DRC’s seven-year progress: education, health and infrastructure under review
Accusations of attempting to alter the Constitution to conceal governance failures were met with a detailed response from Jean-Claude Tshilumbayi during a live broadcast on X Space hosted by Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala. The first vice-president of the National Assembly presented what he described as the achievements of the current administration over the past seven years.
Education and Health: Transforming Lives
- Free education initiatives brought back 6 million children to classrooms, while free maternal care benefited 2.5 million women nationwide.
- In the healthcare sector, the number of doctors rose from 1,700 to 7,800, with salaries increasing from $300 to $2,400. Magistrates and police officers also saw their wages rise from $400 to $2,400 and $80 to $2,400 respectively.
- The government claims to have paid salaries to 1 million civil servants and 400,000 contractual workers previously unpaid under the previous administration.
Infrastructure and Economic Growth: Building a Stronger Nation
- The national budget expanded from $3 billion to $18 billion over seven years, with foreign exchange reserves described as having “exploded” in growth.
- Road networks expanded from 3,000 km to 9,000 km, alongside the construction of 1,500 schools, 7 major hospitals—including the long-abandoned Mama Yemo Hospital—and several world-class universities.
“To suggest that constitutional changes are being considered to mask governance failures is a ludicrous debate,” Tshilumbayi stated. “The real question is: How should our people express themselves?”
