Facing accusations that his push for constitutional change is a smokescreen for governance failures, Jean-Claude Tshilumbayi responded on Friday evening during a live X Space hosted by Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala by presenting a detailed inventory of what he calls the achievements of the government since 2019.
On the social front, the first vice-president of the National Assembly highlighted the free primary education policy, which he says brought 6 million children back to school, as well as free deliveries for 2.5 million Congolese women.
Regarding the civil service, he revealed that the UDPS inherited in 2018 a million employees recruited without payroll numbers or salaries as part of Shadary’s electoral campaign, plus 400,000 “new units” who had received nothing for years.
“We have paid all of them,” he stated.
The health record presented is equally striking: the country once had 1,700 doctors earning $300 each. Today there are 7,800, paid $2,400. Magistrates, who earned $400, and police officers, who received only $80 per month, have all seen salary increases.
On infrastructure, Tshilumbayi claimed construction of world-class universities, seven major hospitals including Mama Yemo Hospital—abandoned since 1917—1,500 schools, several airports, and an extension of the road network from 3,000 to 9,000 kilometers in seven years.
As for the state budget, he said it rose from $3 billion to $18 billion over seven years, with foreign exchange reserves that “have simply exploded.”
“To say we talk about the constitution to hide a governance failure is a ridiculous debate,” he concluded, before posing what he considers the real question: “By what means should our people express themselves?”
