This Monday, the International Court of Arbitration in Paris sits on the case between the Congolese mining company (Cominière), a company of the State Portfolio, and the Mauritian company MMCS Strategic 1. Although they are in possession of their Schengen visas for the France , lawyers from the DRC are not certain to reach the French capital before Monday. For good reason: the Congolese Government is slow to provide them with the necessary logistics. Civil society is reminded of the great danger that the Democratic Republic of Congo runs if the International Court of Arbitration in Paris sits this Monday without waiting for the Congolese side. In a statement, signed simultaneously Tuesday in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Kolwezi and Bukavu, civil society actors call on Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge to act as soon as possible. Statement.
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The Sama Lukonde Government must do everything to ensure that the lawyers and experts of Cominière and the DRC are not absent on Monday, January 16 during the pleadings at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris for the case "MMCS Strategic 1 (Mauritius) v/ the Congolese Mining Sprl (DRC)"
On January 4, 2023, by its letter referenced 23225/GR/PAR concerning the case registered under "MMCS STRATEGIC 1 (Mauritius) v/ LA CONGOLAISE D'EXPLOITATION MINIÈRE SPRL (Democratic Republic of Congo)", the Secretariat of the International Court of Arbitration sent by email to the lawyers of the Congolese party a letter of invitation, a copy of which is sent today directly to the Consulate of the Kingdom of Belgium in the Democratic Republic of Congo under the signature Lucia Bonetto, Deputy Counselor of the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration.
According to the information received by our consortium, visas have been granted to the defense team of the Democratic Republic of Congo since January 6, 2023 in order to go to Europe urgently for the pleadings of the parties on Monday, January 16, 2023, but the lawyers and experts of the Cabinet Conseil in charge of the File would still be waiting for the travel documents yet scheduled for the evening of January 13; the financial means necessary for the stay of this important mission to defend the Republic and the vital interests of the Congolese people would not always be available by the Government of the Republic until the time of publication of this communiqué this evening.
Our organizations remember with regret a similar situation having taken place against our country at the International Court of Arbitration in the case brought by DIVINE INSPIRATION GROUP (PTY) of South Africa against THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO by the ARBITRATION N°22370/DDA (FINAL AWARD) of November 7, 2018, of which we have a copy, condemning the DRC to 617,400,178 USD plus interest calculated at the yield rate of US Treasury bonds over a 20-year horizon increased by 2% from the date of the final award and until full payment, not counting the full payment of the arbitration costs and the costs incurred by the Claimant to defend itself.
According to the information of the experts informed of the file obtained by our consortium, the International Court of Arbitration (ICC) will sit in Paris in the case opposing the Cominière to the company MMCS in connection with a mining Permit affecting the lithium of Manono for which la Cominière had already won the trial at the level of the Supreme Court in Kinshasa a few years ago; it appears that the damages and other costs to be borne by the Democratic Republic of Congo would amount to nearly one billion US dollars.
It is clear that if the Congolese party (Cominière and the Democratic Republic of Congo) is not present at the hearing on Monday January 16, 2023 due to a lack of logistical means, the risk of condemnation of the country is enormous and would then fall under very serious negligence, as was the case with DIG OIL in 2018, while Gécamines has won all its international arbitration cases in recent years to recover from the Forrest Group the Lubumbashi Terril Treatment Company (STL) and the deposits of Deziwa and Ecailles (currently SOMIDEZ) of Platmin.
A possible conviction (not to be desired) of Cominière (the Democratic Republic of Congo) by culpable negligence to undermine the efforts of the Head of State, Promoter of the "DRC, PaysSolution" Label and will be a sign of poor management by the government of the Republic of a mining Permit relating to the largest lithium deposit in the world with all the consequences on the finances of the country and the development of Manono, of Tanganyika while this population has long been a victim of the horrors of the war of the pro-Rwandan rebel movement RCD (Congolese Rally for Democracy) of sad memory.
From the foregoing, given the importance and urgency of the issue in question, our Citizen Organizations ask:
– To His Excellency the President of the Republic, the sole guarantor of the country's interests, to become personally involved so that the necessary means are urgently made available by the government to the lawyers in charge of the case so that they are in Europe 48 hours before the hearing on January 16, 2023 to defend the country;
-To His Excellency the Prime Minister for getting personally involved in closely monitoring this file and instructing the sectoral ministers concerned to fulfill their duties and facilitate the defense of the country's interests by the lawyers in charge of the file;
– To the Ministers of Portfolio, Mines and Finance officially seized by the lawyers, as well as the Minister of State in charge of Justice to do their utmost to facilitate the travel of the defense in Europe and to join experts from their cabinets in support for lawyers to defend the country's interests on Monday, January 16 at the International Court of Arbitration to avoid committing the serious error committed at the time by the Ministers of Hydrocarbons and Justice in the DIG-OIL case;
– To the lawyers in charge of this cause and experts to show more patriotism and professionalism to defend the interests of the Republic validly so as not to undermine the flagship project for the local production of electric batteries that the Head of the State and the Congolese population with all their best wishes;