Kinshasa: five years’ imprisonment requested for a defendant charged with unlawful occupation

Kinshasa, July 21^st, 2026 (CPA). – The public prosecutor has sought on Tuesday, a five-year prison sentence against a defendant for extending her house onto the right of way of her rear neighbour, during a hearing at the N’djili Magistrates’ Court in eastern Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). “May this court please to sentence the defendant, Anny Mputu, to five years’ imprisonment and 20 days’ detention for having built and extended her house onto her rear neighbour’s right of way, thereby depriving her rear neighbour of their right of way in the municipality of N’djili, at No. 39 Kimowa Avenue, District 8. You will order the demolition of that part of the house to restore the right of way to her neighbour at the rear,” has requested the public prosecutor. For her part, Ms Lisette Mabo, the lawyer representing Youssouf Masunga, the victim of this situation, has sought damages for the harm suffered. “We are demanding ten thousand US dollars in compensation for the harm suffered; the right of way is a legally guaranteed right for an enclosed plot of land, Ms Mputu had taken it upon herself to build and block the right of way; our client can no longer access his plot at the rear; all construction work has been halted; we can no longer access our plot,” she has emphasised. The court has reserved judgement on the case and will deliver its ruling within the time limit laid down by law.