Press Releases

The peace agreement signed in June 2025 between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), brokered by the Trump administration, initially seemed to offer a glimmer of hope for DRC devastated by three decades of war and unimaginable suffering. However, a new Policy Brief from the Oakland Institute reveals that instead of securing lasting peace for the Congolese people, the deal is poised to benefit corporate and financial interests eager to access the country’s vast mineral wealth.

Taarifa mpya yaonyesha kwa kina Benki ya Dunia ilivyoshindwa kurekebisha makosa yake kufuatia ukatili uliopindukia dhidi ya binadamu uliyosababishwa na mradi wake wa utalii Tanzania.Pamoja na Mpango Kazi wa Utawala (MAP) wenye lengo la kushughulikia madhara yaliyotokana na mradi baada ya mradi huo kufungwa, Benki ya Dunia inaendelea kushindwa kutetea jamii zinazokumbana na mauaji, vitisho vya kufukuzwa kutoka ardhi zao, na zuio la riziki.Askari wa TANAPA waliofadhiliwa na Benki ya Dunia wanaendeleza ugaidi dhidi ya wanavijiji huku serikali ya Ta

A new report details the World Bank’s failure to rectify its wrongs following the devastating human toll of a tourism project it financed in Tanzania.Despite the Management Action Plan (MAP) to address the harms caused after the project’s funding was cancelled, the Bank continues to fail the communities facing extrajudicial killings, eviction threats, and severe livelihood restrictions.Bank-funded paramilitary TANAPA rangers continue to terrorize villagers while the Tanzanian government has broken its promise to allow daily life to resume for ove

Le 20 mai 2025, la Cour constitutionnelle de la RDC délivrait de lourdes peines de travaux forcés pour détournement de fonds à l’encontre de trois acteurs clés du projet de parc agro-industriel de Bukanga Lonzo, dont l’ancien Premier ministre Matata Ponyo.La débâcle du parc de Bukanga Lonzo démontre qu’il est urgent d’en finir avec les éléphants blancs des grands projets agricoles en RDC.Le projet PRODAN, actuellement en cours de mise en place à Ngandajika (province de Lomami) grâce à un prêt de la Banque africaine de développement (BAD, Oakland/Kinshasa - Le 20 mai dernier, l'ancien Premier ministre de la RDC, Matata Ponyo, l'ancien gouverneur de la Banque centrale, Deogratias Mutombo, et l'homme d'affaires sud-africain, Christophe Grobler, ont été reconnus coupables de détournement de fonds liés au projet de parc agro-industriel de Bukanga Lonzo. Matata Ponyo a été condamné à dix ans de travaux forcés, et les deux autres à cinq ans. Le tribunal a également ordonné la confiscation des biens des deux premiers, ainsi que la privation de leurs droits civils et politiques pendant cinq ans.

On May 20, 2025, the DRC Constitutional Court handed down harsh sentences of forced labor for embezzlement to three key players in the Bukanga Lonzo agro-industrial park project, including former Prime Minister Matata Ponyo.The debacle of the Bukanga Lonzo park demonstrates the urgent need to stop large-scale agricultural projects in the DRC.The PRODAN project, currently being established in Ngandajika (Lomami province) through a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB), is doomed to a fate similar to that of the Bukanga Lonzo agro-industria, Oakland/Kinshasa - On May 20, former DRC Prime Minister Matata Ponyo, former Central Bank Governor Deogratias Mutombo, and South African businessman Christophe Grobler, were found guilty of embezzlement related to the Bukanga Lonzo Agro-Industrial Park project. Matata Ponyo was sentenced to 10 years of forced labor, and the other two received five years. The court also ordered the confiscation of the assets of the first two, as well as the deprivation of their civil and political rights for five years.

In two separate incidents, TANAPA rangers have murdered two young men and seized over 1,000 heads of cattle within the expanded Ruaha National Park.The World Bank’s now cancelled REGROW project enabled the expansion of the park and the capacity of the rangers who committed the murders.The latest killings and cattle seizures violate the Tanzanian government’s promises to the Bank that the violence by rangers would end and livelihood activities will continue within the park.Last month, the Bank committed to supervising an action plan to address

A new report exposes the exploitation of the climate crisis by the World Bank to advance a global land grab agenda for corporate interests that will fuel dispossession across the Global South.Under the guise of accessing land for climate action, the Bank intends to open lands for agribusiness, mining, and carbon offsetting schemes – while undermining Indigenous and community land rights.The Bank’s agenda to change land tenure directly contradicts recommendations made by climate experts, who uphold agroecology and the protection of lands from

Inspection Panel’s investigation confirms “critical failure” of the World Bank in planning and supervision of REGROW project, which resulted in “serious harm” to villagers in Tanzania.The project enabled the expansion of the Ruaha National Park, triggering forced evictions, and funded TANAPA rangers who committed human rights abuses in blatant violation of World Bank’s safeguards and operating procedures.The devastation wrought by the Bank’s financing impacts at least 84,000 people who face evictions.

The World Bank’s Board of Directors is currently reviewing a proposed Management Action Plan (MAP) to address the findings of the Inspection Panel investigation into the REGROW tourism project in Southern Tanzania.By enabling the expansion of Ruaha National Park from one to over two million hectares, the REGROW project destroyed the livelihoods of over 84,000 people who face forced evictions and are prohibited from farming and grazing.Paramilitary rangers, funded and equipped by the Bank, are responsible for human rights abuses, including torture

In a major victory for Tanzanian pastoralists and farmers, the World Bank funded REGROW project, which enabled extrajudicial killings, human rights abuses, livelihood restrictions and forced evictions to expand Ruaha National Park (RUNAPA) is cancelled.Amidst an ongoing investigation by the independent Inspection Panel, the Bank first suspended the project in April 2024, citing the Tanzanian government’s noncompliance with safeguards for resettlement and grievance mechanisms.The cancellation comes after nine United Nations Special Rapporteurs exp