Tony Mwaba inspects school rehabilitation and construction work at Lufungula and Forces Navales camps

On Tuesday, August 8, 2023, the Minister of Primary, Secondary and Technical Education (EPST), Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi, conducted a thorough inspection of the renovation work at Lufungula Elementary School in the police camp of the same name and the construction work at Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo Elementary and Secondary School in the Naval Forces camp in Kingabwa, in the municipality of Limete, two modern schools benefiting the children of police officers and military personnel as well as those from the surrounding area.

Minister Tony Mwaba Kazadi, accompanied by his delegation, was welcomed at both camps with songs of joy, shouts of delight, and expressions of gratitude to the President of the Republic, Head of State, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, who has prioritized the education of their children and for placing the right person at the center of his efforts to ensure the sustainability of free public primary education and the revitalization of the EPST sub-sector through a relentless fight against all forms of corruption.

The head of the EPST expressed satisfaction at seeing his dream become a reality through the rising walls and the momentum in the construction work, which is being carried out using internal funds and thanks to the operating expenses allocated to the Ministry’s National Directorate for the Maintenance, Management, and Rehabilitation of School Infrastructure.

For the Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo Primary and Secondary School, the work is nearly complete. It will result in the construction of an administrative building, classrooms, and state-of-the-art latrines.

Renovation work on the severely dilapidated school at Camp Lufungula—where teachers and students previously faced significant access difficulties—is also progressing very well. This school will reopen its doors later in October, and students have been temporarily placed in nearby schools during this period.

All these achievements represent a positive response from Minister Tony Mwaba Kazadi to the cry for help from the children and wives of police officers and soldiers who had staged a surprise visit to his office in January 2023 to complain about the conditions in which the students were studying. 

"This is the result of the operating funds we allocate to the Ministry’s School Infrastructure Directorate. So, just as at the Lufungula camp, there was also high demand here, and we are at the Naval Forces camp. None of the military children here had a modern school. There were three or four wooden buildings that we visited, I believe in January, in conditions that defy description. And the alarm was also raised at the Presidential level. The Head of State instructed that all necessary measures be taken to ensure that a modern school is established in this camp. And we have organized this with the operating funds allocated to the School Infrastructure Directorate—I emphasize, of the Ministry. Because if we had even more resources, we would be able to do even more,” stated Professor Tony Mwaba Kazadi.

The minister assured that before the start of the next school year, scheduled for September 4, the school under construction at the Naval Forces camp will already be operational, allowing all military children to study under better conditions.

Christian BELLA