Tshopo: Deposed governor brought to trial for embezzlement

‎Kinshasa, November 5^th, 2025 (CPA) – The deposed governor of Tshopo province in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Paulin Lendongolia, was brought to trial on Wednesday for embezzlement of public funds, according to a letter sent to the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation.‘To commit his crime, the deposed governor took it upon himself to enter into a private contract with Impact Business Company, which he himself is suspected of running and which, moreover, has no financial capacity or technical expertise in this area; worse still, nothing concrete has been done on the ground,’ according to the correspondence signed by the president of the provincial assembly, Mateus Kanga. According to the source, the deposed governor concluded a scandalous contract worth approximately USD 700,000 to rehabilitate only 11 kilometers of this road of national interest, at a cost of USD 63,500 per kilometer of dirt road out of the USD 1,000,000 allocated to the province by the central government for the rehabilitation and modernization of the Lumumba stadium.  The Tshopo Provincial Assembly also accused him of overcharging for a private contract worth USD 736,000, again with his famous company Impact Business Company, for the purchase of official vehicles which, according to the source, were second-hand and were given to the members of the assembly’s bureau.  « After investigations by the parliamentary commission, it became clear that the value of these vehicles is much lower than the aforementioned amount, which indicates overcharging. The same deposed governor embezzled more than USD 100,000 from the province’s share of the fees collected by the Congolese Control Office (OCC), » the source wrote. The deposed governor is also accused of embezzling funds allocated to the province as part of the conventional tax for the reconstruction of urban roads, as well as ten new Sino truck vehicles and five graders intended for use by the province in the road infrastructure sector. The governor of Tshopo, Paulin Lendongolia, was dismissed on Monday, October 27^th following a majority vote in the provincial assembly. Of the 29 members of the assembly, 18 were present and voted unanimously for his dismissal. ACP/