The corruption trial of Vital Kamerhe, the main ally of the DR Congo's forerunner Félix Tshisekedi, opened briefly on Monday May 11 in Kinshasa before being adjourned to May 25. 

"The case is postponed to May 25 for the continuation of the investigation," said the president of the court at the end of this first hearing of about two hours broadcast by the state channel RTNC.

In pre-trial detention since April 8, Vital Kamerhe has appeared with two co-defendants for the alleged embezzlement of some 50 million dollars intended to finance public works which were to mark the start of Félix Tshisekedi's five-year term in 2019. DR Congo s 'was made a civil party in this unprecedented case.

>> Read also: DR Congo: Vital Kamerhe, cabinet director of Félix Tshisekedi, in pre-trial detention

"Never in the Congolese political history of the past two decades has such an important actor on the political scene been found behind bars," sum up the experts from the University's Congo Studies Group (GEC). from New York.

A hunt for corruption

The proceedings against Vital Kamerhe are part of a vast anti-corruption investigation supposed to mark the "renewal" of Congolese justice in the fight against the impunity of the elites since independence on June 30, 1960.

The trial opened in a "fairground hearing", that is to say, relocated within the very confines of Makala prison.

Attorneys for Vital Kamerhe said they had applied for provisional release. A first was rejected in mid-April.

Read also: Félix Tshisekedi's presidency in DR Congo: one year later, what results?

Vital Kamerhe and Félix Tshisekedi sealed a political agreement to form their Cap for Change platform (Cach), which governs the DR Congo in coalition with the political forces of ex-president Joseph Kabila, still in the majority in Parliament.

This agreement signed in Nairobi in November 2018 provides that Vital Kamerhe, who already tried his luck in 2011, will be a candidate for the presidency of the Republic in 2023.

Vital Kamerhe denies these accusations

Appointed director of cabinet the day after President Tshisekedi's inauguration on January 24, 2019, Vital Kamerhe is suspected of embezzlement of funds intended for the construction of social housing, i.e. 4,500 prefabricated houses. 

He denies these accusations. He considers that all the public contracts were "inherited" from the previous government, affirming that "no contract of public contract by mutual agreement bears his signature", according to the order rejecting his request for provisional release of the April 11.

If his arrest is presented as a strong signal in the fight against the corruption of the elites, part of the opinion remains skeptical and evokes a settling of scores within the coalition or a maneuver.

Despite his arrest, Vital Kamerhe has not resigned from his post as chief of staff, nor has he been dismissed.

With AFP

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