This interview was originally held in French. The French version can be found here. Cet entretien est également disponible en  

Investments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s extractive sector are surging, with record levels of funding flowing to mineral exploration and production. Yet the country’s mining activities remain extremely fraught. In June 2026, new scientific studies helped confirm what communities near cobalt and copper mining sites have been reporting for years: heavily polluted air, contaminated water, and worsening health — including heightened risks of lung disease, skin conditions, and neurological damage. 

Africa Mining Watch (AFREWATCH) and EarthRights have been leaders in investigating and addressing the impacts of mining in the DRC and elsewhere. In 2023, they jointly established a 3-year program, the Congo River School, which trained community leaders and advocates in the DRC to document abuses in the extractive sector and press for change.  

Simplice Bambe is a Congolese journalist, advocate, and alumnus of the Congo River School. His journalism and advocacy have shed light on the devastating impacts of extractive activities, including the degradation of the Mulungwishi and Tshimbudji rivers. Bambe spoke recently with the Stimson Center’s Claire Doyle about his work spotlighting communities’ experiences and seeking accountability for mining impacts in the region.  

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. It is part one of a two-part interview series with alumni from the Congo River School.  

Doyle: What first compelled you to examine the negative impacts of mining in the DRC?  

Bambe: What motivated me to raise awareness was the suffering of community members that I witnessed over the course of my investigations as a journalist in the communities surrounding the large copper and cobalt mining projects in southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The province of Lualaba is considered the world capital of cobalt. But there are abuses linked to its exploitation — and communities surrounding the large mining projects are suffering.  

Before the mining companies arrived, people lived freely and fully in their natural environment. They had rivers. They had land for farming activities. But when the large mining projects arrived, life changed. We believed that mining would benefit the communities surrounding the mining projects, but instead, we saw living conditions deteriorate.  

Not everyone here has attended school or university. Despite existing laws, there are people who do not know their rights. They had to be taught their rights, and how to claim their rights, in order to remain vigilant in the face of companies that continue to pollute our environment. 

Doyle: What are these communities now experiencing? What health risks and other challenges do they face? 

Bambe: The life of community members [around large mining projects] is deteriorating progressively. There is the disappearance of the Mulungwishi River, for instance, which we investigated and brought to light, so that the authorities and NGOs would finally be interested in the issue. The degradation of the river caused many problems because two communities depended on it for their agricultural activities and for selling vegetables.  

Moreover, land is being degraded as mining projects expand. For example, the Kamoa copper mine located near Muvunda is growing, and neighboring populations are being forced to give way to the mining project. But under what conditions should populations be relocated? Sometimes, these relocations are carried out forcibly. [Consequently], some people are now unable to rebuild their lives and access their fields, and communities are losing their means of subsistence. 

Regarding health, we are no longer talking about risks. The consequences are now visible to the naked eye. Populations around the mining companies are using contaminated water and breathing air polluted by toxic substances. People report nosebleeds, as well as illnesses that damage the skin. Women and adolescents increasingly share accounts of small bumps appearing on their intimate parts.  

All of this links to the quality of the water. And solutions still aren’t coming. So today, we’re not talking about risks, but about real harm that people in our society are experiencing.  

Doyle: How has the Congo River School helped you to pursue your advocacy work? 

Bambe: As a journalist, I knew a bit about mining exploitation. But it is through the Congo River School that I honed my understanding of the mining issue.  

In the first convening [of the program], we were taught how to document the effects of pollution, including that of rivers, and how to take samples. We used to think you had to belong to a large organization or an NGO and have sophisticated equipment to do documentation work. But when I arrived at the Congo River School, I was told that it wasn’t necessary to have sophisticated equipment to take samples. Instead, with our plastic bottles and other inexpensive items, we can document the violations and abuses of the mining companies. 

During the second year [of the program], we talked about mobilization and how to advocate for an issue. I was told who I should alert when there are cases of pollution. So today, if there’s a case of pollution, I know where to start. 

Doyle: Your journalism and advocacy work have helped expose the mining-related disappearance and pollution of water resources, along with health and livelihood impacts on communities. What was the reaction to your efforts in the region? 

Bambe: Negative and positive. Polluters don’t want stories to come out into the open. Sites where companies discharge mine waste can be quite hard to access, and it requires courage to go there. But even in the places mining officials are unable to access, we have the courage to do this work: to get there, gather evidence, and bring it back.  

As for members of civil society, they’re surprised by our work. In their eyes, it is normally the state that should be pressuring companies to comply with environmental standards. Today, whenever we run into people from civil society, they always ask: “Do you have any more news for us? Have you discovered anything else?” 

[There are also] state officials who encourage us. In 2024, we carried out advocacy efforts in Kinshasa. We went to the Minister of Mines [and] we laid out for him the problems affecting the [mining] communities in Haut Katanga et du Lualaba. The Minister himself said he knew nothing about the conditions. He left Kinshasa, came to Kolwezi, and went into villages to see the facts for himself. He confirmed that what we had said was true. He even gave the order to relocate certain communities who were especially exposed to pollution.  

However, there are [other government members] who think that we’re exposing them for not doing their jobs. 

Doyle: What challenges do you continue to face? 

Bambe: The challenges are numerous. There’s the security aspect. It’s not easy to take action against the companies, and we’ve become suspect. Even as I’m speaking with you, there are people who took action who are now in prison — including some of our friends from the Congo River School. 

[There are also challenges] related to documenting mining’s negative impacts. When I have information I want to publish, I want to go into the field. I want to see the reality. I want to witness what I’m describing in my articles. But some sites are hard to access. [And] we don’t always have the means to double down on [our] work. 

Doyle: What key insights should the international community of practitioners, researchers, and policymakers take away from these experiences? 

Bambe: Mineral exploitation in the DRC takes place without regard for human lives and the country’s laws. There are companies that violate the rights of communities in complicity with members of government.  

Today, when people talk about the DRC, they talk about Ebola, or about the war that has been going on for more than 30 years. [But] what [people] must understand is that copper and cobalt mining also continues to cause deaths in the southeastern region of our country. In some mining concessions, there are deaths every day. Yet these deaths are, unfortunately, kept silent by those who should be speaking out, because through their complicity, they benefit from the abuses of the exploitation. 

Mining is already impacting the Congo Basin’s ecosystems. As a result of copper and cobalt mining, forests are being degraded. Some rivers no longer have fish. Mining waste is dumped into waterways that feed into the Congo River. And the authorities or members of our governments do not expose the whole truth. Unfortunately, this is the context in which we are living.