AA / Kinshasa / Pascal Mulegwa
The Democratic Republic of Congo has recalled its ambassador to France, Isabelle Tshombe, following revelations of financial embezzlement and mismanagement of diplomatic representation.
In a missive dated December 27 but of which Anadolu obtained a copy on Thursday, the Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula, affirms that the responsibility of the diplomat seems to be engaged on a sum of more than 2.6 million euros.
These facts were detected at the end of a control mission carried out by a team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Budget and Finance dispatched to the spot, according to the reminder missive.
The report revealed the existence, “following crosschecking and verification of the accounting entries by the controllers, of a cash deficit in the amount of 1,759,193.17 euros, for the period from January to November 2022, coming from the non repayment (…) to the Public Treasury”, underlines the document.
These funds were drawn “from the sale of passports to Congolese applicants, and on the other hand, from the receipts of visa fees and other acts of chancery”, adds the document.
Other embezzlement concerns the expensive lifestyle of diplomatic staff. The ambassador is criticized for not having put an end to the granting of several pompous bonuses to the staff. These include housing allowances of up to 25,000 euros per month. Kinshasa affirms that these sums have been granted for several years without authorization or information.
“It appears that the head of this diplomatic mission has transformed the cash of the embassy into a private fund, managed without respect for the elementary principles of financial orthodoxy and in defiance of both the legal provisions mentioned above and the authorizations of the hierarchy” , concludes Mr. Lutundula ordering the recall of the diplomat.
Isabelle Tshombe has been in office since January 2022. One of her close collaborators in Paris joined by Anadolu denounced “information” and “relentlessness”.
He alleged that certain facts complained of predate his taking office.
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