Since April 1, 2024, Madam Judith Suminwa Tuluka has been appointed as the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a historic first for the country since its independence in 1960. A native of Kongo Central, in the southwest of the DRC, the new Prime Minister was initially a member of a government where President Tshisekedi allowed a significant presence of women, reaching a historic level of representation in the Sama Lukonde I and II governmental team.
In the outgoing government (Sama Lukonde II), there were 5 Deputy Prime Ministers (DPMs), 11 State Ministers, 29 Ministers, 1 Deputy Minister, and 12 Vice-Ministers. In terms of percentage, this government had even more women. Out of a total of 58 members, sixteen were women. This means that representation went from 27% in the first team (15 women out of 56 members in Sama Lukonde I) to 28%. This is also a first in the history of the DRC.
Despite the fact that the country's Constitution, in Article 14, speaks of gender parity, the country has never made such progress in terms of female representativeness in its institutions. Since independence, the position of Prime Minister has always been held by men. Félix Tshisekedi is establishing a new era by granting the office on Roi Baudouin Avenue to a woman.
The Congolese Head of State has done the same at the Central Bank of the Congo. For the first time since 1960, a woman, Malangu Kabedi Mbuyi, is at the helm of this powerful financial institution of the country, succeeding 12 male predecessors since its establishment in 1961. So far, the profiles of the women selected by Tshisekedi often leave men speechless, at a loss for critical commentary in light of their competencies and backgrounds. An accomplished economist, Mrs. Malangu Kabedi Mbuyi has also worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Meanwhile, Madam Judith Suminwa Tuluka is notably a product of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She holds a master's degree in Applied Economics from the Free University of Brussels (ULB). She also has a postgraduate diploma in Labor in developing countries. Judith Simunwa Tuluka also worked in the banking sector before joining United Nations agencies, including the UNDP, where she was a national expert in a community support project in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She later served in the cabinet of the Ministry of Budget before becoming the Deputy Coordinator of the Presidential Council for Strategic Monitoring (CPVS), a structure that analyzes and anticipates actions of the Congolese Head of State. Before being appointed Prime Minister, she was already the Minister of State in charge of the Plan in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She oversaw the Local Development Program of the 145 territories of the DRC (PDL-145 T).
President Félix Tshisekedi was acclaimed at the end of his term at the head of the African Union as a "champion of positive masculinity" for his fight for the promotion of gender and the fight against violence against women. He continues to promote gender in several of his actions since taking office as the supreme magistrate in the DRC.
Dido Nsapu