Former Congolese Justice Minister Mutamba vowed to come down hard on embezzlers. Now, he has been sentenced to three years, with hard labor,
…years, with hard labor, for allegedly stealing funds intended for the construction of a prison. Constant Mutamba, whose profile in the Democratic Republic of the Congo grew after he proposed the death sentence for officials who stole public money, has found himself on the wrong end of a corruption scandal. A high court in Kinshasa has sentenced the 37-year-old former justice minister to three years of hard labor. He was convicted of embezzling $19.9 million (€18 million) in public funds to finance the construction of a prison in the northern city of Kisangani. Mutamba, who served as justice minister in 2024 and 2025 under President Felix Tshisekedi, resigned over the case in June 2025. Previous hard labor sentences in the DR Congo have been served in prison, but it was unclear if the former minister's case would be an exception. The Court of Cassation in Kinshasa ruled that Mutamba did not follow due process and sought illicit enrichment. Mutamba said he had verbal agreements in place with government authorities, but admitted he had no idea if the contractor assigned to build the prison, Zion Construction, was approved. He also denied spending any of the money. Prosecutors said Mutamba gave the firm $19.9 million he took from a fund paid to the DRC by Uganda as compensation for Congolese victims of fighting between the Ugandan and Rwandan armies during the Second Congo Civil War in the 2000s.
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