Kinshasa, July 28th, 2025 (CPA). – The case between the military prosecutor’s office and Major General Smith Gihanga, accused of illegal possession of weapons, was postponed until Monday, August 4th, 2025, after the judges were reconstituted, during a hearing held on Monday in Kinshasa before the High Military Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
‘You have with you two orders from the first president of the High Military Court, the first appointing Lieutenant General Ilunga Dikita as president of the panel and the second appointing General Kasongo Kyolwele and six reporting counsels,’ said Major General Kasongo Kyolwele, former president and appointed reporting counsel, who was reporting to all parties. ‘And so, in accordance with the law, I must summarize the preliminary investigation already conducted in this case for the new president. We will then suspend for a few minutes to allow Lieutenant General Dikita to take over the presidency for the continuation of the proceedings,’ he added. General Kasongo then continued the investigation, specifying that the fund had already been started.
For the first offence of illegal possession of weapons and ammunition of war, the defendant Smith Gihanga had produced a roadmap starting from the Beni, Goma and Lubumbashi axis. He also argued that this roadmap had been drawn up by General Peter Chirimwani, on the instructions of the then Chief of Staff, Army General Celestin Mbala Musense. The latter had summoned him to appear in his defense. However, after examining the roadmap, the High Military Court found that this reference did not appear in the former president’s statement, according to the former president of the court.
In his appearance before the High Military Court, General Mbala Musense stated that he had not authorized any transfer from North Kivu to the former province of Katanga for the benefit of the defendant. Speaking about the prevention of violations of instructions, Major General Kasongo stated that the defendant Smith Gihanga had pointed out that the law could not be applied retroactively, as the written instruction was from 2022, while the acts for which he was being prosecuted by the public prosecutor were from 2020. It should be noted that the defendant, Major General Smith Gihanga Mutara, was referred to the High Military Court on April 4th 2024. After this stage, the case was referred back to Monday August 4th, 2025 for further investigation.