Vital Kamerhe

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Vital Kamerhe in December 2010

Vital Kamerhe (born March 4, 1959 in Bukavu , Belgian Congo ) is a Congolese politician . From 2007 to 2009 he was President of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and had previously held various political offices in the country. Since 2019 he has been Head of Cabinet of President Félix Tshisekedi . He was arrested on charges of embezzlement in April 2020 and sentenced to a long prison term in June.

Life

Early years

Vital Kamerhe Lwa Kanyiginyi Nkingi was born on March 4, 1959 in the city of Bukavu in the Sud-Kivu district, which was part of what was then the Belgian Congo. His parents are Constantine Kamerhe Kanyginyi and Alphonsine Mwa Nkingi. He attended primary schools in Bukavu, Goma and Gandajika , a place in the province of Kasaï-Oriental . Between 1975 and 1977 he attended an institute in the city of Kikwit in Bandundu Province . Then he moved to Kananga ( Kasai-Occidental ) and a year later to Mbuji-Mayi, where he received a state diploma in 1980. He learned all four national languages ​​of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Kikongo , Lingala , Kiswahili and Tshiluba ; Kamerhe also speaks French .

Then Kamerhe studied at the University of Kinshasa , where he received a diploma in economics with distinction in 1987. In Kinshasa he then worked as a teaching assistant.

Political career

Kamerhe started his political career in 1984 with the UDPS (Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social) party . At the end of the Mobutu Sese Sekos dictatorship , he joined the RSF (Rassemblement des forces Sociales et Federalistes) and became president of JUSORAL (Jeunesse de l'Union Sacrée de l'opposition Radicale et Alliés) , an opposition political youth alliance. In 1993 he became Director of the Ministry of the Environment and in 1994 Coordinator of the Prime Minister. Between 1994 and 1995 he was director of the Ministry of Education.

Under Laurent Kabila , Kamerhe first became Chief of Staff to Etienne-Richard Mbaya, then Minister for Reconstruction. Between 1997 and 1998 he was director of the Service National , a quasi-military group established by Laurent Kabila. After that, he was a financial adviser to the Defense Ministry and finally Deputy Commissioner for Affairs of the UN -Einsatzes MONUC .

As a founding member of the Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et la Démocratie (PPRD) in 2002, Vital Kamerhe became one of the leading figures in the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was Commissioner General of the Government and responsible for overseeing the peace process in the Great Lakes Region . He is considered one of the key negotiators of the 2002 peace agreement. In 2003, he was appointed Minister of Press and Information in the transitional government.

In June 2004 he was designated Secretary General of the PPRD. He held this position until September 14, 2007. In the 2006 presidential election , Kamerhe supported the election campaign of today's President Joseph Kabila and was seen as the mastermind behind the scenes. In December 2007 he was elected President of the National Assembly. On March 25, 2009, however, he had to resign from this office due to massive pressure from Kabila after he had expressed himself critical of the government in a radio interview. He then stayed mainly in Canada , until he finally announced on December 14, 2010 that he would leave the PPRD and found the Union pour la nation congolaise (UNC) as the new opposition party. With the UNC, he ran in the 2011 election as a rival candidate for Kabila.

Before the 2018 elections , he allied himself with Félix Tshisekedi , who won the controversial election. Kamerhe then became Tshisekedi's chief of staff and most important political ally.

Arrest and criminal trial

On April 8, 2020, Vital Kamerhe was taken into custody at Kinshasa Central Prison. He was accused of embezzling state funds from the Tshisekedi government's 100-day program.

On June 11, 2020, the Attorney General demanded 20 years imprisonment for embezzlement, 15 years for corruption and the (subsequent) denial of the right to stand and vote for ten years. In addition, the funds found in his account and those of relatives should be confiscated. Alongside him, Lebanese businessman Jammal Samih was also charged.

On June 20, 2020, Kamerhe was sentenced to 20 years in prison - formally referred to as forced labor - for embezzlement and corruption and - after serving his prison sentence - to ten years' disenfranchisement. In addition, the misappropriated amounts of money were confiscated. Samih was also sentenced to 20 years in prison. Kamerhe appealed the judgment, the appeal process began on July 24, 2020.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "CSIS - The Road to Presidential Elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Feb 2, 2011" "The relevant part starts at 00:56:26"
  2. ↑ a b "Élogieux cursus de Vital Kamerhe, président l'Assemblée nationale" , January 10 2007, copy on CongoForum.be
  3. ↑ a b Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Does Parliament President Vital Kamerhe have to resign? accessed on July 17, 2011
  4. ↑ "Radio Okapi (2006)"
  5. ↑ a b "Fresh air in Congolese politics"
  6. ↑ "CNN - DR Congo peace deal signed - December 17, 2002" ( Memento of the original from October 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on July 17, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / articles.cnn.com
  7. ↑ Hanns Seidel Foundation: Quarterly report DR Congo January to March 2009  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on July 17, 2011@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.hss.de  
  8. ↑ Hanns Seidel Foundation: DR Congo October to December 2011 (PDF; 99 kB) accessed on July 17, 2011
  9. ↑ Thomson Reuters: Congo president's chief of staff arrested amid graft probe. cbc.ca of April 8, 2020, accessed on April 9, 2020
  10. ↑ 20 ans de travaux forcés requis contre Vital Kamerhe. bbc.com of June 11, 2020 (French), accessed June 12, 2020
  11. ↑ Romain grass, Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala: RDC: Vital Kamerhe condamné à 20 ans de prison. Jeune Afrique from June 20, 2020 (French), accessed June 20, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Kamerhe, Vital
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kamerhe Lwa Kanyiginyi Nkingi, Vital
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Congolese politician (UNC)
DATE OF BIRTH March 4th 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Bukavu , Belgian Congo