" Congolese activists decry US-Congo mineral deal" 20 April 2025

As M23 rebels continue to gain ground in the eastern provinces of the DRC, the embattled government of President Felix Tshisekedi, facing rising unpopularity and legitimacy questions, appears to be inching closer to a controversial deal with the United States: security assistance in exchange for strategic mineral access. The details of the deal, timelines, and key points have yet to be announced, but officials from the Trump administration have told the press that negotiations continue.

At the center of these unfolding negotiations is Erik Prince, founder of the notorious private military company Blackwater and a close ally of US President Donald Trump. According to a report published by Reuters on April 17, Prince is brokering an agreement that would position him to oversee the security and taxation of mineral extraction in the mineral-rich nation. [...]

What’s alarming is not merely the substance of the potential deal between Washington and Kinshasa, but also the process. Or rather, the absence of it. The announcement of the deal did not come from Parliament or the National Assembly, it was revealed through the press. As Kambale Musavuli, a Congolese analyst pointed out to Peoples Dispatch, “Can you imagine that a whole country is making a decision on a mineral deal, and Parliament never discussed it?”

The Congolese constitution nominally vests ownership of the country’s land and resources in the state, but the lack of popular or parliamentary oversight raises profound questions. “The contradictions of the Congolese Constitution are being exposed,” said Musavuli. “Legal experts are now debating whether the president even has the authority to make such sweeping deals unilaterally.”

What’s at stake is not merely legality, but also legitimacy.