Kinshasa on K Street

US lobbying: DRC’s Fayulu and Katumbi campaign in rematch against Tshisekedi

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This article is part of the dossier:

Africa’s Top 10 lobbying operations in Washington, D.C

By Julian Pecquet

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Posted on February 3, 2022 11:04

US President Joe Biden talks with DRC’s President Felix Tshiseked
US President Joe Biden talks with DRC’s President Felix Tshisekedi in Rome, Italy October 30, 2021. Erin Schaff/Pool via REUTERS

Call it déjà vu all over again. DRC’s last presidential election had sparked a pricey three-way lobbying battle between Félix Tshisekedi, Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi as each candidate sought to get the US in his corner. Now all three of them are back at it as next year’s rematch shapes up to be another lucrative opportunity for the influence industry.

Fayulu is the most recent candidate to re-enter the US arena. A lobby filing made public this week reveals that the leader of the opposition party Engagement for Citizenship and Development hired a brand-new Washington advocacy firm, Future Pact LLC, for outreach to US policymakers, think tanks and media.

The $17,500-per-month contract came into effect on 21 January and will last through to December 2023, after the election. The firm is led by Bruce Fryer, who was previously with Sanitas International. Joining Fryer on the contract is Jeffrey Smith of the pro-democracy nonprofit Vanguard Africa, which is managing an ‘independent free and fair campaign’ on behalf of Fayulu and organising disparate groups advocating for transparent elections in the DRC for $7,000 per month. (Smith separately represents opposition leaders Bobi Wine of Uganda and Tundu Lissu of Tanzania).

Fayulu is engaging

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