Congo suspends its artisanal mining agency head — the mines minister's order accuses him of failing to stop illegal mining on licensed concessions
The Democratic Republic of Congo's mines minister, Louis Kabamba Watum, suspended Jean-Paul Kadiobo Kapongo, director general of SAEMAPE, the state agency that supervises artisanal and small-scale mining, in an order dated 21 October 2026 and communicated on 22 October, with immediate effect. The order, seen by Reuters and, separately, by Bloomberg, accuses Kapongo of failing to take the measures needed to prevent illegal artisanal mining on licensed concession areas, particularly in the copper- and cobalt-rich provinces of Lualaba and Haut-Katanga, and of improperly establishing SAEMAPE revenue-collection services inside concession areas. Kapongo did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters or Bloomberg. The suspension comes inside a wider crackdown on illegal mining in the copper belt.
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Key points
- SAEMAPE's director general was suspended by ministerial order dated 21 October, with immediate effect; no interim head is named in the order.
- The order's accusations — failing to stop illegal mining on licensed concessions and improperly placing revenue collectors inside them — are accusations, not findings.
- Kapongo did not respond to Reuters' or Bloomberg's requests for comment.
- The move is part of a wider copper-belt crackdown, including detentions around Kolwezi and the Kamilombe miners' relocation deal.
What happened
SAEMAPE supervises and supports artisanal and small-scale mining in Congo, the world's largest cobalt producer and second-largest copper producer. Higher metal prices have drawn thousands of informal miners into licensed areas, setting artisanal diggers — a livelihood for hundreds of thousands — against the industrial operators who hold the permits.
Claim by claim
Why this label: The order as seen by Reuters and, in a separate reporting chain, by Bloomberg; the execution and interim details are from Mining & Business's report of the same order. Two agencies saw the document itself.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The accusations are quoted from the order itself in both agencies' reports, and both record that Kapongo was asked and did not respond; nothing in the reports read presents the accusations as established.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The detentions, the commission and the Kamilombe deal are Bloomberg's reporting; the provincial head's suspension is carried by Bloomberg as local media reports and is labelled as such in the claim.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The suspension, its date and immediate effect, and the order's accusations, from the order as seen by two agencies.
- Kapongo was asked for comment by both agencies and did not respond in their reports.
What we don't know yet
- Kapongo's answer to the accusations — none was in the reporting read.
- Who leads SAEMAPE in the interim — the order does not name anyone.
- Whether the suspension becomes a removal or is lifted.
Why it matters
Who polices the boundary between artisanal digging and industrial concessions decides both the safety of the diggers and Congo's pitch to investors. Suspending the boundary's own regulator, on accusations he has not answered in the reporting, is Kinshasa signalling that the crackdown reaches inside its own agencies.
Background
About 300 Chinese nationals are detained around Kolwezi in a crackdown on illegal mining, Bloomberg reports.
The mines minister's suspension order is dated 21 October and communicated on 22 October.
The government agrees to move more than 20,000 miners from the Kamilombe site to a designated artisanal area.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
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Published in Checking state — checking continues, and claims are labelled as reporting develops. Basis: the mines minister's order, as seen by Reuters and Bloomberg.