Constant Mutamba, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s former Justice minister and once a vocal anti-corruption crusader, has been sentenced on Tuesday, September 2, to three years of forced labour for embezzling public funds, including reparations earmarked for war victims.
The 37-year-old politician was also barred from holding high office for five years after being found guilty of irregularly awarding a $40 million contract to build a prison near Kisangani. The court ruled that Mutamba unlawfully transferred nearly $20 million to Zion Construction SARL without government approval, funds prosecutors said had been set aside for victims of the Second Congo War.
Mutamba, who resigned in June after the allegations surfaced, claimed the case was a “political plot” against him. Heavy police and army presence surrounded the Kinshasa courthouse during his trial to deter unrest from his supporters. Judge Jacques Kabasele ordered him to return the missing funds, declaring he acted “to fraudulently enrich Zion Construction at the expense of the state.” Mutamba’s conviction underscores the endemic problem of embezzlement in the DRC, which Transparency International ranks among the world’s most corrupt nations.