NEWSECONOMY
Where are we with the 10-year agreement in 2022, particularly on lithium, between the DRC and Klaus Peter Eckoff's AJN Resources Inc?
September 8, 2023
Kiki Kienge
By
Kiki Kienge
This is a contract which was signed on May 5, 2022 by the Democratic Republic of Congo represented by Mesdames
Adèle KAHINDA MAHINA and
Antoinette N'SAMBA KALAMBAYI , respectively Minister of State, Minister of Portfolio and Minister of Mines and by Mr.
Klaus Peter ECKHOF , president of the Canadian company, AJN RESOURCES INC.
A contract considered to have vague contours by Civil Society Organizations and platforms, which in a press release dated May 31, 2022 had clearly denounced this agreement and asked the Head of State, Félix Tshisekedi and the Prime Minister,
Sama Lukonde
Kyenge , the cancellation of this contract which does not fit into the spirit of the vision of the President of the Republic; " The people first ".
"Representatives of Civil Society had recommended orally to the Cabinet of His Excellency the President of the Republic and to the Government of the Republic to avoid any form of arrangement called CONGO RESOURCES with AJN Resources because it was perceived as a kind of sell-off assets of certain struggling public mining companies for the benefit of individuals in violation of your vision for the management of our natural resources. This was clearly taken up in the Civil Society Declaration of April 15, 2022.” Civil society press release.
A 10-year agreement signed by the DR Congo with the AJN Ressources Inc group on permits not publicly cited, which violates the rules of transparency, procurement procedures, the requirement for a call for tenders by the mining code and article 52 of the same Code which grants only 5 years of research and is renewable only once.
For civil society, this agreement entitled
CONGO RESOURCES signed with the AJN Resources group, is a sell-off of the assets of Congolese public mining companies in financial difficulty for the benefit of a few Congolese and foreign individuals, to the detriment of the Congolese population which continues to to sink into a misery which lacks a name despite its riches.
Children in the Kipushi mines in Haut-Katanga in the DRC
By this signature, CONGO RESOURCES and AJN Resources of Klaus Peter ECKHOF, a Canadian company resembling a commission agent (according to civil society) should mobilize funds on the stock market to finance geological mineral research work for gold and lithium in the Democratic Republic of Congo and this for 10 years, contrary to the Mining Code of DR Congo.
Is it a coincidence or a well-planned strategy only a few months after the submission by DATHCOM and the Australians of AVZ MINERALS of the feasibility study to the Congolese state services, studies entirely financed by AVZ MINERALS and which have added value in terms of international Congolese lithium, should lithium be added to the CONGO RESOURCES contract with the DR Congo?
The signatory civil society organizations and platforms criticize the Canadian group, AJN Resources, for not having expertise in raising and mobilizing funds on the stock market for known mining projects that have been successful in the Democratic Republic of Congo, although its President Klaus Peter Eckoff worked as a geologist or in charge of a few companies in the country.
“The signatories of this press release (…), they had patriotically recommended to the Government of the Republic, on the basis of objective elements, to reject any request for collaboration or any agreement with AJN Resources Inc, because it is not a question a well-known mining company that can say today that it operates such a mine in such a country or such a province of our country; she has never operated a mine, she is a trader, some of whose associates are known in mining circles and those in Civil Society not as miners. » Communique of the Civil Society.
Some Civil Society concerns about AJN Resources and Klaus Eckoff:
- The Civil Society complaint against AJN RESSOURCES on the Toronto Stock Exchange on April 30, 2020;
- The various alerts from local civil societies and the media, and particularly the letter addressed to the Prime Minister, Head of Government, on May 13, 2022 by the Coordination of Civil Society of the Chiefdom of Alur-Djuganda (SOCIDJAL), Territory of and Province of Ituri having for object: ''Withdrawal of the ZANI-KODO Concession from the AJN Resources-DRC contract'' for clearly stated reasons;
- The recent transactions of the President of AJ Resources Inc with another Canadian company named Tantalex (now or becoming Tantalex Lithium Resources which does not officially have a lithium or tantalum license in the DRC) which AFRICA INTELLIGENCE speaks of on January 24, 2021 in its publication entitled: “Klaus Eckoff tiptoes back into Manono’s lithium. »
Civil Society's recommendations to the Head of State, Félix Tshisekedi and to PM Sama Lukonde Kyenge :
- We seek the goodwill of His Excellency the President of the Republic, Head of State, for the simple termination of this partnership contract which sabotages his mining vision and ignores his recommendations for good governance of the mining sector beneficial to the Congolese;
- We recommend to the two chambers of parliament to challenge the signatory ministers to clarify the contours surrounding the signing of this contract;
- We ask His Excellency the Prime Minister Head of Government to suspend any execution of this contract and carry out due diligence on all members of the government and official involved in this file;
- We recommend to the Government of the Republic to work with credible and financially viable Majors like other countries including Zambia, Botswana, the Republic of South Africa which have done so and are doing so with First Quantum, De Beers, Anglo American for research, exploration and development of mines without falsely mentioning a false monopoly to justify the fact of working with strangers and brokers in the sector;
- We ask the Minister of Mines to fully publish the various mining permits concerned by this contract;
- We ask civil society in its diversity to remain mobilized to defend the interests of the country and support the vision of the Head of State to clean up the natural resources sector.
Un accord de 10 ans signé par la RD Congo avec le groupe AJN Ressources Inc sur des permis non publiquement cités, qui viole les règles de transparence, des procédures de passation de marché, de l’exigence de l’appel d’offres par le code minier et de l’article 52 du même Code qui accorde...
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