Congolese Prime MinisterJudith Suminwa Tuluka promised to work toward peace and development in her first speech on state television.

It follows her appointment by the central African nation's president, Felix Tshisekedi, who was reelected late last year.

Tuluka, a former planning minister, steps into her new role at a time of worsening violence in Congo's volatile east, which borders Rwanda.

Tuluka, 56, comes from Central Congo, the same province as the country's first democratically elected president, Joseph Kasavubu, who served between 1960 and 1965.

She has a master's degree in applied economics as well as a diploma for additional studies in human resource management in developing countries.

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Congo's new PM worked in the banking sector before joining the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where she was coordinator of the 'Peacebuilding and Strengthening Democracy' pillar.

Tuluka has been described as a close........

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