Manono lithium: Calls for support for the COMINIERE for this Monday's hearing in Paris
January 14, 2023
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Twelve Congolese civil society organizations and platforms, in a statement released on Friday, January 13, called on the Congolese authorities to mobilize all around to settle the financial dispute that exists within the Société Commerciale et Minière du Congo (COMINIERE).
Indeed, a hearing relating to this financial dispute was scheduled, on Monday, January 16, at the International Court of Arbitration in the French capital, Paris.
"Our consortium calls on all Congolese parties involved in the resolution of this case to show patriotism, diligence and mobilization in implementing the Head of State's vision on such issues before it is late," reads the statement of these civil society organizations and platforms.
At the same time, they claimed to have retained some convincing facts relating to this case, including, among other things, the arrest of Acting Director General Athanase Mwamba by the courts, which is confirmed by this institution of good governance of the State; the request for the postponement to a later date, of the public hearing scheduled for Monday, January 16, by the Technical Director of for a while for reasons to be discovered by the Government of the Republic.
In addition, to settle this dispute, these civil society organizations and platforms have reminded all Congolese stakeholders, particularly the COMINIERE and the Ministry of the Portfolio, that international arbitrations, such as that on Congolese Lithium, now sought by everyone, cover billions of dollars and the fees for first-class firms that master the files are set at several million dollars; and, the procedures often last several
At the same time, according to the same source, the public hearing "is held when the parties are finally satisfied with
the lighting provided to the 3 judges", so therefore the hearing scheduled for Monday, January 16, was fixed after consultation with the lawyers of two parties and cannot be
easily returned at the request of a party, if not in case of force majeure as was the case for this file in 2020 with Covid-19 having caused the two-year postponement.
In addition, the fact that in the event of an absence in Paris in 3 days, which is the worst case as in the DIG-OIL case, the COMINIERE and the Democratic Republic of Congo risks being "injured with damages of several hundred million US dollars during an election year, with all the risks of putting in turmoil the development of a large mining project expected by
In the same register, these civil society organizations and platforms insisted that the Congolese authorities could make every effort to ensure that the team responsible for presenting themselves in Paris is well equipped and equipped financially and administratively.
"Considering the major issues for the country at the public hearing on January 16, 2023 at the International Arbitration Court in Paris, it is more than a national obligation for the Congolese party to go there this weekend well equipped to defend the interests of the Republic and its population. As a result, our Organizations propose to the Prime Minister, the Director of the Cabinet of the Head of State, the Minister of State in charge of Justice, the Ministers of Finance and Mines to convene, this Friday, January 13 in an emergency, a meeting with the heads of the Cominiere, their Minister of trust (Editor's note of the Portfolio) and the Prosecutor in
Regarding the famous financial dispute between COMINIERE and its financial partners, they also wanted to recall the facts, based on the exchanges that took place between the technical director of this company and the lawyers in charge of the case.
"On June 05 and November 08, 2018, the COMINIERE had paid the law firm in charge of the file two installments of USD 750,000.00 and then USD 1,000,000.00 or USD 1,750,000.00 on the agreed amount whose balance to be paid is USD 500,000.00; on February 23, 2020 and March 09, 2020, the Cominière had paid the same firm in two tranches a deposit of USD 130
It should be noted that the Directors General and Technical of the COMINIERE were placed under a provisional arrest warrant by the Congolese justice system following the company's denunciations and an investigation by the General Inspectorate of Finance, implicating them on charges of financial embezzlement and embezzlement of public funds.
Emmanuel Lufiauluisu