DRCongo’s president Félix Tshisekedi took the opportunity, on Monday, 5 May 2025, at the ceremony to celebrate International Press Freedom Day, held at the Hôtel du fleuve in Kinshasa, to denounce the misinterpretation by some media regarding the deal around strategic minerals in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In his view, those interpretations were unfounded and were part of the orchestrated campaigns to weaken the country’s economic sovereignty and undermine efforts to rebuild its strategic repositioning.
“I cannot ignore the many media manipulations around a strategic partnership being finalised between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States of America, regarding the enhancement of our critical minerals. Some speeches sometimes relayed without verification by part of the press wrongly evoke a so-called sale of our natural resources. Such self-sacrifice is naturally unfounded, but often include orchestrated campaigns to weaken our economic sovereignty and undermine our country’s strategic repositioning efforts on the world stage,” said Felix Tshisekedi.
In this context, the President of the Republic wished to reassure the assembly of his determination never to sell the wealth of the DRC.
“I would like to be here before you to solemnly reaffirm what I have always stood for. Never, but never before, will I bow the wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I took the oath before the nation, and I will abide by it forever,” he pinned.
It should be noted that International Press Freedom Day is celebrated on 3 May each year. For 2025, it was celebrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo under the theme “The impact of artificial intelligence on freedom of the press and the media”.
