DRC: Annulment of a decree by former Prime Minister Matata sought before the Council of State

Kinshasa, May 13^th, 2026 (CPA).– The annulment of a 2016 decree signed by Augustin Matata Ponyo, then Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, revoking civil servants, was requested on Wednesday before the Council of State during a hearing held in Kinshasa, the country’s capital. “We are before your august bench to support the application for annulment duly filed since 2019. We are requesting the annulment of the decree signed by Prime Minister Matata, who stated that the agents were deserters, whereas they had been working and had submitted an administrative appeal which was unfortunately dismissed,” argued the lawyers representing the dismissed civil servants. Among the applicants are two directors, two division heads and two service chiefs, according to counsel for the claimants, who indicated that, based on their rank and the law, only the supervising minister was empowered to take such a decision. “Moreover, the principle of adversarial proceedings was not respected, as nowhere were the concerned persons heard. We therefore note these violations and request the annulment of this decree,” they insisted. The Republic, for its part, was unable to present its arguments, stating that it had only been notified on the day of the hearing and that the case files had not been communicated to it. For its part, the court recalled that the procedure, being essentially written, still required the defendant to submit its conclusions within the legal deadline. The public prosecutor noted an objection of inadmissibility, stressing that the administrative appeals had been filed on June 1^st and that the Prime Minister had three months to respond, until September 2016. “However, having failed to respond, the applicants had in turn three months to bring the matter before the court, namely by December 2016. Unfortunately, the application was only filed in June 2019,” the prosecution argued. It further added that the applicants acted without legal counsel, which constitutes another ground of inadmissibility, as they signed the application themselves. The prosecution therefore requested that the case be declared inadmissible and that the applicants be ordered to pay procedural costs. After hearing all parties, the court adjourned the case, announcing that its decision would be delivered within the legal timeframe.