JULES ALINGETE APPOINTS THE AD INTERIM DIRECTOR GENERAL OF COMINIERE FOR SALE AND MISMANAGEMENT
August 7, 2022 Mining
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In recent months, the consortium "THE DRC AND ITS PEOPLE FIRST" made up of non-governmental organizations and media members of the coalition TOUS POUR LA RDC, the Network of Communicators for the Environment and media partners are increasingly interested in the functioning of public mining public companies forgotten by the public and which seem to have less importance for the government while they have significant deposits and have signed partnerships as much as Gécamines and Sokimo did.
Having consulted several documents relating to the Congolaise d'Exploitation Minière SA (COMINIERE), it concludes a mismanagement and especially the impunity of the managers whose interim dates back several years, a record achieved, without this being of interest to the government or the parliament supposed to defend the interests of the country and the population.
Indeed, everything suggests that only two partnerships (Segmal with MMR and Dathcom with Dathomir and AVZ) are viable while others are not despite tens of tons of coltan illegally exploited by a subsidiary of a Canadian company and subject to a legal case around the United COMINIERE (UC) partnership. A series of publications will now be devoted to it in order to inform objectively about what is happening.
This first publication concerns the Dathcom Mining partnership and will be made in two stages, the first of which returns to the partnership contract and the final observation sheet sent to the Director General ai of COMINIERE SA on 04 April 2022 through the referenced correspondence N°0552/PR/IGF/OM 54-2022/NMM/2022, as well as on the basis of the document entitled ''Amendment N°1 to the Joint Venture Agreement concluded on 25 March 2017 between LA CONGOLAISE D'EXPLOITATION MINIERE SA (COMINIERE) represented by Mr. Athanase MWAMBA MISAO, Acting Chief Executive Officer; AVZ MINERALS LIMITED represented by Mr KLAUS ECKHOF, Managing Director; DATHCOM MINING SAS represented by its Chairman CONG MAOHUAI; DATHOMIR MINING RESOURCES SARL represented by Mr. CONG MAOHUAI, Manager and AVZ INTERNATIONAL Pty LIMITED represented by Patrick FLINT, Director.''
Illegal disposals of undervalued shares in Dathcom Mining to the Chinese and mismanagement of revenues.
To date, this mining company of the State Portfolio owns only 10% of the shares in the joint venture company while it held 30% before its sales operations contested by the General Inspectorate in Dathomir and Zijjin, companies with Chinese interests. The Australian-American group AVZ holds 60% while the two Dathomir and Zijin share the rest equally.
According to this two-page correspondence signed by Mr. MUHIYA LUMBU Nicolas (Inspector General of Finance Head of Brigade of Revenue and Tax Services) and ALINGETE KEY Jules (Inspector General of Finance – Head of Service), it is written on page 2:
"The mission made three main observations, namely:
1. The sale of comINIERE's 15% shares in DATHCOM Mining to ZIJIN Mining was carried out in violation of the legal provisions on the state's disengagement from the Portfolio Companies and caused, in the light of the assessments made in the feasibility study, a significant loss of revenue for the Public Treasury valued at USD 116,560,000, 00 (US dollars one hundred and sixteen million five hundred and sixty thousand). It was a real sell-off of the mining heritage of the State for which you assume responsibility;
2. Of the total amount of the proceeds from the sale of the 15% of the shares which amounts to USD 33,440,000.00 (US Dollars thirty-three million four hundred and forty thousand), you have already used approximately USD 6,800,000.00 (US Dollars six million eight hundred thousand) for operating needs to the detriment of productive investments of which USD 5,438,198.00 (US Dollars five million four hundred and thirty-eight thousand one hundred and ninety-eight) for commissions, snacks, fees, exceptional remuneration of all those who would have contributed to the operation;
3. The presumed non-profit and provisional transfer of 5% of COMINIERE's shares in DATHCOM Mining to DATHOMIR Mining Sarl, but that under the transfer contract, was final and irrevocable without the income from the transfer being traced to COMINIERE."
Among other observations of the IGF, the most interesting to mention are:
– The violation, by the Partners of COMINIERE SA, of the contractual provisions prohibiting them from transferring their shares before the date of commercial production without giving rise to any reaction on your part;
– The choice of consultants FOCUS PLAIDOIRIE, Alpha BUSINESS COMPANY and Association of Mining and Quarry Agents, by mutual agreement in violation of public procurement legislation;
– The transfer of the Research Permits without payment of the transfer price to COMINIERE while the transfer contract provides for it;
– Illegal transfers of mining titles by the Transferees to the detriment of COMINIERE SA...''
The Feasibility Study referred to by the IGF is the one done by AVZ and presented by DATHCOM Mining to the government in accordance with the mining legislation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, our consortium has read a copy of the summary.
The criminal liability of the manager according to the IGF
The sale of the 15% of COMINIERE's shares to Zijin Mining Ldt (a Chinese group shareholder of Gécamines in COMMUS and Ivanhoe in Kamoa Copper in Lualaba) was made on authorization "by the two owners (Congolese State and CNSS)" according to the letter Ref: CEM/DG/074/amm/2021 of 17/09/2021 signed by Athanase MWAMBA MISAO, Managing Director of COMINIERE SA addressed "To Mr Christian LUKUSA, Counsel of AVZ Minerals" of which we have seen a copy. And in his letter Ref: CEM/DG/073/amm/2021 of 17/09/2021 signed by Athanase MWAMBA MISAO addressed "To Mr NIGEL FERGUSON, President of the Company DATHCOM MINING SAS" having as its object: "Notification of the sale of 15% of the share of COMINIERE SA and request to convene an AGE" of which our consortium has seen a copy, it is written from the first to the third paragraph:
"We have the advantage of notifying you of the sale of 15% of COMINIERE SA to ZIJIN MINING COMPANY Ltd.
It should be noted that we complied with the statutory clauses by duly informing the two other shareholders, namely on the one hand Dathomir Mining Resources SARLU who had encouraged negotiations on the share purchase proposal made by ZIJIN MINING COMPANY Ltd and on the other hand, correspondence was sent to the avz shareholder who did not exercise his right of pre-emption within the required period (Article 11.2 of the Statutes of DATHCOM MINING SAS). In addition, as a State Portfolio Company, our company has obtained the approval of the Minister of State, Minister of the Portfolio for this transfer."
But IGF is clear about it, there was a violation of the law during this assignment, whether by order of the responsible Minister or the owners despite Dathomir's non-objection. "The Control Team maintains the observation, because the Director General is effectively content to transfer the mining rights without first valuing them. Aware that the partnerships initiated do not really benefit the state-owner, the Director General is embarrassed to spread the meagre results he has obtained. So he couldn't prove otherwise." This is the position of the IGF in its referenced document FO/54&73/PR/IGF/IG-CS/JAK/BRF/2022 of which we have read a copy.
Regarding the sale of 5% of COMINIERE's shares to Dathomir belonging to another Chinese, COMINIERE told IGF investigators the following:
"DATHOMIR MINING SA had requested COMINIERE SA to sell 5% of the share in order to enable it to raise the necessary funds for the rehabilitation of the Lubumbashi-Manono road. This assignment was provisional and motivated by this imperative alone.
COMINIERE SA submitted this question to the Minister of the Portfolio who gave his agreement in principle.
However, regarding the monitoring committee, COMINIERE SA was set aside because the follow-up was the responsibility of an ad hoc committee composed of the Ministry of the Portfolio, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Congolese Agency for Major Works."
A position rejected IGF which decides:
"Not only that the prerequisites were not met, but also and above all, there was use of forgeries on the part of the Director General ai who, in his correspondence, had not told the truth to the Minister of the Portfolio. Indeed, it emerges from the Contract for the sale of the 5% of shares of COMINIERE SA signed on November 27, 2017 with the company DATHOMIR MINING SARL, duly notarized contract, the following findings:
Far from being temporary, the sale of 5% of COMINIERE's shares to DATHCOM MINING was indeed definitive and irrevocable;
Far from being graceful, the assignment was made at a price agreed between the parties, but not specified anywhere in the assignment contract for reasons that only the Managing Director is aware of.
The sale of the 5% of cominiere's shares to DATHOMIR MINING was fraudulent and the Managing Director assumes, unless proven otherwise, criminal liability." The IGF notes with surprise that the Director General has defended Dathomir tooth and nail, so engages his responsibility in everything that is reproached to him.
Ignorance of the IGF report or complicit silence of the government?
The Ministry of the Portfolio seems to be the great accomplice of the current poor health of this state mining company for several reasons including the non-renewal of the agents and the poor health of this company under its supervision, while the Ministry of Justice seems to have ignored the clear recommendations of the recent audit of the General Inspectorate of Finance as well as the decisions of its own services in addition to the judgments of the courts and tribunals of Lubumbashi. to certain partners.
What is the follow-up reserved by the Prime Minister, the Ministers of the Portfolio and Justice to these serious revelations of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) having established the criminal responsibility of the Director General ai of the COMINIERE on the illegal and irregular transfer of the shares, their undervaluation, the misuse of the income as well as the sales money not traced by the financial watchdog of the Presidency in the accounts of this company in the State Portfolio since the beginning of April 2022? When will the appointment of new patriotic and conscientious representatives at the head of public mining companies such as COMINIERE and SOKIMO under the management of temporary workers for several years, to SODIMICO, ENTREPRISE MINIERE KISENGE MANGANESE, SAKIMA and MIBA which seem not to interest the leaders of the country? The rule of law that president Felix Tshisekedi wants and the efficient management of the people's mineral resources also depend on it.
The colleagues of the Kinois newspaper "Le Soft International" had already launched the alert on the scandal committed by COMINIERE in its edition N°1550 of April 11, 2022 without any institution of the Republic reacting, we repeat and will continue to do so as our support for the fight of the Head of State against predators of public goods, pillar of his vision of natural resources that must benefit the people first and not a few individuals whoever they are.
An EcoNews Survey, Forum des As, Congo Nouveau, Leader, Mining News Magazine, Le Socle, Tous pour la RDC.
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