KINSHASA, DRC
The Democratic Republic of Congo's planning minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka was Monday appointed as the African nation's first woman prime minister, state television announced.
The Democratic Republic of
Congo's planning minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka was Monday appointed as the
African nation's first woman prime minister, state television announced.
An economist, she takes over
as prime minister from Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, following President Felix
Tshisekedi's sweeping re-election on December 20.
Tshisekedi officially
triumphed with 73.47 percent and the vote passed largely peacefully in a
country long torn by violence and instability.
The opposition branded the
ballot a sham.
Voting was officially extended
by a day due to logistical snarls and polls were open for days after in remote
areas.
Parties supporting Tshisekedi
garnered more than 90 percent of the seats in parliament, allowing him to
legislate with ease.
The new prime minister will be
tasked with pushing the president's declared priorities of employment, youth,
women and national cohesion for the nation of about 100 million people.
He first became president in
2019 promising to improve living conditions in the DRC — which boasts mineral
riches but has a largely impoverished population — and put an end to 25 years
of bloodshed in the east.
Tshisekedi failed to keep
those promises but campaigned for a second term on his achievements such as
free primary medication, asking for another mandate to "consolidate"
the progress.
According to the United
Nations, some seven million people have been internally displaced by conflict
in the DRC, one of the world's poorest countries.
The security situation has
worsened in North Kivu province where a Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 has
seized swathes of territory over the last two years.
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