An investigation has been opened into suspicions of embezzlement in the Senate, the Minister of State for Justice and Keeper of the Seals, Constant Mutamba, announced on Wednesday.
The Minister of Justice informed the chairman of the age bureau of the upper house of Parliament, Pascal Kindwelo, that this investigation aims to enlighten public opinion and combat financial crime within public institutions.
“As you know, there were rumors regarding the embezzlement of funds by the outgoing Senate office. It was a question for us of assuring and reassuring the provisional office of the terms of the judicial investigation that we have initiated so that the Congolese people are enlightened on the image that has been circulating and where we saw former senators with bricks of money on the table,” said Constant Mutamba before adding: “Nothing will be the same once more and it is at the end of the investigations, which have been inquisitorial until now, that we will form the opinion on the urgent and coercive measures that will be taken.”
The Minister of State had previously asked the judicial police of the public prosecutor’s office to investigate “urgently” the suspicions of a financial scandal weighing on the former office of the Senate, also requesting the involvement of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF).
According to a correspondence from the second vice-president of the outgoing bureau, Sanguma Mossai, addressed to the General Inspectorate of Finance, the Senate age bureau would have embezzled the May 2024 emoluments of all the outgoing senators and members of the bureau, although the delivery and resumption with the provisional bureau took place on May 17, 2024 and the validation of the mandates of the new senators on June 2, 2024.
Sanguma Mossai estimates the embezzled amount, designated as the Special Intervention Fund, at 8,092,000,000 Congolese francs (2,839,298.2 USD). In response, the age office, based on the minutes of delivery and recovery, revealed that the outgoing office left $0.00 as cash position as of May 16, 2024, mentioning files pending payment for the months of March and April 2024, estimated at 30,000,000,000 FC (10 million USD).
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2024-07-19 14:53:43
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