the first anti-corruption trial ends in an acquittal for lack of evidence

Sentenced in 2020 to 20 years of forced labor for embezzlement of nearly 50 million dollars, Vital Kamerhe, former chief of staff of the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Félix Tshisekedi, was acquitted by the Court of Appeal of Kinshasa, for lack of sufficient evidence. This affair had been presented as a symbol of the fight against corruption.

At the heart of this affair is the construction of a series of infrastructures supposed to relieve road traffic in the Congolese capital. 46 million dollars were spent without any work coming out of the ground. Several people, including a banker, the head of a company and the president’s chief of staff have been implicated in the investigation into the financing of the program known as des “hundred days” of the Congolese head of state Félix Tshisekedi. This case was supposed to illustrate the fight against corruption, a theme so dear to the president who had pledged to eradicate this scourge that is eating away at the DRC. Only here, the first trial of its kind begins with a conviction and ends with an acquittal for lack of evidence.

Since the beginning of the case, supporters of Vital Kamerhe denounce a settling of scores. This pillar of Congolese political life was a key man in the regime of former President Joseph Kabila before going to the opposition, keeping the presidential race in sight. But in 2018, Vital Kamerhe withdrew in favor of Félix Tshisekedi pending the next election scheduled for the end of 2023. An agreement to this effect was concluded between the two men. But the opening of a trial turned things upside down because Congolese law does not allow those convicted of corruption to run for president.

Today, the situation has changed again with the acquittal. If we do not yet know what the political consequences will be, we still do not know how public money has evaporated and who is responsible for it. The fight against corruption can wait.