The audit report of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) on industrial logging concessions in the DRC has finally been published. It reveals that at least 18 concessions have been awarded in violation of the moratorium decided by the Congolese state since 2012. The report points the finger at former ministers of the environment, but also members of the forestry administration.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi
The result of this IGF audit, although already alarming, only represents a small portion of the real extent of the chaos in this sector, say environmental NGOs. Several gray areas still remain. Activists go further and expect a broader audit. Thus, they also require the publication of the reports of the legal audit of the concessions financed by the European Union.
However for facts that are documented in the IGF report, organizations like Rainforest Foundation UK and Greenpeace Africa are demanding the cancellation of suspicious attributions cited by IGF investigators. They demand immediate prosecution and sanctions.
Former ministers of the environment, some of whom are today protected by their parliamentary immunity, and military officers quoted in this report are particularly targeted.
The NGOs say they do not understand the usefulness of a commission to examine the conclusions of this report. They believe that this device is not useful. They also ask that the moratorium on logging be maintained until the sector is cleaned up.
On his side, Felix Tshisekedi insists on the need to do everything possible to reassure public and private partners wishing to invest in the forestry sector in the DRC. He also expects for Friday, a comprehensive report on the progress of the country process and to present the challenges and next steps.