Simon Kimbangu salutes the spirit of dialogue brought back to the EPST sub-sector by Tony Mwaba

The National Minister of Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST), Tony Mwaba Kazadi, met on Saturday, April 22, 2023, with the spiritual leader of the Kimbanguist Church, Simon Kimbangu Kiangani. The meeting took place at the Kimbanguist Church’s reception center in Kinshasa, attended notably by the Secretary General and the Inspector General of the EPST. Following the meeting, Minister Tony Mwaba stated that the goal is to strengthen and maintain dialogue with religious denominations following the signing of the new school agreement between the two partners (the State and religious denominations). “The EPST and the Kimbanguist Church are partners in the field of education. Since the signing of the new school agreement, we have established a framework for consultation. Consultations take place collectively or individually when there is an issue in the sector. This is a rule that applies to all other representatives of religious denominations as well,” he said. The two leaders jointly explored several options regarding the difficulties faced by schools under the management of the Kimbanguist Church. Simon Kimbangu Kiangani, for his part, praised Tony Mwaba’s spirit of dialogue and his determination to find solutions to the problems arising at the EPST. As a reminder, several religious denominations signed the new School Agreement with the government, represented by the Ministry of EPST, one after another in late 2022. This revised text redefines several aspects of the collaboration between the state and religious denominations, which operate numerous schools in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Paulin Ngenda