Who is Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the United States: Marie-Hélène Mathey Boo Lowumba

By George Ekoko
Marie-Hélène Mathey Boo Lowumba is a career diplomat in the Republic of Congo, born November 30, 1943 in Kinshasa. Since January 11, 2022, she was appointed by President Felix Tshisekedi Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the United States of America.
The ambassador is a Doctor of Law, specialized in international law, she studied at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Belgium. This articulates the ambassador’s voice for international human rights issues in favor of Congo since the overall human rights situation in the DRC is marked by a very worrying history of previous regimes. Arbitrary executions, rape, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and looting are committed by state agents and armed groups. President Tshisekedi is making efforts in this area. Marie-Hélène Mathey Boo returned in DRC as an international servant. She began her career as a diplomat by joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where she worked as legal advisor to the Minister. It participated in the drafting and negotiation of several bilateral agreements (- cooperation agreements, international agreements on the law of the sea, etc.) and will play a leading role in the negotiations of Lomé I Agreement (industrial cooperation and sugar protocol).

From 1973 to 1975, she was legal and diplomatic attaché at the Presidency of the People’s Republic of Congo Brazzaville and worked as Professor of Public International Law and diplomatic functions at the National School of Administration in Brazzaville before being appointed Economic Advisor at the Embassy of the DRC to the Benelux. and the EEC with jurisdiction over the Scandinavian countries. This experience will help the ambassador to support President Tshisekedi to succeed in rallying the international community behind the cause of the DRC especially with the mandate of the UN force (MONUSCO). Like previous peacekeeping operations, the UN peacekeeping operation in the DRC is plagued by two issues: that of mandate and that of means. The mandate is never adapted to the circumstances, since they vary over time, and it therefore requires constant review. Moreover, human and material resources are almost always insufficient. However, these two recurring problems conceal another, which is only partly related to them. Even in a Chapter VII mandate configuration, authorizing the use of force, UN missions have a weak enforcement capacity because such a peace mission is a military force without being an army. The ambiguity comes from the fact that it has all the appearances of it, which causes confusion between a peace force and a peace army.
In 1977, Marie-Hélène Mathey Boo Lowumba became an international civil servant by joining the ACP-EEC Centre for the Development of Industry (CDI) in Brussels, where as Head of Administration she actively participated in the preparation of the first industrial forum for Africa. (Douala 1978). In the same way, President Felix Thisekedi initiated the round of appeal to investors since his accession to the supreme office, so that these foreign businessmen can come and invest in Congo. The ambassador’s involvement is also to convince investors in order to significantly reduce the unemployment rate that plagues the predominantly young Congolese population through job creation. She works in America for the establishment of various companies that can boost the Congolese economy.
From 1982 to 1991, she worked for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), first as a legal economist in Gabon where she set up the Multi-sectoral Sub-Regional Institute for Applied Technology, Planning and Project Evaluation, then as Director in Nigeria. . This experience places Marie-Hélène Mathey Boo Lowumba in the right place to work with international institutions to finally fight the tolerated, institutionalized, democratized corruption that President Tshisekedi is fighting in the country. This will take care of the country’s image for investments coming from the Americans under the diplomacy of Marie-Hélène Mathey Boo Lowumba. Corruption is clearly the first obstacle to the development of the DRC. The country would lose up to USD 20 billion a year to corruption. It is a scourge that blocks and delays the emergence of the DRC.
Boo joined WHO as Chief of External Relations responsible for coordination with all health development partners in Africa and then as Head of the Inter-Agency Relations and Mobilization/Management of Extra-budgetary Resources Unit. From 1999 to 2001, she held the position of Special Adviser on Africa in charge of resource mobilization to the European Union in Brussels. For 9 years, his time at WHO will be noticed not only for his commitment to health issues on the African continent, but also for his sense of negotiation and his management qualities.
In April 2001, she was recalled by the Kinshasa government and held until November 2002 the post of Minister of Industry, Trade, Small and Medium Enterprises and Handicrafts.
Marie-Hélène Mathey Boo Lowumba takes the post of Ambassador to America while DR Congo is under Rwandan aggression and international conspiracy by the support of the countries of the region to the armed groups in the east of the country. By implementing President Felix Tshisekedi’s vision in diplomacy with the White House, Marie-Hélène Mathey Boo Lowumba knows that state support for armed groups is unacceptable and we reiterate our concerns about the Rwanda’s support for the M23. She is vocal in condemning Rwanda for its genocidal action in Congo by demonstrating the Rwandan government’s involvement in the war in Congo.
Marie-Hélène Mathey Boo Lowumba’s diplomacy focuses on issues of peace, stability and development between Congo and the United States. The ambassador endorses President Tshisekedi’s vision that despite these positive developments, the country still faces structural problems at the sectoral level, high levels of poverty, high unemployment especially among young people and inadequate access to basic social services for the majority of the population, especially in rural areas.
On the sidelines of the celebration of the63rd anniversary of Congo’s independence on June 30, 2023, diplomat and Ambassador Marie-Hélène Mathey Boo Lowumba will participate in the march organized in Washington by the Congolese community to denounce war and injustice against the people. It will be an opportunity for this leader to speak with his people and show the official position of the Congolese government in relation to the facts related to international politics and the role of the United States in the Congolese crisis.