Management

The Executive Committee

The Board has appointed an Executive Committee, consisting of six Executive Directors and four members of senior management, and has delegated to this committee the authority to make decisions relating to the day-to-day management of the Company and oversee the execution and implementation of the Company’s strategy and the decisions made at Board level.

The Executive Committee reports directly to the Board and is accountable to the Board. The Executive Committee makes recommendations to the Board regarding the business objectives and the strategic direction of the Company. The Executive Committee ensures coordination between senior managers manages the Company’s operations, financials, administration, health and safety as well as environmental performance and is responsible for the assessment and review of risk.  

Strategic Committee

The Strategic Committee was established in January 2011. The Committee is responsible for formulating annual and long-term budgets and production forecasts and monitoring the Group’s performance against these targets. It reports directly to the Executive Committee and is supported by the Technical Committee.

Technical Committee

The Technical Committee was established in January 2011 to provide support for the Strategic Committee by providing a technical analysis of the Company’s budgets, forecasts and investment plans. The Committee reports directly to the Executive Committee.

Membership for the Technical Committee will be drawn from the Company’s technical services divisions, including geology, engineering, mining and processing.

Princesse Odette Maniema Krempin is the Executive Chairwoman and a director of Somima SPRL.

Born in DR Congo in a family with five children, educated in France, she developed a passion for fashion. She studied fashion in Paris and Marrakesh and at the age of 20 she opened her 1^st fashion house in Niger, then later in Cameroon, Namibia and DR Congo.

 In 2006, she announced her retirement from the fashion scene and sold all her fashion interests in the same year, with the intention to focus more on projects to help the development of DR Congo. She supports different social projects in DR Congo, including the fight against the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents in mines and quarries in DR Congo.

In September 2011, Princesse Odette Maniema Krempin was appointed the new Somima Chairwoman.

She speaks French, English, German, Lingala and Swahili.

Mr. Mbakama assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer on 1^st November 2010. 

Mr. Mbakama has over 10 years combined experience in investor relations, corporate development, corporate securities, regulatory monitoring and compliance, financial analysis and forecasting, and project management. Before joining Somima, he also served as Advisor to the Minister of Transport and Communications of DR Congo, in charge of planning, monitoring and execution of a financing project. He participated in business training courses in the US, Europe and Africa. 

Mr. Mbakama speaks French, English, Kikongo, Lingala  and Swahili.

Mr. Chris Maddalena Joined Somima in July 2012 as Senior Director of Quality

Before joining Somima Mr. Chris Maddalena has served as Senior Director of Quality at Research In Motion Limited since from March 1, 2008 until June 2012. Responsible for implementation of Global Quality Systems for the BlackBerry Hand set portfolio his duties extended to Supply Chain Supplier Quality. He has performed Quality Management Systems assessment in the field of Telecommunication, Electrical, Mechanical, Chemical and Materials industries covering industries standards and requirements such as; ISO 9001:2008, TS16949:2009 (automotive), AS9000 (aerospace), TL 9000 (telecommunication), SA8000 (Social Responsibility), OECD guideline implementation of conflict minerals. He also served as Vice President Quality for C-MAC Electronics. Fluent in English, French and Italian he has studied in Industrial Engineering and Electromechanical and has performed Quality Audits for International companies such as RIM, NORTEL, RIO TINTO, GM, GE, SIEMENS, and FLextronics. Chris Maddalena is born December 7, 1963 in Galluccio Italy.

Appointed Chief  Financial Officer in September 2010. Mr Banza Ndala is a chartered management accountant with extensive financial management experience in large corporates .

With over 25 years of professional experience, his previous positions include head of Budget and management control at the Gecamines mining company, finance management controller at the SKYCONGO airline, financial and tax consultant for FRIDGE Moero SPRL, as well as financial advisor to the cabinet of the Ministry of Justice in DR Congo.

Mr. Banza Ndala speaks French, English and  Lingala.

Mrs. Katalin Wimhoff joined Somima in July 2012 as Customer-Relationship-Manager. Before, she worked 13 years for Commerce Bank, one of the biggest German banks and was Head of Events and Corporate Sponsorships. She has much experience in dealing with customers and in implementing internal processes. Fluent in German, English and Hungarian she studied at Academy for Marketing and Communication in Frankfurt am Main. Katalin Wimhoff born July 08, 1973 in Suhl, Germany.

Prof. Leonard Mbuangi Bitiba is a qualified mining engineer with over 20 years experience in precious gems and industrial mineral operations, both underground and on the surface. He previously served as an underground mining and quarrying engineer for Sominki and was appointed senior representative of the Ministry of Reconstruction for diamond operations in Kasai under the CISSCAM Committee. He also worked us chief director of operations at the GEMICO mining company (General Mines in Congo).

He speaks French, English and Lingala and Swahili.

Mr. Kadima held various positions before joining Somima in 2010 Mr Kadima brings 27 years of international mining experience to Somima’s senior management team.

As a senior mining executive, he has a long track record as an instrumental figure in mining production in DR Congo. He previously worked for major mining companies at operations in Katanga, South Africa and Namibia.

Mr. Kadima speaks French, English and Lingala.

Mr. Mirombo Mundubunga has worked in the mining industry for over 10 years and has 5 years of experience in financial management, entrepreneurial ventures and balance sheet accounting.

He was a personal adviser to the Minister of Mining in Maniema before joining Somima.

Mr. Mirombo Mundubunga Speaks French, English and Swahili.

Mr Ishamalangenge is a lawyer. He studied economic and mining law at the Protestant University of Congo. He has participated in several contract negotiations involving gold, diamond and mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mr Ishamalangenge speaks French, English, Tshiluba and Lingala

Mr.Shammah studied Communication and Marketing at University of Kinshasa.
With over 10 years experience of company office management and administration in the junior resource industry, he assumed the role of Corporate Secretary at Somima.

Before joining Somima, he worked at Byblos Bank and was responsible for transfers and operations. Previously, he also had a role at a Congolaise bank as head of marketing and communication.

Mr.Shammah speaks French, English, Tshiluba and Lingala.

Mr. Kambale is a lawyer, with a degree in mining law from the Protestant University of Lubumbashi . He is responsible for internal legal affairs at Somima.

Mr. Kabasele´s responsibilty is to look after the Company´s stock and to provide daily execution of:


- ensuring the arrival of minerals from trading centers

- monitoring and controling daily movements in the repository
- listing the days for unloading and loading of minerals

- checking the actual weight of minerals received.

Mr. Musaka Selemani, having been involved in the purchase and sale of Cassiterite for over 10 years, has the following responsibilities at Somima:

- Coordinating all suppliers in the various trading centers
- monitoring the actual weight of all packages received as well as the state of packaging
- sends the required reports to the Representative and Managing Director.

Mr. Kakoko has worked in the mining industry for over 15 years. At Somima he is responsible for monitoring the manual processing and the treatment unit:


- providing the samples with high content of minerals
packaging the correct minerals
- weighing all packages before delivery to the transport service for shipping
- sending the required reports to the Representative and Managing Director.