Business
Congo: Provincial governor to step down, businesses worried
“Accused of Everything”
Others suspect he may be standing down under pressure from Kinshasa and suggest that Kabila’s entourage may feel a threat from his popularity and business success, an argument Katumbi, 46, brushes off.
“The president has never asked me not to stay in politics,” he told Reuters last week, adding that he would be campaigning for the re-election of Kabila, a longstanding ally.
“I’m the man that was accused of everything. I was going to be candidate for the presidency. There are even some people who went even further to say I am preparing Katanga for secession. (I am tired) of all these attacks,” he said.
Speculation is that Zoe Kabila, the president’s brother, may be lined up to replace him, but close observers of the local scene say that between Congo’s national politics and Katanga’s own internal dynamics, much can still change.
Some note Katumbi’s influence clearly has its limits.
The sector is still coming to grips with a wholesale central government review of contracts which in 2009 saw First Quantum Minerals stripped of a local copper tailings project worth US$750 million. The rights were passed on to Kazakh miner ENRC and First Quantum is in international arbitration.
“The fact that he is open to discussions and tried to bring people together can help. This is good. He is that kind of person,” said a senior official in an international mining company who did not want to be named.
