Deputy governor of Lualaba province Fifi Masuka Saini, who is currently acting governor, was invited in early March to take part in a visit to the United States with Congolese mines minister Antoinette N'Samba Kalambayi for the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the authorities there. To her surprise, however, her visa application was inexplicably delayed and she was forced to drop out of the trip.

It is not clear whether this administrative hiccup was intentional or accidental but it was,