The Bukanga-Lonzo trial against former Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo and his co-defendants continues to draw attention in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). During the hearing of September 4, 2023, the President of the Constitutional Court announced that the next hearing would take place on September 25, 2023. This postponement was requested by the defense lawyers, who did not have access to all the documents in the file.
One of the defense lawyers, Laurent Onyemba, expressed his dissatisfaction with the limited access to information in the file. According to him, this situation hinders the possibility of a fair trial. He said: “Every time we went to the registry, we were asked to have prior authorization from the President of the Constitutional Court. This was not the case. This situation did not bother us. not allowed to have knowledge of the file, a prerequisite for a fair trial.”
Augustin Matata Ponyo, Deogratias Mutombo Mwana Nyembo and Christo Grobler appear before the Constitutional Court of the DRC. They are accused of misappropriation of public funds linked to the Bukanga-Lonzo project. Matata Ponyo and Grobler are said to have embezzled more than 100 million US dollars, while Mutombo is said to have participated in the embezzlement of an amount of approximately 90 million dollars, intended for the construction of the Kinshasa international market.
Matata Ponyo, who is currently a political opponent and presidential candidate, says the lawsuit against him is politically motivated and aims to silence him. However, the courts reject this claim and continue the lawsuit.
It should be noted that the Constitutional Court had initially declared itself incompetent to try a former Prime Minister, in accordance with the law. However, the trial was maintained and continues to generate interest and debate in the DRC.
In conclusion, the Bukanga-Lonzo trial against Augustin Matata Ponyo and his co-accused continues in the DRC. Defense attorneys were granted a discount to have full access to the file. The trial is an opportunity to judge charges of embezzlement of public funds within the framework of the Bukanga-Lonzo project.