Kinshasa, August 4th, 2025 (CPA).- The former justice minister, Constant Mutamba, accused of misappropriating public funds, spoke on Monday of a ‘planned plot’, in response to a question from the Court of Cassation, during the fourth hearing of his trial in Kinshasa, the main city of the Democratic Republic of Congo. « Stop intimidating me. I’m not here to receive threats. If you already have a plot planned, do what you want », Constant Mutamba reacted when asked in what capacity Alder Kisula, Executive Secretary of the National Financial Intelligence Unit (Cenaref), was attending meetings organised by him.
Called as a witness by the defendant at previous hearings, Alder Kisula sent a letter to the Court of Cassation stating that he was unable to appear as a witness in view of the requirements of the Law on the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
In his letter, he stated that in accordance with Article 120 of the law on the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which stipulates that the directors and staff of the national intelligence unit are required to appear as witnesses’. ‘According to article 120 of the law on the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which states that the directors and staff of the national financial intelligence unit cannot be called to testify in a judicial hearing on money laundering or terrorist financing of which they have been made aware in the exercise of their duties’, he wrote.
‘On the basis of this provision, Cenaref cannot appear as it is exempt from the obligation to testify’, he added. Lawyers for the former justice minister retaliated by calling for Mr Alder Kisula to appear in person, as he is said to have had numerous meetings with the defendant, which is why they asked the Court of Cassation to hold a hearing in camera so that he could appear before her.
Clarification provided on the award of a direct agreement contract
An expert from the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (ARMP)), Christian Kalume, answered questions on Monday to enlighten the Cour de Cassation on the direct agreement contract between the construction company Zion and the former Minister of Justice, Constant Mutamba. In his speech, he defined the concept by pointing out that ‘the contract is said to be by mutual agreement when it is awarded without a call for tenders after authorisation by the department responsible for monitoring public contracts’.
In his speech, he also referred to Article 42 on public contracts, which sets out the five ‘restrictive’ conditions for awarding a public contract, specifying that only one of these conditions needs to be met for a contract to be concluded by mutual agreement. With regard to the tacit authorisation of a direct agreement contract, the expert referred in his speech to the circuit followed by the request submitted. Mr Kalume also went on to argue that the creation of an escrow bank account that does not belong to an individual is permitted to avoid non-payment of a public contract. ‘Only the escrow account must not be opened in the name of the company’, he pointed out. After these exchanges, the Court of Cassation decided to postpone the case until Wednesday August 6th, 2025.
‘We had not been consulted by the Minister of Justice’, says the ITPR expert For his part, Gérard Gimea, an expert in infrastructure and public works (ITPR), told the Court of Cassation that the former Minister of Justice had never contacted their supervisory authority beforehand. According to him, they had received a letter from Constant Mutamba dated May 9th, 2025, when the escrow account was blocked by Cenaref.
This intervention provoked a riposte from the former Minister in charge of Justice’s lawyers, who argued by citing various renovations carried out by him without the prior opinion of the ITPR, in particular the renovation of the Justice Palace in Gombe. Long before, ten (10) witnesses, including the former Inspector General of Finance, Jules Alingete, were identified before the Court of Cassation. After noting that other witnesses called by the defendant Mutamba had not been heard, the court asked the 10 identified to return to the hearing on Wednesday August 6th, 2025 so that everyone could appear. The Court adjourned the case to Wednesday 06 August for the continuation of the hearing of the witnesses.