In the News: Vital Kamerhe now in prison, this real bubbling cauldron in the DRC

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By: Norbert Navarro

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This real bubbling cauldron that is more than ever political life in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Vital Kamerhe is now sleeping in prison.

The director of cabinet of the Congolese head of state is incarcerated in the central prison of Makala, and his party, the Union for the Congolese Nation, denounces a " settlement of accounts ", pointed out in The Courrier of Kinshasa. Which daily newspaper finds the " magnitudes " that this affair takes " worrying ", and reports the comment of a " communicator " of the UNC affirming that " people do not want to see their leader as president of the Republic in 2023 ".

For his part, the lawyer for Vital Kamerhe goes further by denouncing the intervention of a " black hand " in this case. Me John Kaboto, this is the name of the defender of Vital Kamerhe, insists that the file is " political " and not " purely judicial ", reports Media Congo.

To which the UDPS responds that we must not " politicize a judicial file ", reports CAS Info . " The facts alleged against Vital Kamerhe are criminal, it has nothing to do with either the Udps or our Cach coalition ," said yesterday the spokesman for the presidential party, quoted in particular by the Center site. Analysis and Strategies in Kinshasa.

And in an attempt to lower the temperature of this Congolese turmoil, the opposition platform Lamuka, also calls on local political actors to be careful:

This is what Radio Okapi notably reports. Lamuka asks the courts to " work independently " in this case.

And Prosperity does not write anything else. " Let the truth triumph, nothing but the truth ", proclaims this Congolese newspaper. Prosperity therefore calls for justice to be " independent, fair and balanced " when examining the roles of each person cited in " the vast embezzlement ", states this daily.

In any case, in Burkina Faso, for the daily Le Pays , it's all seen. " If there are many people to be wary of because of their duplicity, it is the politicians for whom, only the end justifies the means ", decides, definitively, this Ouagalais newspaper, even if, he admits , Vital Kamerhe " benefits from the presumption of innocence ".

In Côte d'Ivoire, the announced release of 2,004 prisoners is of insufficient magnitude to relieve the pressure of the prison system:

" It's not enough, " said the president of the Observatory of places of detention to the French daily Liberation . Paul Angaman, that's his name, explains that in February, there were “ 21,000 prisoners for 8,000 available places ” in Côte d'Ivoire. According to him, " such promiscuity makes social distancing or the regular washing of hands recommended by the government impossible, and that will not change with 2,000 fewer prisoners ".

Liberation, the day before yesterday, accompanied to the prison of Agboville the wife of the deputy Alain Lobognon, where this close among the close of the ex-president of the National Assembly Guillaume Soro, now taken refuge in France, is imprisoned for an alleged attempt to attack the authority of the State.

Amira Lobognon told Liberation "to have spent a million CFA francs (1,500 euros) to improve the daily life of her husband ", who has known three places of detention since his arrest on December 23, redoing the plumbing, sanitary, shower, leaking roof, plus buying a bed and installing a mosquito net.

But the coronavirus does not change anything for Alain Lobognon and his other political comrades, the measure of release of Ivorian prisoners only concerns common law prisoners or at the end of their sentence and Alain Lobognon " remains in prison ", underlines Libé , while the medical visits are " a luxury ", prison health care staff being " as rare as the attention paid to the health of detainees ", denounces Liberation, who compares places of detention in Côte d'Ivoire to " health bombs ".

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