Through an exclusive interview, the Director General of the National Office of Agricultural Products of Congo (ONAPAC), Mrs. Mimy Monga Numbi, makes disturbing and revolting revelations to which the President of the Republic, Félix Tshisekedi and the new Prime Minister Judith Suminwa should be interested. According to the leader of what was formerly called Office Zaire du Café (OZACAF), a cartel to be dismantled is seeking to finish off this public establishment: a veritable mafia which causes the country to lose more than 120 million US dollars annually.
When she took office, more or less eight months ago, Mimy Monga claims to have found staff salary arrears of two hundred months and a catastrophic social situation. No support for staff from the annexed budget. Worse still, a spoliation of heritage and concessions with risk of spoliation.
Notwithstanding threats, the female duo Mimy Monga Numbi (DG) and Berthe Kenedi Issakong (DGA) say they are determined to faithfully accomplish the missions assigned to them. This management committee achieved an unprecedented feat by increasing, within three months, the cocoa intended for export controlled by Onapac from 6,000 tonnes per year to 56,000 tonnes, a record never equaled in the history of the country. Thus earning more than 131 million for the country.
Salary treatment of staff has moved from the 1st level to the higher level, transport has improved, the situation of care for retirees at the CNSS is decreasing, etc.
Several achievements in the sectors are starting to be visible, yet they only manage with 1.4% royalties on services unlike their predecessors who were at 9%, 4% and 2%.
The war against fraud is their hobby horse and their lives would be in danger. Below, the entirety of this unpublished interview which would be described as a “scoop” in journalistic jargon. No comment!
James Mpunga Yende: Madam Director General, would you like to paint your portrait in a few words for our many readers?
Mimy Monga Numbi: Mrs. Mimy MONGA NUMBI, Director General of ONAPAC, has a degree in law and is a lawyer. She worked at the Tanzanian Embassy, the UNDP and the Office of the National Minister of Industry as Advisor before being appointed CEO of ONAPAC.
JMY: What inventory did you make when you took over from Mr. Guy Bompate?
MMN: The inventory that we drew up when we took office in August 2023 at the head of the National Office of Agricultural Products of Congo, ONAPAC in acronym, gave us a catastrophic picture. Because despite the alienation of part of the heritage of this Office in Kinshasa and within the country, we found it with:
– 200 months of salary arrears;
– Intense conflicts with the FEC, economic operators, significantly reducing the volume of exports under the control of ONAPAC;
– Demotivated workers in conflict with each other, aligned by camp;
– The payment of a SMIG of 1,680 FC, that is to say below the first level which is set at 1,730 FC;
– Offices in very advanced states of disrepair;
– Buildings without sanitary facilities for agents;
– A polyclinic not supplied with essential products for medical care; etc.
Sectors and sub-sectors in disarray and requiring significant logistical support.
JMY: Why is there conflict or “open war” between the Mimy Monga (DG) Kenedi Issakong (DGA) tandem against the PCA Mukengeshayi?
MMN: Mr. Journalist, there is no conflict between the DG, DGA and the Chairman of the Board of Directors. There is no conflict between the management committee and the PCA. We work in perfect harmony.
JMY: Some say that what divides the management committee is the ESKO Kivu affair, the creditor who owes ONAPAC $6 million. What is it about ?
MMN: As I told you previously, the Management Committee is not divided and will certainly not be in the future. ESKO KIVU is our business partner in the same way as other economic operators. Thus, in order to support the materialization of the vision of the Head of State, H.E. Mr. Félix Antoine TSHISEKEDI TSHILOMBO, who advocates “the revenge of the soil on the subsoil”, we have lifted the option of advocating the dialogue for the benefit of all parties. It is with this in mind that a commission will be set up to examine and deal with the question relating to this debt to which you refer, in accordance with article 5 of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between ONAPAC and ESKO KIVU. And there is nothing else!
JMY: Why did the DG and the DGA go, with the blessing of the outgoing supervisory minister, to negotiate with ESKO Kivu in Uganda?
MMN: The Government, through the supervisory Minister of Agriculture, was pleased to initiate negotiations on the debts between ONAPAC and ESKO KIVU, an operator in the cocoa and vanilla sector in Beni, in order to improve the business climate.
This approach was welcomed by the central directors of ONAPAC and made it possible to improve the revenues of both the Office and other services in the country.
Before our arrival, the Office only controlled 6,000 tonnes of cocoa intended for export. After this approach, in just three months, we went from 6,000 to 56,000 tonnes, a record never reached in the history of cocoa exports controlled by ONAPAC.
Consequently, this export boom earned the public treasury US$131 millions from the cocoa product alone. Also by ripple effect, we have experienced the return of several economic operators to ONAPAC, in this case MILUNA of GBAKA, CAP CONGO and many others who had rebelled against ONAPAC.
However, for your information, the negotiations were held in Beni and not in Uganda as our detractors claim.
JMY: Why is there conflict or “open war” between the Mimy Monga (DG) Kenedi Issakong (DGA) tandem against the PCA Mukengeshayi?
MMN: Mr. Journalist, there is no conflict between the DG, DGA and the Chairman of the Board of Directors. There is no conflict between the management committee and the PCA. We work in perfect harmony.
JMY: According to your “detractors”, the lifestyle of Mimy Monga and Kenedi Issakong changed radically upon their return from Yoweri Museveni’s country. What do you think ?
MMN: Mr. Journalist, some nostalgic people resist current change and have difficulty adapting to this new pace of work. We are witnessing a birth pain that will subside over time. Note that those who set up this standoff with the FEC are not disarming. They continue to slander us in one way or another.
JMY: If Jules Alingete deploys inspectors from the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) will they not find compromising files?
MMN: If Jules Alingete came to ONAPAC, rest assured that he would be well oriented to audit the fraud which is rampant in North Kivu and South Kivu causing the Congolese State to lose more than 120 million US dollars annually. It's mafia
JMY: To this day, payroll at ONAPAC is done through the old “Maboko bank” system and little by little and modest sums while the management committee receives huge sums through banking. Why such social injustice?
MMN: At ONAPAC, there is the Board of Directors, the Management Committee and the College of Auditors. But curiously the other agents are not mentioned and we only talk about the Management Committee. This is to tell you that it is the head of the leaders of this committee who are therefore hindering its efforts against fraud and anti-values. Regarding the “maboko bank”, it is a system that we have found and which we are in the process of remedying by approaching several local banks.
To do this, our efforts are being undertaken to unify internal revenue accounts on royalties for our services. For your information, the agents, executives and agents of the Office all depend on 1.4% that ONAPAC levies on the FOB value of perennial agricultural products for export under its control. Their remuneration is not covered by the State's annexed budget and for our credibility vis-à-vis the banks, we must first control the envelope of said revenue.
JMY: We heard that there is a manhunt in the Beni sector after a recent online publication (congoprofond.net). Is this branch of ONAPAC the lung of your public establishment or a cash cow that you must have on your farm at all costs?
MMN: There is no link between your publication and the recall to Kinshasa of some of our executives from Beni. This recall is rather a process initiated by the supervisory authority and which goes back a long way before the famous publication. It is true that the Beni sector really constitutes the lungs, not only of ONAPAC, but also of the Republic in terms of significant revenues from exports of perennial agricultural products found there, including coffee, cocoa, vanilla, papain, pyrethrum, ketsu and many others.
It is therefore among our legitimate missions, entrusted to us by the Head of State, guarantor of the Nation, in our capacity as supervisor of the perennial agricultural products sector, to control the export operations of said products in the DRC. That being said, we therefore have a duty to take an interest in what is happening in this sector with a view to stopping the hemorrhaging of fraud which is causing the Republic to lose more than 120 million dollars a year, just for the cocoa!
JMY: Finally, what are your plans for the recovery of ONAPAC?
MMN: Onapac is the technical and scientific body of the Ministry of Agriculture, supervisor of the sector of perennial products intended for export. Its role consists of the promotion of perennial agricultural products and the development of internal and external outlets.
As such, the first approach is therefore to raise awareness among economic operators and all stakeholders in the sector on the importance and role of ONAPAC.
Also, clearly, ensure the supervision of all farmers involved in the cultivation of perennial agricultural products, the rejuvenation of more than 100 thousand hectares of abandoned plantations, the development of perennial crops in mining areas to respond to the crisis of mines which are running out, raising awareness about the establishment of more cocoa plantations, the installation of laboratories in sectors with a high concentration of production.
Add to this the recruitment of several other agronomists and the provision of the means for their roaming, raising awareness about the local consumption of our products, the promotion of Onapac concessions through the cultivation of perennial products, the alignment of executives and agents of ONAPAC to the annexed budget for their remuneration, the implementation of geolocation for the better management of plantations in the DRC, the creation of a trading center.
On the administrative level, provide the Office with a procedures manual. Establishment of weighbridges to stop quantitative fraud, creation of anti-fraud brigades in production areas.
Thank you, Mr. Journalist.
Interview realized by James Mpunga Yende/Freelance
Source: https://congoprofond.net
Congo Profond (RD CONGO)
