Early career

Lumbi was one of the founders of the Peasant Solidarity (Solidarité Paysanne) movement, which gained legal status in 1985.
The initial purpose was to help the rural masses express their problems, resist forced cultivation of cotton, facilitate sales of their crops and help them find new business opportunities. After establishing a National Council of NGOs, the movement began making political demands, calling for a multiparty system at a conference in Kinshasa

Kinshasa

Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....

 in 1991.
Lumbi joined the government of Etienne Tshisekedi

Étienne Tshisekedi

Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba is a lawyer, politician, and leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress which is a political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was Prime Minister of the country on three brief occasions: in 1991, 1992–1993, and 1997...

 in August 1992 and April 1993, where he was Minister of Foreign Affairs. He joined the government of Kengo wa Dondo

Kengo Wa Dondo

Léon Kengo Wa Dondo served as the "first state commissioner" several times under Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaïre. He was one of the most powerful figures in the regime and was a strong advocate of economic globalization and free-market economics...

 in July 1994 as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications.
He was national security advisor to President Joseph Kabila

Joseph Kabila

Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila...

 from January 2001.

Lumbi was Minister of Foreign Affairs during the transition.
He was the head of the Mouvement Social pour le Renouveau (MSR) party, formed for the 2006 elections.
The MSR had its roots in the "Solidarité Paysanne" movement of the 1980s and 1990s.

Infrastructure and Public Works Ministry

Lumbi was appointed Minister of State for Infrastructure, Public Works and Reconstruction on 5 February 2007, in the first cabinet

Antoine Gizenga cabinet

The Anotoine Gizenga cabinet consisted of the Ministers of State, Ministers and Deputy Ministers appointed by Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Gizenga was Prime Minister from 30 December 2006 to 10 October 2008....

 of Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga

Antoine Gizenga

Antoine Gizenga is a Congolese politician who was Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from December 30, 2006 to 10 October 2008...

.
In the second cabinet, announced on 25 November 2007, he retained the ministry.
He was confirmed in the ministry on 26 October 2008, in the first cabinet

Adolphe Muzito cabinet

The Adolphe Muzito cabinet consists of the Ministers of State, Ministers and Vice-Ministers that form the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo under Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito, who took office on 10 October 2008.-First Cabinet:...

 of Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito

Adolphe Muzito

Adolphe Muzito is a Congolese politician who has been the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2008. Muzito, a member of the Unified Lumumbist Party , was previously Minister of the Budget under Prime Minister Antoine Gizenga from 2007 to 2008.Muzito, who is from Gungu,...

.

In the summer of 2007 Lumbi paid a visit to Beijing, laying the grounds for signature of an important economic agreement with China.
The deal provides for 6.3 billion euros of investment, with 4.2 billion for public infrastructure development and 2.1 for mining works.
Project management would be the responsibility of a joint enterprise, Sicomines, in which the DRC holds 32% of shares.
The work would be assigned to the China Railway Engineering Corporation

China Railway Engineering Corporation

The China Railway Engineering Corporation , or simply CREC, is a large-scale state-owned enterprise in the People's Republic of China....

 (CREC) and Synohydro Corporation, two giant Chinese corporations. It would include construction of roads and railways, hospitals, universities and housing.
In return, the Chinese were promised access to copper, cobalt and gold supplies. The barter arrangement reduced the possibiility of corruption, an important consideration in the DRC.

In 2009 the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

 expressed concern about the way the projects were being managed. A commission set up by the DRC National Assembly found that over US$23 million in signature bonuses had gone missing, apparently siphoned off by local government officials and officers of the state-owned Gecamnines. Pierre Lumbi refused the commission's request for an interview. There were also complaints that the Chinese were failing to use local labor as agreed, and were using cheap imported materials for projects not covered by the project. Some parts of the project had stalled.

Later career

In the second Muzito cabinet, announced in February 2010, he was replaced as Minister for Infastructure by Fridolin Kasweshi Musoka.
He was named special advisor to President Joseph Kabila

Joseph Kabila

Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila...

on matters of security.
Lumbi's Mouvement social pour le renouveau was preparing to compete in the upcoming elections as a member of Kabila's ruling coalition.