Miners’ unrest in Lualaba: tensions return to Kolwezi after a lull, schools close and traffic is disrupted on some roads

Tensions flared again on Wednesday in Kolwezi’s UCK, Kapata and Luilu neighborhoods, prompting schools to send students home, businesses to close and traffic to slow, including on the road to Musonoie. Police and Congolese armed forces are patrolling, with arrests reported, following days of barricades, clashes and fires, including the burning of a police post in Dilungu. Artisanal miners are protesting controls and the closure of mineral-processing centers and buying counters; they are demanding the promised 33 artisanal mining zones and access to sites such as Kamilombe. Governor Fifi Masuka Saini called for calm and discussed access to a legal mining zone, while inspections of mineral-processing facilities continue under a commission from Kinshasa.