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After 30 years of dictatorship and two short presidencies, each interrupted by war, the DRC’s first democratic elections were held in 2006, and Joseph Kabila was elected president. The DRC remains a country engaged in post-conflict reconstruction. While Kabila has identified five priority sectors – water and electricity, health, education, infrastructure, and employment –there has not been much change in any of these sectors over the past year. Proposed constitutional reforms have not progressed to any significant degree over the same period, and the government has been unable to implement its 2007-2011 agenda. National actors are reportedly preoccupied by the government’s lack of transparency, specifically how it awards mining concessions and nominates the executive staff of public enterprises. Nevertheless, certain advances have been made to improve the state’s efficiency and coordination capacities, notably through the reduction of government staff from 60 to 45 ministers and vice-ministers.
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