DRC: Mutamba sentenced to 10 years accuses Tshisekedi’s entourage of conspiracy

The Court of Cassation sentenced Constant Mutamba on September 18 for embezzlement of public funds related to the Special Fund for the Reparation and Compensation of Victims of Uganda’s illegal activities in the DRC. His co-defendant, Chançard Bolukola, former interim coordinator of FRIVAO, received a seven-year sentence of hard labor.

In his letter addressed to the Congolese people and the peoples of Africa, Constant Mutamba claims to have been the victim of a swift trial and asserts that no evidence of embezzlement was presented against him. He accuses certain collaborators of Félix Tshisekedi of attributing presidential ambitions to him that he says he has not expressed, framing his conviction as an attempt to remove him from the political arena.

This account is contested by the findings in the ruling. The Court established several instances of embezzlement and ordered the restitution of funds to FRIVAO. The judgment also imposes additional sanctions on Constant Mutamba, including a five-year ban on voting and eligibility after serving his sentence, as well as a prohibition on accessing public and parastatal positions.

The judicial timeline reported by the Congolese Press Agency further indicates that the trial began on July 13 and continued over several hearings. Constant Mutamba attended the opening hearing but left the room during the second hearing and subsequently refused to appear at some of the following sessions. The prosecution had requested a fifteen-year sentence of hard labor for him and Chançard Bolukola on August 19.

In his September 20 message, the former Minister of Justice maintains that the charges are politically motivated. He claims that his opponents are seeking to neutralize him and calls on his supporters to “resist,” without announcing any new legal proceedings against the ruling issued by the Court of Cassation at this stage.

Constant Mutamba had previously been sentenced on September 2, 2025, to three years of hard labor in another case related to the construction of a prison in Kisangani. The Court had then ordered the restitution of 19 million dollars.