DRC: Vital Kamerhe in pre-trial detention after more than 6 hours of hearing

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Vital Kamerhe, the director of cabinet of Félix Tshisekedi was placed under provisional arrest warrant this Wednesday April 8 in the evening, and transferred to the prison of Makala. It was understood on the management of the funds allocated to the emergency program of the Congolese president.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa

Blue suit, tie of the same color, muffler, Vital Kamerhe responded to the invitation with the status of "informant". At 1 p.m., he crossed the floor grid with two of his lawyers after leaving a compact crowd of his supporters. For six hours, the head of the presidential cabinet was heard on his role in the management and execution of the so-called "100 days" program launched by President Félix Tshisekedi.

NGOs, but also civil society denounce the award of over-the-counter public contracts by the presidency. Some organizations such as ODEP or the AMKA Collective even suspect embezzlement. If Vital Kamerhe was auditioned, it is because he is "not only the authorizing officer of the expenses of the presidency, but also, because until September 2019, it was he who controlled with an iron fist the finances of this program ”, one explains on the side of the prosecution, just like in the ranks of the camp of his ally, Félix Tshisekedi.

" Throughout the hearing, he did not provide sufficient evidence and did not convince the listeners, " a judicial source told RFI.

Pending the conclusion of the investigations, the concern gained the ranks of his party the UNC which denounces for several days a campaign of demonization and " relentlessness " against its leader, supposed to be the dolphin of Félix Tshisekedi for the presidential of 2023, according to an agreement between November 2018 in Nairobi.

The presence of Kamerhe at the prosecutor's office on Wednesday gave rise to gatherings of several hundred supporters, party officials, deputies, but also many members of ministerial cabinets, under the watchful eye of the police. The latter only intervened about four hours after the start of the hearings, to disperse the crowds with tear gas. Authorities banned the assembly of more than 20 people during this period of the coronavirus pandemic.

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• Ground floor
• Félix Tshisekedi