The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Prime Minister, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde and his cabinet have resigned two months after securing a parliamentary majority in the general elections, a video from the presidency showed Wednesday.
He was seen handing in his resignation Tuesday to President Felix Tshisekedi after serving for three years in the video.
Sama Lukonde and 27 other members of his government were elected to parliament in the December 20 poll that also gave the president a second five-year term with a huge majority.
Tshisekedi had tasked his party’s general secretary, Augustin Kabuya to form a new government with a party majority at the beginning of the month.
Provisional results that still await the Constitutional Council’s confirmation showed that parties loyal to the president won almost 94 per cent of the seats in the National Assembly.
Tshisekedi appointed Sama Lukonde prime minister in February 2021 after ending a coalition with his predecessor Joseph Kabila.
Sama Lukonde said that during his tenure, the government had implemented financial and social reforms, with achievements being made “especially on issues of security, education and health”.
The outgoing government will manage affairs until a new government is named at a date yet to be disclosed.
Security challenges are enormous. After a pause in fighting in the east during the elections, violence has erupted again between the army and M23 rebels, supported by neighbouring Rwanda.
The United Nations estimated that seven million people were internally displaced by armed conflict by the end of last year.
The DRC is one of the world’s poorest countries with two-thirds of its 100-million population living on less than $2.15 a day.
