Former DR Congo prime minister gets 10 years for embezzlement

A former prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years of hard labor for embezzling public funds.

Augustin Matata Ponyo's co-defendants -- Deogratias Mutombo Mwana Nyembo, a former central bank governor, and Christo Grobler, a South African businessman and the CEO of Africom Commodities -- each got five-year sentences.

The charges relate to misappropriation involving $285 million in public funds allocated to the Bukangalonzo Agro-Industrial Park, a flagship project initiated under former President Joseph Kabila.

Despite Matata Ponyo's current position as a member of parliament, the Constitutional Court ruled that it had jurisdiction over the case.

The court's president argued that immunity applies to the function of office, not the individual, emphasizing that Matata Ponyo's parliamentary election occurred after the legal proceedings had already begun. This position dismissed the defense's arguments regarding parliamentary immunity.

The court's stance stirred institutional tensions. National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe condemned the ruling as a constitutional violation, asserting that no member of parliament can be tried without the prior lifting of their immunity. Kamerhe proposed a meeting with the Constitutional Court's leadership to resolve the disagreement and realign their interpretations of the law.

In response, the Constitutional Court's president, Dieudonne Kamuleta Badibanga, reaffirmed judicial independence by citing Article 151 of the Constitution, which bars the legislature from interfering in judicial matters. He insisted that the case had surpassed the stage requiring prosecutorial authorization and called for respect for the separation of powers.

Matata Ponyo has consistently denounced the case as being politically motivated. He claims the charges have been weaponized in response to his refusal to join the ruling coalition, the Sacred Union of the Nation, and to hinder his political ambitions, including founding a new party and contesting the presidency.

He also accused the judiciary of being manipulated, recalling that the court had declared itself incompetent in 2021 under Dieudonne Kaluba, who he says was ousted for resisting presidential pressure.

Meanwhile, the Bukangalonzo project, originally aimed at boosting food production and employment, has been widely deemed a failure, with hundreds of millions of dollars spent and no meaningful outcomes achieved.