Eric Mwamba

Eric Mwamba is a Congolese investigative journalist and founder of Grand Journal, a weekly investigative paper in Kinshasa.

On August 15, 2019, following Eric Mwamba's revelations on the misappropriation of public funds intended for victims of rebel groups in Minembwe, Eastern of DRC, the Minister of National Solidarity, Bernard Biando, was arrested. That was the first in DRC that a minister was arrested following the revelations of a journalist.

Mwamba won international acclaim for, among other stories, his reports on the Ivorian cocoa mafia, the international trade in young African football players, and his deep-digging exposure of the system of corruption that reigns in the DRC.

Mwamba's work has been published in the DRC, Belgium, Germany, South Africa and the United States. He visited the Netherlands in 2013 to research a subject that is a tad unusual for him: the old Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas and his helper 'Black Pete'.

Basic information

Name

Eric Mwamba

Country

Congo - Kinshasa

City

Kinshasa

Twitter

@edmjv

Links

Grand Journal

Supported projects

Clean cars, dirty batteries

Environment
Industry

LUBUMBASHI, KOLWEZI, BERLIN - To make the batteries for electric cars, manufacturers need cobalt. This documentary shows the efforts of the European car industry to ensure proper supply chains, and documents in the cobalt mines in the Congo that this is impossible.

Last resource

Healthcare

AFRICA - Close to two thirds of women in poor areas in Africa resort to selling sex to be able to feed themselves and their families. That is the result of a random interviewing exercise conducted in seven African countries in areas where the average income is on or below the poverty line of US$ 1,90 a day.

Getting Rich in Poverty-stricken Congo

Corruption
Equality
Politics

KINSHASA - Congolese-Australian journalist Eric Mwamba went on a search to find the secret behind the riches of the Congolese elite. Many of his witnesses prefered staying anonymous for fear of their lives – which looks like a kind of Congolese omerta. John Vandaele selected Mwamba’s strongest observations and added some personal touches.