DR Congo president appoints new prime minister

By Rodrigue Forku

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AA) – Sama Lukonde Kyenge has been appointed the new prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the presidency announced on Monday.

Kyenge was appointed by President Felix Tshisekedi over two weeks after former Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga resigned following a no-confidence vote in parliament late January.

Ilunga, an ally of former President Joseph Kabila, was the head of the coalition government. His resignation followed Tshisekedi’s decision to end a power-sharing agreement with supporters of Kabila after months of tensions between the two camps.

Former deputy minister for youth and sports, Kyenge, 43, recently served as director general of Gecamines, a Congolese commodity trading and mining company.

Last year, the lower house of the parliament voted out its speaker Jeanine Mabunda, another Kabila loyalist.

Tshisekedi came to power in January 2019 and signed a secret coalition agreement with Kabila, who kept the majority in parliament in the central African country.