The Court of Cassation in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday sentenced former Justice Minister Constant Mutamba to three years with hard labour for embezzling public funds, Radio Okapi reported.
Mutamba was found guilty of diverting $19 million earmarked for the construction of a prison in Kisangani. In addition to the prison sentence, he has been barred from voting and running for office for five years, permanently excluded from the civil service, and ordered to repay the funds. “The Court of Cassation finds the offense of embezzlement of public funds established against the defendant Constant Mutamba,” presiding judge Jacques Kabasele declared.
Mutamba, 37, resigned in June to face trial, telling President Félix Tshisekedi he wished to “allow justice to take its course.” Despite denying the charges and dismissing them as a “political conspiracy,” the court ruled that he acted with intent to unlawfully benefit Zion Construction.
Escorted from the courtroom by Congolese police, the disgraced former minister faces a dramatic fall from grace barely a year after pledging, upon his appointment in May 2024, to reform the judiciary and fight corruption.
AC/lb/as/APA