DRC: what do we blame Vital Kamehre for?

Text by: Sonia Rolley Follow

Locked up Wednesday, the director of cabinet of Félix Tshisekedi is suspected by the Congolese justice of embezzlement within the framework of the management of the “100 days program” of the Congolese head of state. His supporters denounce an arbitrary arrest, humiliation for their leader and political manipulation to prevent him from running for the next presidential election. What do we know about this file?

Publicity

Vital Kamerhe acted as authorizing officer of expenditure on the 100 days program of the head of state during his first months of implementation , before the establishment of the coalition government. And for civil society, it is only legitimate for the justice to ask it to answer questions.

Relatives of the chief of staff confirm that Vital Kamerhe was questioned during more than five hours of hearings on various files. Several sources mention in particular one of the markets for the purchase of prefabricated houses. It is for these same facts that Samih Jammal, boss of the companies Samibo Congo Sarl and Husmal SARL, had been arrested, before being released on bail.

In this hearing, it was also a question of the leaps of sheep whose stop of the works had caused monster traffic jams in Kinshasa. The boss of the company Safricas Congo, David Blattner, had also been arrested on this same file. Added to this is suspicion on a pharmaceutical market, infrastructure in the provinces, especially in South Kivu and Kasai Central.

In the entourage of Félix Tshisekedi, we assure that there is no plot, but a desire to shed light on the management of these funds. Other personalities and institutions have had to answer questions of justice in recent days or weeks, former ministers, central bank and even the coordinator of the program of 100 days for the presidency, without however, for the moment anyway , be arrested.

Political tensions

But in the ranks of the UNC, it is estimated that President Tshisekedi necessarily agreed to the arrest of his chief of staff. Therefore, relatives of Vital Kamerhe question the real desire of the Head of State to maintain the presidential coalition.

These questions worry in the ranks of the UDPS, the party of the president, where one would like to see simply dismissed a " personality become embarrassing by his management ", without losing an allied party. A member of the presidential cabinet recalls the tensions of recent months around this issue, between the " clans " Kamerhe and Tshisekedi who made the atmosphere " unlivable " at the Palace of the Nation.

" They will not make us believe that the chief of staff acted without the agreement of his boss, " retorts an official of the opposition. In the ranks of the FCC, opinions are divided between those who rejoice at the " forfeiture of the traitor Kamerhe " who had defected before the election of 2011, and those who fear today " a witch hunt ".

In any case, any agreement between the old and the new head of state on the fate of the chief of staff is refuted. A close relative of Félix Tshisekedi recognizes the impetus of the head of state who had proposed an audit in the Council of Ministers, and the involvement of the government, largely dominated by the FCC, which had recommended a judicial investigation.

The fact remains that within the diplomatic community, which however demands efforts in terms of the fight against corruption, we wonder about the timing of this procedure - which can create tensions - in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic crisis.

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