Vital Kamerhe’s claim that he was prosecuted for political reasons is not absurd. His punishment may have as much to do with his ambition as his morals. But few believe he is innocent
so rarely punished for stealing public money in the Democratic Republic of Congo that some find the idea absurd. Perhaps that is why Vital Kamerhe, the president’s former chief of staff, laughed aloud as a judge condemned him to 20 years in prison on June 20th.
Mr Kamerhe is the most senior Congolese politician ever to be put away for graft. “We are happy, the big fish has been sentenced,” says an interpreter in Kinshasa, the capital. “It is a good start for the rule of law in Congo.” Mr Kamerhe’s claim that he was prosecuted for political reasons is not absurd. Even if he did steal a heap of public money, he would hardly be the first Congolese politician to do so. His punishment may have as much to do with his ambition as his morals. He was powerful enough to be feared. He held various senior posts under Mobutu Sese Seko, Congo’s dictator for three decades. He then worked for Laurent Kabila, the rebel who deposed Mobutu in 1997.
Mr Tshisekedi may have needed someone to blame for his administration’s many failures. His big infrastructure projects have often stalled. A flyover that was supposed to ease congestion in Kinshasa stands half-built. That plan to build homes for the poor has delivered little. Also sentenced to 20 years alongside Mr Kamerhe was Jammal Samih, a Lebanese businessman whose company was allegedly paid $57m for 1,500 prefabricated houses. Prosecutors say most of that cash has vanished.
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