Chief of staff also faces millions of dollars in fines after conviction for embezzlement and corruption
Kinshasa — Vital Kamerhe, chief of staff of Democratic Republic of the Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, was sentenced to 20 years forced labour and faces millions of dollars in fines after a court convicted him of embezzlement and corruption.
The 61-year-old has said the trial is a political attack by enemies of the president. Tshisekedi himself has declined to comment on the case. Kamerhe has been a powerful player in the country’s politics for more than 15 years. He helped lead former President Joseph Kabila’s first election campaign in 2006, after which he became National Assembly head. Kamerhe broke with Kabila in 2009, then ran for president against his former boss in 2011, finishing third.
Kamerhe’s conviction removes a key political player from the scene, and boosts the young Tshisekedi administration’s fight against endemic corruption. But it also sidelines one of the president’s allies in his power struggle with Kabila, whose supporters control most of the country’s institutions.
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