This is a first in the history of the DRC. A woman, Judith Tuluka Suminwa, was named head of government on Monday April 1. First reactions and comments.
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“ I know that the task is big, the challenges are immense, but together (…) we will get there », declared just after her appointment the new Prime Minister who takes her post in a complicated security context, notably with the war in the East of the country, where she represents great hope for women, as Marie-Noël explains. Anatone, head of civil society in the province of Ituri, at the microphone of Paulina Zidi from the Africa editorial team.
“ For us, it’s a “phew” of relief as women. She who is a mother, she who is a housewife, she knows the difficulties that women from the East go through. The woman and the girl of the East are violated, the woman of the East is always marginalized. We really believe that as a mother, as a woman, she will have one eye looking to the East. The messages that we can send to her are, first of all, to congratulate her and ask her to work, to prove her leadership. Given what services she has provided in the country, in the different ministries, in the different structures, this is why we congratulate her. We ask him to work hard, to collaborate for the development of the country, to work for the security of our country, especially the eastern part where we suffer a lot of attacks.. »
Free yourself from party pressure
This appointment is a strong message that the president wanted to send to his people, according to Giscard Kusema, deputy director of communications at the presidency, at the microphone of Paulina Zidi. But for Felix Tshisekedi, it was also a way to free oneself from party pressures. “ The President of the Republic wanted, first of all, to get rid of the political burdens of party leaders. Looking closely at the profile of Ms. Judith Suminwa, we realize that she is, certainly, an early activist of the UDPS, her party, but she is not the leader of a party or leader of a political grouping; she was also not a candidate in the last elections. And therefore, without political calculations, she is, a priori, predisposed to concentrate on her work as head of government.
We also believe, and this is the second message, that President Tshisekedi wanted to make history by appointing a woman as head of the country for the very first time. This appointment crowns the struggles of Congolese women and breaks all negative prejudices about the ability of women to access high political positions. She will carry the struggles of young people and Congolese women, the main victims of the atrocities that the country has been experiencing for more than thirty years. »
Also listenDRC: Judith Tuluka Suminwa, a “trusted” personality for Félix Tshisekedi
The Catholic Church criticizes the gluttony of politicians
For the Congolese Catholic Church, on the other hand, which has constantly criticized the financial weight of political institutions and the plethora of government members, this appointment is a non-event. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, archbishop of Kinshasa, who already denounces a late appointment three months after the elections, hopes that the establishment of the government should not take long. He spoke to the RFI microphone of our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa.
“ Normally, the composition of the government should not take much time and I say this using the example of Senegal: in record time, they will constitute their government. But why does this last for us? This is because there are negotiations: everyone wants to sit around the cake and get the biggest piece possible. Since, in Congo, the only profession that is worth it is politics, everyone wants to be in government, in Parliament, otherwise, they have nothing. This situation really creates concern for us. The outgoing government is elephantine, it had nothing to do with a composition to be effective. I fear that the new government will be as elephantine as the outgoing one. The Congo problem: 70% of the budget is used solely for the maintenance of the political class, the remaining 30% is for the 80 million Congolese. The State no longer has the means of its policy to provide services to the population. »