In recent days, a number of photos and videos have been circulating on the internet, showing men and women covered in dust in scenes that are both shocking and artistic. Behind these productions lie the paradoxes between the lives of the people and the political and mining operators in the DRC.

“Creativity has always been the soul of our nation. When it is used by artists to bring about change and denounce injustice, it deserves to be applauded. I join their voice”, says a Congolese editorialist.

Luilu is a town in Lualaba province, in the Mutshatsha territory, around 30 kilometres from Kolwezi, the provincial capital and world cobalt capital. Rich in mineral resources, Luilu is home to Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), a joint venture between the Swiss giant Glencore (75%) and the Congolese state-owned company Gécamines (25%).

But both it and the region are short of everything, including the basics. “In Kolwezi, finding water is a real challenge, and the inhabitants depend on the few boreholes. Electricity is unstable, and the Luilu-Kolwezi road is a real ordeal. Yes, people in Kolwezi are suffering. The image we show you doesn’t always reflect reality,” said a young man from the region.

VisitLuilu was launched spontaneously by a group of local comedians who wanted to alert the authorities to the advanced state of disrepair of the town’s roads. Overall, it is a questioning of the environmental impact, the counterpart of local communities on the exploitation of strategic resources at a time when the Congo holds a large share of several raw materials.

“How can we explain that just 30 kilometres from Kolwezi, people are living in such a precarious state, even though they are literally sleeping on colossal wealth? This contrast between the resources of the subsoil and the misery of daily life is not only shocking, but unacceptable” said Joël Lamika, initiator of the Congolese consumer movement.

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma