Mineral Ban in the Democratic Republic of Congo: an unworkable solution to the problem of illegal mining

The Omatte gold mines in Walikale territory, North Kivu, Eastern DRC, were 40 year old Tambwe Rugiriri's only source of income for 15 years. On the 9th September 2010 his job was taken away by President Joseph Kabila Kabange's decree that "all mining and related activities in the three provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniema" shall end "with immediate effect". 

These three provinces are the leading extractors of the DRC's mineral wealth providing employment for millions of people. North Kivu alone has 66 mining sites (27 in Walikale, 14 in Masisi, 18 in Lubero and 17 in Beni). Of these mines 57 are under government control, 7 under the control of armed groups, and 2 sites are not accounted for.

Kabila's short speech in Goma announcing the ban has caused a sharp downturn in the local economy. A decrease in the area's money supply has slowed trade and depressed local demand. Local experts estimate a knock on loss for the economy of between 3 and 4 million dollars per year, a drastic sum given the DRC's GDP per capita of just $160 per year.

The social costs resulting from the regional economic downturn are already apparent. With less money to go round, a Government without the resources for economic stabilization, and too few NGOs to pick up the slack, social services are grinding to a halt. Several schools, including Cepac, Celpa, Officiel and Mayuwano have been closed because there are now too few pupils to teach. “Most have no money to pay school dues while others have migrated along with their parents” Mbula Kaleti, a local teacher, told Think Africa Press. Health services, which previously provided a lifeline for thousands of locals now only provide for a small proportion of the population. Think Africa Press visited one such health centre, the Cepac dispensary in Ndjingala to be informed that there are no patients left since mining stopped at Besei. 

Marie is married to an artisanal miner who abandoned her after the mines closed to return to his native Kindu. She told Think Africa Press that “it is not clear what is left for us” and explained that she has no food to eat and no idea where to go with her 8 year old daughter. With just a few days to Christmas they have little hope for a meal more substantial than the cassava bread and water they are currently surviving on.

Reports by local researchers (pdf) estimate that cassiterite exports from North Kivu alone were worth around $25m in 2006, and gold exports from Ituri and South Kivu up to $100m each. Only a small fraction of this found its way into official statistics: $7m for cassiterite, $2m for gold from South Kivu, none at all for gold from Ituri. Of the cassiterite mined in Walikale district and registered as being flown to Goma, less than half is registered in Goma as having arrived and as being officially exported by the DRC.

The vast amounts of unregistered exports serve to finance imports of consumer goods and especially petroleum products which are also subject to under-declaration. Officially, North Kivu's 2006 export receipts were just $23m with imported costs $109m, of which petroleum products account for about $44m.

Further Threats to Peace

Walikale, whose greater part is dense forest, is intensely dangerous. One fear is that thousands of unemployed miners may join one of the several militia operating in the area. In a regional context, this increased manpower and lawlessness could destabilize neighbouring countries like Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan.

It is likely that the army will be Kabila’s next target due to it's alleged close relationship to illegal mining. Although the scope of the army's involvement is not clear, it is apparent that this could be a central cause of increased insecurity and conflict in the Eastern part of the country. Furthermore, the army's potential involvement in illegal mining could prove to be a major obstacle to the effective enforcement of the ban.

Conflicts over mining operations and their control have been a major factor in the recent wars in the region. The cassiterite export trade running through Goma towards Rwanda and Uganda is the backbone of the business operations for a Banyarwanda trading elite in North Kivu. This elite competes with a Nande trading elite based around Beni/Butembo with established links to the gold trade running through Ituri and South Kivu towards Uganda and Burundi. However, competition involves much more than just a race for the best business opportunities: during the war the Beni/Butembo traders set up trading rules which gave them a competitive advantage, whereas the Goma traders vied for superiority using their recourse to substantial military power.

The official end of the war did not reconcile these conflicting interests. Political and military power struggles in Eastern Congo are in part an expression of commercial rivalry. Perhaps, then, the ostensibly commercial nature of President Kabila's ban disguises an attempt to regain control over the congolese military by undermining illegal sources of independent wealth.

However, commercial rivalry is also inextricably linked to the physical survival of both individuals and communities. Many of the now-unemployed miners think that Kabila should concentrate on alternative methods of ensuring control over his military rather than penalising them through this ban. Thereby he could allow mining to become a fully legitimate and regulated enterprise.

Bahendwa Deo summed up the miners' sentiments for Think Africa Press: “we are willing to work with government if they guarantee our security and not merely, as has been before, where we have to bribe our way to better security with individual commanders who in the end take huge sums more than we the businessmen”.