Former DR Congo PM sentenced to heavy work for corruption –

A former Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been sentenced to a decade of forced labor for corruption.

Augustin Matata Ponyo was found guilty of embezzlement of approximately $ 245 million (£ 182 million) of public funds by the Congolese Constitutional Court on Tuesday, next to Deogratias Mutombo, the former governor of the Central Bank of the Dr. Congo.

The lawyer of Matata told Reuters News Agency that the statement was unfair and politically motivated.

Part of the funds were derived from an important agricultural development that was intended to tackle the chronic food shortages of the country.

Matata served as Prime Minister of the DRC from 2012 to 2016 and now leads the leadership and administration of the country for Development Party (LGD).

He was Minister of Finance prior to his premiership and received praise from the International Monetary Fund at the time For stabilizing the country’s economy.

Deogratias Mutombo, the former Governor of the Central Bank, has also been sentenced to five years of forced labor in the same case and has not publicly commented on the ruling.

Forced labor is legal in Dr. Congo when it is imposed by a court for a criminal fine, According to the US Department of Foreign Affairs.

Both men have been blocked of public service for five years from the end of their conditions of forced labor, the AFP press agency reports.

Matata, who campaigned against DRC President Felix Tshisekedi in the vote of 2023 before he fails, has consistently denied the charges.

The case has been stretched for more than four years since the Finance General Inspectorate of the Land The theft of the Bukanga-Lonzo-Agro-Industrial Park reported in 2020.

The park was one of the greatest agricultural investments ever in Africa according to the Reuters news agency and the African Development Bank Group had expected to offer 22,000 jobs.

It was intended to give a postponement to the 28 million people who are currently confronted with acute food insecurity in Dr. Congo, who has been plagued by conflicts for more than 30 years since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.