Kinshasa, August 6th, 2025 (CPA) – Trial of former minister Mutamba: closing arguments set for Wednesday, August 13th,Closing arguments have been set for August 13th, 2025 in the trial of former Justice Minister Constant Mutamba, accused of embezzlement of public funds, before the Court of Cassation, during a hearing held on Wednesday at its headquarters in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
‘Counsel, the Court grants your request and adjourns the case until August 13th, 2025 for the continuation of the investigation and closing arguments, and possibly the closing arguments of the public prosecutor,’ has said Jacques Kabasele, presiding judge. At the start of today’s hearing, a new panel of judges was put in place after two judges recused themselves from the case involving the defendant Mutamba.
The defendant, Constant Mutamba, had earlier in the morning appealed to the Court of Cassation to recuse the two judges, whom he accused of being biased. In his letter, he gave several reasons for his request for recusal, including ‘the systematic rejection of all objections, even those of unconstitutionality falling within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court, intimidation against him and his lawyers, and the partiality of Judge Kibamba Moket, who decided to continue the investigation despite the defendant’s poor health. ’More than $8 million left in the Rawbank account, according to Rose MutomboThe Court called Rose Mutombo, former Minister in charge of Justice, to appear as a witness. She acknowledged that she had left her successor more than $8 million in the account created at Rawbank. ‘More than $8 million I don’t have the exact figure in mind, it’s been over a year, but I believe the bank statements can confirm this,’ she has added, adding that the money came from compensation paid to DRC by Uganda for victims of the Six-Day War. When asked about the creation of this account at Rawbank, she replied: ‘I found this account; it must have been created by my predecessors who opened it (…), it is an existing account, from the time of Thambwe Mwambe or Luzolo Bambi.’
Regarding the distribution key for funds paid to DRC by Uganda for victims of the Six-Day War, she has explained: ‘The Frivao distribution key is taken from the International Court of Justice ruling itself; it is clearly stated in that ruling.81% for the victims and 18.5% for the government.
Witnesses at the trial
« The money goes into the Ministry in charge of Justice’s account, and given that there is a distribution of these different shares, it is up to the Minister in charge of Justice, who is the supervising minister, to transfer the money to Frivao’s account. This is because Frivao is not known in Uganda. In Uganda, we know the Ministry in charge of Justice and the government. So when this money arrives, the Minister in charge of Justice is obliged to transfer it to Frivao’s account, » she has added.
Rose Mutombo went on to point out that the 18.5% share of the money paid by Uganda to the government is managed by the Ministry in charge of Justice on the instructions of the Council of Ministers. The defendant’s lawyers expressed their satisfaction after hearing these explanations, saying: « We remain within the framework of the judicial contract for $19,900,000. Were these funds spent in agreement with the government or on the defendant’s own initiative? And we have answers. We have no particular concerns; we are satisfied with the information provided by the witness before your Court. »
The General Director of the DGCMP says he was threatened by the defendant Mutamba Marie-Paul Mukadi, Acting General Director of the Directorate General for Public Procurement Control (DGCMP), said he was intimidated by the defendant Mutamba, then Minister in charge of Justice, concerning the private public procurement contract awarded to the construction company Zion.‘I was threatened at the minister’s office to carry out this project. In the over-the-counter market at the DGCMP, we limit ourselves to a priori control; execution and other matters are not the responsibility of the DGCMP,’ she has said. The defendant Mutamba rejected these allegations, arguing that he should have been confronted with her during the investigation at the public prosecutor’s office. « I would have liked this confrontation before the public prosecutor. I am surprised that she was heard, (…) I don’t want to say whether the public prosecutor also threatened her to make her say what she reported in her statement, » he has said. A total of ten witnesses appeared at today’s hearing. After hearing them, the Court adjourned the case until Wednesday, August 13th; 2025. Former Justice Minister Constant Mutamba is being prosecuted for embezzling US$19 million in funds intended for the construction of a prison in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.