaign strategy and visit to Katanga.
In Katanga, the projects Tshisekedi is talking about and will be seen around is the Busanga dam, the terminal of the international airport of Kolwezi and the provincial assembly of Lualaba. These projects, as indicated, are the works of Kabila and Muyej. However, Tshisekedi is hoping the launch of the interchange at the entrance to Kolwezi at the junction of Route number 39 and the airport road will give him some credence.
Yet Katangese can’t be fooled by this deception. The inaugurated works were well underway and even already completed. Fifi Masuka, the out of favor Governor designate for Lualaba, has been trying to create her own legacy so she can continue in that position beyond 2023. She worked hard to force Muyej out and has been trying to prove a point. But she completed the projects at an exorbitant price. Tshisekedi did not even pay attention to the cost because Masuka was delivering suitcases of cash to Kinshasa.
Masuka has made regular trip to Kinshasa delivering millions of dollars in cash to Tshisekedi and his wife. Tshisekedi’s mother, mama Marthe Kasalu Jibikilayi, has also been in the cable of the powerful people receiving the millions of dollars from Masuka. Through this act, Masuka, a side-kick of Deputy Prime Minister for Defence Jean Pierre Bemba with whom she has a child out of wedlock, believes the corrupt first family is under her belt.
For now, it has somewhat saved her from at attempt to oust her from the position. But that survival is only temporary. The person the first family want for Lualaba Governor is a member of the inner circle. Isabelle Kibassa, Tshisekedi’s sister in law and former Belgian provincial MP is the wife of Jean-Claude Mulumba Tshisekedi, the elder brother of the Head of State.
In addition to being Tshisekedi’s sister in law, Isabelle Kibassa Maliba is the daughter of UDPS founder Frédéric Kibassa Maliba. She feels like the Tshisekedi family, she too, and her family must benefit from UDPS. However, for the stolen millions, President Tshisekedi and Nyakeru, and especially Marthe Tshisekedi have managed to temporarily silence the demands of Isabella Kibassa.
So keeping the internal wrangling calm and focusing on the ceremonies in Kolwezi, Lualaba is key to Tshisekedi because it also helps cover up the real mission which includes checking on their family investments in the cobalt and copper rich area. The Tshisekedis are working with Indians, Lebanese and some Chinese investors – that’s their main interest. In Katanga, their income is estimated at several million dollars/day. The Tshisekedi’s were paupers in Belgium when their father was in opposition. They arrived without a penny in 2018 but today they are stinking rich. Suddenly, Félix, Jean-Claude, Christian, Jacques and the youngest Thierry, alias Tshi Tshi – particularly close to Fifi Masuka – have all become instant millionaires.
To lock down the family business, Félix Tshisekedi personally controls all political and administrative appointments in Lualaba with the minister for interior Peter Kazadi operating as a watchdog of the clan’s interests. As pay back, Kazadi also pockets substantial commissions from Chinese and Indian mining operators.
