Kinshasa, July 23rd, 2026 (CPA). – A five-year prison sentence has been requested on Thursday by the public prosecutor against a defendant charged with forgery and use of forged documents, during a hearing at the N’djili Magistrates’ Court in eastern Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“May the court sentence the defendant, Veronique Bokele, to five years’ imprisonment. It was she who has fabricated the family record herself, in the absence of the other heirs. You shall order her to pay all legal costs,” has declared the public prosecutor. For her part, Ms Nathalie Bokele, lawyer for the civil parties Mukuaya Musamba and Koko Mukayanzo, has argued that her clients had never been involved in the drafting of this family minutes. “This lady had drawn up these minutes on her own, without inviting the other heirs. This is what renders the document invalid; there had been no family meeting on that date. We are suffering prejudice; we are claiming $10,000 in compensation and demand that the plot of land she had sold be returned to the heirs,” she has added. In response, Mr Jeannot Lumbaku, lawyer for the defendant Bokele, has pointed out that the document is not forged and that all the heirs were represented.
“This was the principle of representation in matters of succession; the representatives were there to manage the affairs of the other heirs, which explains the regularity of this family council meeting. I ask the court to commission an expert report to demonstrate the material forgery contained in this document,” Mr Lumbaku has insisted. The court has dismissed the objection raised by the defendant, before taking the case under advisement. “The court decides to dismiss the objection raised by the defendant regarding the appointment of an expert. It considers itself sufficiently informed, before taking the case under advisement to deliver its judgement within the statutory time limit.” CPA/