*Fyi, For those who missed the Memo / Email / Text Message on the matter, Brown Paper Bags Out / Felix on Fire on lead up to Election as,
The Head of State Félix Tshisekedi proceeded, this Monday, August 29, in Kinshasa, to the official launch of the Integrated System of Management of Public Contracts (SIGMAP).
It is public procurement management software that automates all procurement procedures, reduces file processing time, ensures traceability and automatic production of statistics.
The commissioning of SIGMAP is the materialization of the public finance reform retained for the 2022 financial year, in accordance with the Strategic Plan for Public Finance Reforms (PSRFP) as decided by the President of the Republic Félix Tshisekedi on the date of 26 November 2021.
"The implementation of SIGMAP today stems from this vision of taking a further step in the march towards strengthening the responsibility, integrity and transparency of public procurement from the use of an integrated computer system must be able to allow our country to accelerate its march on the road to development.
This is a mechanism to ensure the security of public funds.
Moreover, this software, a 100% Congolese product, sufficiently proves that the DRC can contribute to the digital revolution in which the world is engaged.
It is also a way of giving effect to article 35 paragraph 2 of our country's constitution, which requires the public authorities to ensure the protection and promotion of national expertise and skills", declared, in his speech, Félix Tshisekedi, in the presence of the Prime Minister, members of the government and other heads of state services involved in the public procurement chain.
And to continue:
"One of the important keys to national development currently proven in the world remains the improvement of the quality of public expenditure, in particular by rationalizing public procurement procedures, which must be based on a public procurement information system as as the unshakable foundation of transparency.
The information system that has been launched reflects my desire and that of the government to sustainably clean up the public procurement sector.
Thus, there is reason to consider that the time has come to put an end to all irregular management practices in the said sector.
To do this, this software will bring to light the process and information that was once very opaque. 
It is therefore important that the players in public procurement in our country take ownership of the tool presented today which, obviously, will strengthen transparency in the management of public contracts both in their award and in their execution of control”.
For the Minister of State, Minister for the Budget, Aimé Boji Sangara, the implementation of the integrated public procurement management system is part of the government's approach to guaranteeing the proper use of public funds when public procurement represents to date 63% of public expenditure carried out by the State.
Read: DRC: registration of procurement plans and automatic a priori control processing, one of the functionalities of the SIGMAP project
According to Aimé Boji Sangara, with regard to its functionality, the SIGMAP represents one of the responses to the problem of strengthening transparency in the public procurement system in the DRC.
“Dear public procurement actors, namely the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority; the General/Provincial Directorate of Public Procurement Control; contracting authorities; project and public procurement management units; approval authorities; public enterprises and public establishments; the private sector; civil society organizations and citizens.
The integrated public procurement management system that is in your hands today offers the advantage of traceability, speed and completeness of all operations relating to the management of public procurement. It also frees you from manual and tedious processing of public procurement operations for which you are responsible,” said Aimé Boji.
The work of a Congolese, SIGMAP includes a web portal making available to the general public all relevant information on the procedure for awarding and executing public contracts. Like the countries that already have it, this web portal will ensure the elimination of physical contact between the organizers of public institutions and those of the private sector, thus greatly reducing the opportunities for corruption.
The World Bank, development partner of the DRC, through the Project to Strengthen Accountability and Public Finance Management (PROFIT-Congo) provided technical and financial support in the implementation of SIGMAP.
The senior magistrates of the judicial and administrative order will be sworn in this Wednesday, August 31
Appointed by presidential order on July 30, 2022, the high magistrates of the Court of Cassation, those of the Council of State as well as the sitting magistrates who are members of the Court of Auditors, appointed on June 27, 2022, will be sworn in on Wednesday August 31 in front of the President of the Republic, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo.
This swearing-in ceremony, organized at the Palais de la Nation, will take place in two stages.
First, only the magistrates of the Judicial Order and those of the Administrative Order will take the oath, then will come the turn of the members of the Court of Auditors.
Among the heads of the nominated bodies are Firmin Mvonde Mambu, 61, now Attorney General at the Court of Cassation; Marthe Odio Nonde, first President of the Council of State as well as Iluta Ikombe Yamama, Attorney General at the Council of State.
The civil magistrates of the seat, advisers to the Court of Cassation, the first advocate general at the Court of Cassation, the advocates general at the Court of Cassation, the presidents of the Council of State, the advisers of the Council of State, the lawyers generals to the Council of State and members of the Court of Auditors will also take an oath before the supreme magistrate.
This is the source. 
