Bemba Demands Deadlines at Three DRC Airports

Transport Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba has inspected three major airport projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and told the teams responsible that construction schedules must be respected.

The inspection tour on Monday, 27 July, took Bemba to Bunia in Ituri, Lubumbashi in Haut-Katanga and Kananga in Kasaï-Central.

According to the Journal de Kinshasa, the minister reviewed construction, renovation and extension works and held discussions with contractors, provincial authorities and officials from the Régie des Voies Aériennes, or RVA.

The message from the tour was firm: obstacles must be addressed and delivery calendars must be followed.

The reports reviewed by XTRAfrica did not publish revised handover dates, comparable progress figures or detailed budgets for all three projects.

What happened during the three-airport tour?

Bemba began the tour in Bunia, where he was received by Ituri’s military governor, Major-General Gaby Kasongo Mulumba.

He then travelled to Lubumbashi, where he inspected work at Luano International Airport alongside RVA director-general Louis-Blaise Londole.

The final stop was Kananga, where Kasaï-Central governor Joseph-Moïse Kambulu received the minister.

At each location, the delegation examined ongoing work and discussed the problems affecting implementation. The publicly reported purpose was to identify constraints, reinforce technical requirements and keep the projects within their construction calendars.