Kolwezi: Cobalt vein displaces thousands of inhabitants

In Kolwezi, the heart of Lualaba province that claims the title of cobalt capital of the world, the Tshabula village of about 400 households, is preparing to move out of the place. Recently, in 2022, the Gécamines district saw nearly 40% of its space become a mining quarry and 209 households leave in a controversial relocation process. Symbol of this controversy, Adelard Makonga refused to leave. He demanded a "legal relocation", thus raising the stakes against the Chinese mining company COMMUS (Compagnie minière de Musonoie) which agreed to cash compensation, to avoid the lengthy relocation process provided for by Congolese law. "I don't ask much from COMMUS. All I want is to be resettled in the same conditions as here," Makonga said on local television in May 2023, a month before his death.

According to the law, a proper relocation is prepared by the person who relocates. He prepares the place, builds the same in the same proportions and installs those he moves. For those who have relocated like Makonga, the departure from the Gécamines city is uncomfortable. It has roads with a system of pipes, running water and stable electricity. It is one of the most urbanized in Kolwezi, the second largest city in the Katanga region in southeastern DRC. According to COMMUS lawyer, the company, displaced community was fairly compensated. However, The USD 25,000 offered to each household does not allow them to pay for or build a house whose costs vary between USD 40,000 and USD 100,000, according to protesters monitored by local media outlet Wangu TV. This amount has not been confirmed by other sources, COMMUS has advanced "the average of USD 80,000" per household, according to its lawyer; including the value of the plot, house and furniture. [...] While COMMUS and the relocation commission are pleased with their work, some of the relocated, like Edmond Chansa, sixty years old, regret their new living conditions. Settled in his unfinished house, built in Joli-Site on the outskirts of Kolwezi, Chansa lacks several basic services. [...] He says the US$70,000 he received for his departure allowed him to buy a plot of land where he built a house that he is struggling to complete.