Edouard Mwangachuchu Hizi case: revelations about the controversial payment of police officers to the Bisunzu Mining Company
On Tuesday, June 13, 2023, a mobile hearing was held at the Ndolo military prison in the DR Congo, opposing the Auditor General to the defendant national deputy Édouard Mwangachuchu Hizi. The High Military Court was hearing from the informants in this case.
General Aban Van and Colonel Van Kasongo appeared before the court in charge of intelligence and operations of the North Kivu provincial police, to testify about the police officers assigned to guard the Bisunzu Mining Company (SMB). The informants reported that 86 elements of the police force were deployed on the site Bibatama of the SMB, but only 43 of them were recognized and paid by this company.
The court raised the issue of the controversial police payment. How were the other 43 policemen paid when they were also working? Did the funds paid to the General Directorate of Administrative Revenue, DGRAD, for this service cover 43 or 86 agents? General Aban Van replied that this fund only covered 43 agents, adding that the 86 people were not working at the same time. The two teams of 43 police officers took turns. However, the company was only paying out the money for one team.
The court also questioned the favorable treatment reserved for the concession of Bisunzu, while insecurity arose everywhere in Rubaya. For the North Kivu police chief, when an applicant asks for two people to organize security, they line up 4, because the human being gets tired after 48 hours of service.
The public prosecutor described levity, negligence and disorder as complicit, characteristics of the North Kivu police.
Edouard Mwangachuchu Hizi is being prosecuted for participation in an insurrectionary movement, maintaining links with the M23 rebels, espionage, incitement of soldiers to commit acts contrary to duty and discipline, and illegal possession of munitions of war.
The case highlights the problems of corruption and unfair payment in the DRC, particularly in the mining and security sector. This ongoing trial could bring to light such cases of corruption and find solutions to prevent such acts in the future.