Kinshasa, July 10th, 2025. – The case between the public prosecutor’s office and former Minister in charge of Justice Constant Mutamba, accused of embezzlement of public funds before the Court of Cassation of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was postponed until July 23rd, 2025 during the opening hearing held on Wednesday. In its statement, the Attorney General’s Office has explained the facts for which the honorary Minister of Justice was brought to trial. « On August 16th, 2024, the former Minister in charge of Justice has transferred a sum of nineteen million nine hundred thousand US dollars to an account opened one day before the payment on behalf of the company Zion Construction. However, this company has no financial capacity and is composed of a Congolese and a Burundian. It is inexperienced and has no financial guarantees, » has declared the public prosecutor. Arriving an hour after the start of the trial, the defendant Mutamba has immediately apologised to the Court of Cassation, justifying his delay due to traffic jams. ‘First of all, I would like to bow my head and apologise. I left home at 8:30 a.m. and was stuck in traffic. That is why I am late. I am appearing today on a provisional basis, pending my lawyers’ statements,’ he has said. Shortly before his arrival at the hearing, his lawyers had requested a postponement, without specifying a date, in order to review the case file and better prepare the defence of their client. In response, the public prosecutor has refuted this argument on the grounds that the Court had expressly required the defendant to appear in person in the first instance. Only then, according to the public prosecutor, could any exceptions be raised. For its part, the court found that the defendant had been duly notified of his summons and that the proceedings were in order. « The court finds that the case is ready for trial and that the defendant has not appeared. As the proceedings are in order, the court will proceed. The defendant’s presence is essential before this court. There is no trial in absentia here. Once the case is ready, the Court may proceed, » has declared the presiding judge. The court has then proceeded to identify the lawyers for the former Minister in charge of Justice before identifying the defendant last upon his arrival. Insisting on the postponement, the lawyers, in consultation with their client, have renewed their request for a postponement in order to access the physical file and prepare their defence. ‘Please allow us to access the physical file and prepare our defence. This will put us on an equal footing with our opponent, the public prosecutor,’ has requested lawyer Maurice Kanyama. The court has finally granted the postponement until July 23rd, 2025.
Account of the facts
In this case, the defendant Constant Mutamba is being prosecuted for embezzling funds allocated for the construction of a prison in Kisangani, the main city of Tshopo, in the east of DRC. He is also being prosecuted in the same case for embezzling funds allocated for the compensation of victims of the six-day war between the Ugandan and Rwandan armies on Congolese soil from June 5th, to 10th, 2000. In his letter of Wednesday June 11th, 2025 informing the Minister in charge of Justice of the closure of his investigation, Attorney General Firmin Mvonde has invited him to remain ‘calm for the rest of the proceedings’, while reassuring him that ‘as a good legalist, he had adhered strictly to the law, without any other considerations’. The former Minister in charge of Justice had been questioned twice at the offices of the Attorney General’s Office at the Court of Cassation. The conclusions of the Attorney General’s investigation led to an assertion of embezzlement of public funds, which prompted him to request authorisation from the National Assembly on Monday June 9th, 2025 to impeach Minister Mutamba. CPA/