Mr Steve Manuana Kitoko has been a Lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Kongo Central since 10 October 2013. He is registered with the Bar Association of the Democratic Republic of Congo under the number ONA 9835. He has nearly eight (8) years of experience in the practice of Business Law in the DRC;

He is a member of the International Union of Lawyers (“UIA”) since 2018 and participates, in this capacity, in several conferences organised by the UIA in the field of Business Law.

As part of his legal practice, in particular Commercial Company Law, Labour Law and Social Security Law, He regularly participates in the various works organised by the World Bank Group’s “Doing Business” programme, which are sanctioned by the drafting of reports, including those for 2017, 2018 and 2019;

The day after he was sworn in as a Lawyer, Steve Manuana Kitoko joined the Lawyers and Mining and Quarrying Agents Firm “Emery Mukendi Wafwana & Associates, SCP” (“EMW&A, SCP”), with offices in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Matadi in the DRC;

Based in Matadi, a port city in the province of Kongo Central in the DRC, Mr Steve Manuana Kitoko has acquired expertise in various types of jurisdictional disputes, in particular in Maritime and Customs Law, Banking Law as well as in the simplified procedures of debt collection and enforcement provided for by OHADA Law. Thanks to these skills, He represents and/or assists clients both before the administrative authorities and before the courts of the DRC and has, moreover, participated several times in the drafting of briefs in favour of clients in cassation proceedings before the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration of OHADA (“CCJA”);

As part of his legal consultancy, Mr Steve Manuana Kitoko advised, assisted and represented clients operating in the mining sector in the provinces of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba in the DRC from September 2018 to January 2021. In this context, he acquired, in addition to his experience in Maritime, Customs and Banking Law, an expertise in the practice of several other areas of Business Law, in particular Commercial Companies Law, Mining and Hydrocarbons Law, Environmental Law, Labour and Social Security Law, Securities Law, Insurance and Contract Law, Tax Law, etc;

He has provided several legal opinions to clients in the above-mentioned areas of law, which have enabled clients to find appropriate solutions to the Business Law problems and/or issues encountered;

In particular, He participated in several meetings of the Boards of Directors and General Meetings of Members or Shareholders, at which he gave legal opinions on several Business Law issues raised;

He has advised and assisted clients in settling parafiscal disputes, in particular with the DGRAD as well as with various public administrations, arising in particular from the inspection missions with which mining companies are faced;

Maitre Steve Manuana Kitoko is currently a lawyer with ELITE LAW FIRM, a professional civil company, a Law Firm of Lawyers and Mining and Quarrying Agents under Congolese law, with its main office in Kinshasa as well as secondary offices in Lubumbashi, in the province of Haut-Katanga and in Kolwezi, in the province of Lualaba.