Termination of Illegal Forestry Contracts in the DRC: “There Will Be Final Decisions” (Yves Kitumba, Dircab of Ève Bazaiba) (French)

An English summary of this report is below. The original report, published in Portuguese in Folha de S.Paulo, follows.

This article is one of a series produced as part of the investigation into the conditions of allocation, exploitation and marketing of logging concessions.

On 12 April, the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development gave forestry operators 15 days to submit their claims following publication of the report by the Commission for the Review of Forestry Contracts. The report proposed the termination of 30 logging and conservation contracts. This was the third review requested by the government, but so far no action has been taken on the recommendations. Interview with Yves Kitumba, Eve Bazaiba's chief of staff.

The Inspectorate General of Finance had already recommended the termination of some of these contracts in 2021. Others had been announced by the Ministry itself. When asked why these titles have still not been returned to the State domain, Yves Kitumba, Director of Cabinet for the Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, explains that this is due to a complementary methodology.

"The IGF used documentary methods, while the commission used other methods, in particular interviews and field visits. Once the appeals have been processed, we will have the final report plus the conclusions that will enable the Minister of State to take action", he explained in an interview with ACTUALITE.CD on Thursday 11 May 2023.

Yves Kitumba points out that even before the IGF report, there was already a "legal review" financed by the European Union.

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