AFRICA/CONGO DR - Missionaries say: “Careful with decisions on Ituri, rich in gold and oil”

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) – On May 3, legislation leaders of the Eastern Province of Ituri (north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo) told the press in Kisangani that "this May 15, the District of Ituri will become the Province of Ituri." These representatives base their comments on the Constitution of February 18, 2006. Its Article 2 states that "May 14, 2010 is the deadline for the erection of new provinces.” Floribert Katanabo, spokesman for Parliament Members of Ituri, said that Ituri is ready to function as a province with all its institutions.
"The question raised by the MPs of Ituri is an important one. But the Constitution does not authorize unilateral declarations without the support of an organic law. At this point, the law on decentralization and delimitation of the decentralized entities is still being discussed in Parliament. This is why the National Assembly intends to revise the Constitution, especially in its Articles 2 and 226," says a note sent to Fides from the “Peace for Congo Network” sponsored by missionaries operating in the DRC.
"The danger of this statement from the MPs of Ituri, which looks like a provocation or a rebellion, is that it could provoke a chain reaction... Or simply, the MPs of Ituri have agreed to exert pressure on the government and Parliament; that cannot be excluded," says the note.
The missionaries pointed out that "Ituri remains one of the richest areas of DRC. In addition to gold, diamonds, coffee, and timber, the Ituri has the oil of Lake Albert, where some foreign oil companies are about to launch its extraction.”
"It should be recalled that in the recent past, some Congolese have let themselves be manipulated by a neighboring country supported by foreign powers, to destabilize the DRC and devote himself to plundering the riches of Ituri," the note continues.
"There should be an investigation to see if behind the declarations of the MPs there may still be an invisible hand pushing the Congolese to other acts of rebellion with the aim of balkanizing the DRC under false pretexts. At the heart of this latest plot is gold, as well as the oil of Lake Albert, which raises many ambitions. The competent authorities need to make a deep reflection, to discover what could be behind such a statement," the document concludes. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 18/05/2010)