The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde has tendered his and his government’s resignation two months after winning general elections, according to a video released by the presidency Wednesday.
He was shown offering his resignation Tuesday after three years in office to President Felix Tshisekedi in the video.
Sama Lukonde won a seat in parliament along with 27 other members of his government in the December 20 vote that also returned the president for a second five-year term with a large majority.
Tshisekedi had appointed at the start of the month his party’s general secretary, Augustin Kabuya to build a party majority to form a new government.
According to provisional results which still need to be confirmed by the Constitutional Council, parties backing the president won nearly 94 per cent of the seats in the National Assembly.
Tshisekedi named Sama Lukonde prime minister in February 2021 after breaking up a coalition with his predecessor Joseph Kabila.
Sama Lukonde noted that during his mandate; the government had brought in financial and social reforms, with progress being made “particularly on questions of security, education and health”.
The departing government will handle affairs until a new government is appointed at a date yet to be announced.
Security challenges are monumental. After a lull in fighting in the east during the elections, violence has resumed between the army and M23 rebels, backed by neighbouring Rwanda.
The United Nations estimated that seven million people were displaced internally by armed conflict at the end of last year.
The DRC is one of the world’s poorest countries with two-thirds of its 100-million population living on under $2.15 a day.
