The Congolese government is certainly weak - the book goes into significant detail on that point, especially as it relates to contractual relationships between the DRC and China and multinational mining firms like Glencore.

The book did not focus on militias or other cartel-like organizations. I think they do exist in the Congo, but they may not be heavily involved in cobalt laundering (as the main middlemen between artisanal miners and end users like Apple are the Chinese or multinational miners).