by Nurat Uthman
The prime minister tendered his resignation to President Felix Tshisekedi eight days after the validation of his mandate as a national deputy.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s prime minister, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, has tendered his resignation letter as fighting flared between rebels and government forces.
According to Reuters, Lukonde resigned from office on Tuesday while also announcing the immediate dissolution of his government.
The prime minister tendered his resignation to President Felix Tshisekedi eight days after the validation of his mandate as a national deputy.
He will now join parliament as a member of the assembly.
“The resignation has been accepted. However, the president has asked (Lukonde’s) government to continue handling current affairs” until a new government is formed, ” the presidency said in another statement later on Tuesday.
It did not specify why Lukonde resigned.
Lukonde was appointed prime minister of the mineral-rich central African country in February 2021.
Following his re-election in December, Tshisekedi appointed a representative to seek a majority alliance within the National Assembly in order to establish the next government.
SaharaReporters last Saturday reported how a bomb struck the airport in the restive eastern DR Congo city of Goma.
Clashes have intensified in recent days around the strategic town of Sake, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Goma, between the M23 rebel group – which Kinshasa says is backed by neighbouring Rwanda – and Congolese government forces.
“Yes, it’s true, Goma airport was hit by a bomb last night,” a source in the governorate of North Kivu province said, asking not to be named.
A security source spoke of “two bombs” at the facility in Goma, the North Kivu capital and home to one million people, adding that they “caused no damage”.
“Two experts are on site to check where the bombs were fired from,” the source said.
