© TONY KARUMBA / AFP
There is change at the Constitutional Court of the DRC (our illustration image). The High Court has renewed three of its nine judges.
In the DRC, there is change in the Constitutional Court. The High Court has renewed three of its nine judges. Reputed to be close to Félix Tshisekedi, the President of the Court, Dieudonné Kaluba Dibwa has been replaced. Judge at the Constitutional Court since July 2020 and president of this institution since April 2021, this law professor had nevertheless been elected by his peers for a three-year term. But everything has gone quickly in recent months.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi
According to the entourage of the President of the Republic, Félix Tshisekedi no longer had confidence in Dieudonné Kaluba Dibwa. He is suspected of corruption in the case of alleged embezzlement of more than 200 million dollars of public funds intended for the agro-industrial park of Bukanga-Lonzo, a gigantic agricultural project 250 km from Kinshasa.
Silence
« If he can get corrupted on this file, what about the 2023 election results? asks someone close to the head of state. At this point, Dieudonné Kaluba Dibwa opted for silence. Instruction would have been given to his collaborators not to communicate on this file. As a reminder, in November 2021, the Constitutional Court declared itself incompetent to judge the former Prime Minister Augustin Matata cited in this case. The decision had surprised, especially in the presidential camp.
Delicate position
The position of President of the Constitutional Court is very delicate in the politico-judicial apparatus of the DRC. It is he who is responsible for validating or not the results of the elections proclaimed by the Electoral Commission. This Tuesday, experts and politicians denounced countless procedural defects since the installation of the Court in 2015. It is accused of being subordinate to the Head of State, particularly in the procedure for renewing judges.