The Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC) has nominated businesswoman and former minister Juliana Amato Lumumba as its candidate for Secretary General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) to challenge Rwanda’s incumbent, Louise Mushikiwabo.
Amato Lumumba is the daughter of the first Prime Minister of the DRC.
The announcement comes at a time of heightened diplomatic tensions between Congo and Rwanda over ongoing insecurity in eastern DRC.
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Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo has led the Paris-based OIF since 2019, becoming the first African woman to head the organization.
Her tenure has coincided with growing tensions between Kigali and Kinshasa. DR Congo accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 rebel group operating in eastern DRC, allegations that Rwanda denies.
Kigali, in turn, accuses the Congolese government of supporting and collaborating with the FDLR, a group of perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which Rwanda says seeks to destabilize the country and overthrow its government by force.
According to the government statement, Lumumba brings more than three decades of experience in public governance, cultural diplomacy, and international cooperation, where she previously served as Congo’s vice minister and later minister of culture and arts in the early 2000s.
She also served as Secretary-General of the Union of African Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Crafts (UACCIA) in Cairo from 2007 to 2015.
The OIF brings together French-speaking countries across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. It promotes the French language, cultural cooperation, democratic governance, and development.
It was not immediately clear when the next vote for Secretary-General will take place or whether Mushikiwabo will seek another term. Rwanda previously secured broad backing from African Union member states for her candidacy.
Congolese people speak out
Opposition leader Patrick Kanga welcomed Kinshasa’s decision, writing on X: “I wish her good luck, in the hope of seeing a worthy daughter of the Democratic Republic of Congo assume this high responsibility and uphold the values of our organization.”
Isidore Kwandja Ngembo, national director of the 9th Francophonie Games in Kinshasa, said a Congolese candidacy could help contribute to restoring peace in the region.
“Despite the current armed conflict between the DRC and Rwanda, which I believe will have a political and peaceful outcome, Juliana Amato Lumumba’s candidacy fits the profile of the OIF Secretary-General,” he wrote on X. “The organization must remain not only a space for sharing the French language but also a framework where the values of peace and humanity are embodied and practiced.”
