Reacting to the summons addressed to Senator Matata Ponyo by the Attorney General at the Constitutional Court, the chief lawyer of the collective of lawyers of Matata Ponyo, Me Raphaël Nyabirungu, insisted on underlining the illegality of this warrant during a press briefing held on July 12, 2023.
According to Me Nyabirungu, the warrant to appear has no legal basis. He recalled that the Constitution provides for three hypotheses in which Matata Ponyo can be prosecuted: as prime minister in office, as a former prime minister or as a senator.
The Attorney General, in issuing the warrant to appear, acts as if he were prosecuting a sitting prime minister. However, according to Article 166 of the Constitution, such a lawsuit must be passed by a two-thirds majority of the members of parliament composing the congress. As this procedure was not followed, the warrant to appear is therefore illegal.
In addition, Me Nyabirungu underlines that the Constitution does not provide for the case of a former Prime Minister being prosecuted for the offenses cited. Thus, if the summons concerns the offenses committed by Matata Ponyo as a former Prime Minister, it is null and void.
As a senator, Matata Ponyo comes under the jurisdiction of the Court of Cassation. However, the Court of Cassation declared itself incompetent in the Bukanga Lonzo case, concerning the same offences. Therefore, the warrant to appear has no legal basis and violates the Constitution as well as the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court.
Me Nyabirungu affirms that the Bukanga Lonzo affair is over and that no rule of law allows it to be relaunched. Thus, the warrant to appear is null and void.
This reaction from Matata Ponyo’s lawyer highlights the legal flaws in the warrant to appear and underlines the importance of respecting the procedures and jurisdictions of the different jurisdictions. It is now up to the competent authorities to take these arguments into account and take the appropriate decisions regarding this case