Kinshasa, June 17th, 2025 (CPA).- A televised trial has been demanded in the indictment of the Minister in charge of Justice for alleged embezzlement of funds allocated for the construction of a prison in Kisangani, in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Facebook page of a lawyer consulted on Tuesday by CPA. ‘For the innocent claimed by the Minister Constant Mutamba, or his guilt by the Attorney General, the people demand a public trial broadcast live on radio and television so that everything can be assessed at its true value,’ it is read on the Facebook page of Jean-Marie Kabengela, a lawyer at the Kinshasa-Matete Bar.
The case of alleged embezzlement of funds for the construction of the central prison in Kisangani, in the province of Tshopo (in the north-east of the country), has continued to divide opinion. Some argue that the Minister of State in charge of Justice and Keeper of the Seals has been the victim of a set-up, while others believe that this member of the government did indeed intend to embezzle part of the funds intended to compensate the victims of the six-day war.
For this reason, according to Jean-Marie Kabengela, the population is demanding not only a fair trial, but above all a public trial broadcast live on radio and television through the media, in order to avoid any manipulation of justice. According to Mr Jean-Marie Kabengela, it is the National Financial Intelligence Unit (Cenaref) that has revealed this case after discovering a suspicious transfer of funds to the account of a company created within two days.
This money, which was transferred by the Fund for the Reparation and Compensation of Victims of Uganda’s Illegal Activities in the DRC (FRIVAO), should serve for the construction of a prison in Kisangani, which is not planned.
Cenaref was therefore obliged to refer the matter to the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Cassation, which initially requested that the Minister in charge of Justice be placed under investigation. After establishing the facts of the embezzlement, the Attorney General at this high court had returned to the National Assembly to request, this time, an indictment to prosecute the Minister of State in charge of Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Constant Mutamba, has concluded Mr Jean-Marie Kabengela.