Kinshasa: Resumption of activities by the National Office of Fisheries and Aquaculture requested

Kinshasa, April 13^th, 2025 (CPA) – The resumption of activities by the National Office of Fisheries and Aquaculture (ONPA) at the port of Kinkole, in N’sele, a municipality to the east of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been requested by the municipality’s fish farmers, according to a press release issued on Saturday. “The community of fish farmers of the port of Kinkole requests, through this memorandum submitted to the deputy burgomaster of N’sele, the resumption of the activities of the National Office of Fisheries and Aquaculture, whose management has been entrusted to Mr. Epicure Bohi, who has not yet been installed,” read the statement from the N’sele communal house. “I spoke with a delegation from the community of fish farmers in the port of Kinkole, who came to give me a memorandum. In this document, they also called for better collaboration with the municipal authority, particularly in terms of port management and the relaunch of fishing activities”, said Christian Manku, deputy mayor of the N’sele commune, quoted in the document. After discussions with the community of fish farmers in the port of Kinkole, the deputy burgomaster promised to pass on their grievances to the hierarchy, and in particular to the Head of State Félix Antoine Tshisekedi for any useful purpose. This request comes a month after the temporary suspension of tax collection agents in the fishing port of Kinkole until the new order, by Mr. Franc Mbo Nzolameso, titular burgomaster of the commune of N’sele. The National Office of Fisheries and Aquaculture (ONPA) were created in June 2023, with the aim of supporting fishermen in the production of fish in the Democratic Republic of Congo.