Gertrude Kitembo Explained

Gertrude Kitembo Mpala (born 1958) is a politician and businesswoman in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She is a former Minister of Posts and Telecommunications.

Life

Gertrude Kitembo was born in March 1958.[1] She was a senior member of the former rebel faction RCD-Goma,[2] becoming head of RCD-Goma's internal administration department.[3]

From May 2000 to March 2001 she was governor of Maniema.[4]

On 30 June 2003 Kitembo was named as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications in the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[5]

A 2002-3 United Nations panel investigating into the exploitation of mineral resources in DRC recommended financial sanctions against a company that Kitembo set up, the Congo Holding Development Company, a mining and trading firm based near the Rwandan border in Goma. The panel's confidential report to the UN security council claimed that the company was selling minerals to fund arms for the Congolese National Army (ANC), the military wing of RCD-Goma.[2]

Kitembo is president of the Congo of Values (CV) party, a member of the political group Alliance for the Integral Transformation of Congo (ATIC). In March 2019 she became President of the Provincial Assembly of Maniema.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Maniema: Gertrude Kitembo élue présidente de l'Assemblée provinciale . 4 March 2021 . 23 March 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190323134211/https://pourelle.info/maniema-gertrude-kitembo-elue-presidente-de-lassemblee-provinciale/ . bot: unknown .
  2. News: David Pallister . UN names forces in struggle for Congo gold fields . The Guardian . 4 December 2003 . 4 March 2021 .
  3. Web site: Ali B. Ali-Dinar . DRC: WHO'S WHO - KEY MEMBERS OF THE REBELLION 1998.8.20 . 20 August 1998 . Penn University . 4 March 2021.
  4. Web site: Les anciens gouverneurs . 4 March 2021 . 18 December 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191218172902/https://maniema.gouv.cd/index.php/le-gouvernorat/les-anciens-gouverneurs/ . dead .
  5. Web site: Transitional government . The New Humanitarian . 3 July 2003 . 4 March 2021 .