He emphasised that full transparency is essential to maintain public trust and prevent potential cover-ups.

Listen to him in the audio below.

On Sunday, 9 February, national security operatives intercepted a large quantity of money, including counterfeit US dollars, Ghanaian cedi notes, and boxes of suspected gold bars.

The illicit items were concealed inside twelve 20-foot shipping containers. Acting on a tip-off, authorities raided a warehouse in Sarpeiman, Ga South Municipality, where the discovery was made.

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The gold and money were hidden under the seats of the vehicle they were travelling in, according to Jean Jacques Purusi, the governor of South Kivu province.

He said the operation to arrest the men had been kept secret after the recent release of another group of Chinese nationals accused of running an illegal gold mine in the area.

Eastern DR Congo has abundant reserves of gold, diamonds, and minerals that are used to make batteries for mobile phones and electric vehicles.

Foreign groups have plundered this mineral wealth since the colonial era, which is one of the main reasons the region has been plagued by instability for the last 30 years.

Militia groups control many of the mines in eastern DR Congo and their leaders become wealthy by selling it to middlemen.

Purusi said some of these dealers in precious metals enjoyed good relations with influential people in the capital, Kinshasa, and this was why the mission to carry out these latest arrests had to be kept quiet.

He said they had been acting on a tip-off and that the gold and money were only found after a meticulous search of the vehicle in the Walungu area not far from the border with Rwanda.

He did not say exactly how much gold had been seized.

Last month, the governor told reporters he was shocked to hear that 17 Chinese nationals, who had been arrested on allegations they had been running an illegal gold mine, had been freed and allowed to return to China.

He said this undermined efforts to clean up DR Congo’s notoriously murky mineral sector.

They owed $10m in taxes and fines to the government, the Reuters news agency quotes him as saying.

The Chinese embassy has not commented on the allegations.

The arrests come as fighting continues to flare in the neighbouring North Kivu province, where a Rwanda-backed rebel group has captured large areas of territory.

Last month, DR Congo said it was suing Apple over the use of “blood minerals”, prompting the tech giant to say it had stopped getting supplies from both DR Congo and neighbouring Rwanda.

Rwanda has denied being a conduit for the export of illegal minerals from DR Congo.

In their lawsuit, lawyers acting for the Congolese government alleged that the minerals taken from conflict areas was then “laundered through international supply chains”.

“These activities have fuelled a cycle of violence and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups and have contributed to forced child labour and environmental devastation,” they said.

Investors have moved cash into the precious metal as Covid-19 cases rise in the United States (US) and more money is pumped into the global economy.

The record high gold price has also been driven by concerns over tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Prices of other precious metals, including silver, have also risen sharply since the start of this year.

The price of gold has increased by more than 30% this year as coronavirus cases continue to rise in America, causing dozens of states to halt or reverse their plans to reopen.

The rapid rise in cases, which has dented hopes of a swift US economic recovery, has also helped to drive up the price of silver by around a third this year.

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Among the reasons for those rises is investors preparing themselves for a possible pick-up in inflation due to the impact of trillions of dollars of stimulus from governments and central banks around the world.

In Washington, the Trump administration negotiators have said that they will work “around the clock” with Democrats as they attempt to strike a deal on more economic relief measures by the end of the week.

According to Bank of America, governments around the world have already announced approximately $20tn worth of stimulus to combat the economic impact of the pandemic.

Some investors see the fallout from the Covid-19 crisis, along with ongoing tensions between the US and China, continuing to push up the price of gold.

Market strategist Margaret Yang says she sees potential for bullion to continue rising in the coming weeks and months: “The mid-to-long-term prospect of gold and other precious metals remains bullish against the backdrop of low interest rate environment and fiscal and monetary stimulus.”

Peter McGuire from XM.com said he sees gold reaching “$2,200 by Christmas” with silver, platinum and palladium also set to see strong gains.