Vital Kamerhe

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His Excellency
Vital Kamerhe
Evariste Boshab
Member of National Assembly
In office
December 29, 2006 – March 26, 2009
Personal details
Born (1959-03-04) 4 March 1959 (age 65)
Democratic Republic of Congo
Websitehttp://www.vital-kamerhe.com/

Vital Kamerhe Lwa Kanyiginyi Nkingi (born 4 March 1959) is a

National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2006 to 2009. After resigning from that office, he went into the opposition and founded the UNC. He ran in the 2011 presidential election. He supported Félix Tshisekedi as a coalition partner in the 2018 presidential election, and became chief of staff when Tshisekedi took office.[1]

In 2020, Kamerhe was charged with and convicted of embezzlement of US$50 million.[2][3][4][5] The Congo Research Group described his arrest as unprecedented in recent DRC history.[6][7] Kamerhe was temporarily replaced as chief of staff when his trial began,[8] and permanently replaced half a year after he was convicted.[9] Kamerhe appealed his conviction, and a second appeal led to his acquittal in 2022.[10][11] In 2023, he rejoined the government as Félix Tshisekedi's deputy prime minister in charge of the economy.[3]

Biography

Early life and education

Born in

Walungu
territory, he is married and father of 9 children.

He began his primary school in

Kasai-Oriental, in Gandajika
, where he finishes his primary school. School years 1975-1976 and 1976–1977, he attended the Institut Sadisana (former College St. Francois-Xavier) in Kikwit Sacré-Coeur, Bandundu province. He then moved to Kananga (
Tshiluba. He also speaks fluent French.[13]

From there he completed his studies at the University of Kinshasa, where he received his degree in Economics in 1987 with distinction. There he stayed as teaching assistant.[14]

Political career

Concert/rally for the UNC candidate in 2011.

Under Mobutu

Kamerhe started his political career in 1984 with the

French: Jeunesse de l'Union Sacrée de l'opposition Radicale et Alliés; JUSORAL).[15]
Between 1993 and 1995, he worked in several public functions.

Under Laurent Kabila

Under

Laurent Kabila, Kamerhe became the deputy chief of staff of Etienne-Richard Mbaya, the minister of reconstruction[citation needed
]. He then held the following positions.

Role in the peace process of the Great Lakes region

A founding member of the

French: "le Pacificateur").[citation needed] As Commissioner General of the Government responsible for monitoring the peace process in the Great Lakes region he was one of the principal negotiators of the 2002 peace deal.[16][failed verification
]

Role in the 2006 election campaign

On 1 July 2004, he began leading the

PPRD and directing Joseph Kabila's 2006 campaign for president.[15] He was elected as parliamentarian in Bukavu with one of the highest scores in the country.[citation needed] He was elected deputy for South Kivu in the National Assembly in 2006, and he served as president of the National Assembly until 26 March 2009.[15]

As President of the National Assembly

In 2009, as President of the National Assembly, he questioned Kabila and his own party over the Umoja Wetu operations that allowed several thousand Rwandan troops to deploy into the Congo without informing the parliament.[17] On January 21, 2009, he released a statement to Radio Okapi expressing his disappointment[18] for the joint military operations between the Congolese and Rwandan army in the Kivu, conducted without informing the National Assembly and the Senate and thus violating the article 213 of the constitution.[19]

On March 25, 2009, he delivered a speech resigning as President of the National Assembly.[20][21] On 14 December 2010, Kamerhe officially quit the PPRD, announcing his candidacy for the 2011 presidential election and the creation of his new party,[22] the UNC.[23] The UNC had its official inauguration in February 2011, and Kamerhe got 7.74% of the vote in the 2011 presidential election under its name.

Under Félix Tshisekedi

Role in the 2018 election campaign

In the 2018 presidential election, Kamerhe supported the candidacy of UDPS leader Félix Tshisekedi. The UDPS allied with the UNC to form the Heading for Change coalition, and Tshisekedi agreed that if he won, he would make Kamerhe his prime minister.[1] After the elections, Tshisekedi did become president, but the composition of parliament made it politically infeasible for him to name Kamerhe as prime minister.[1] He instead made Kamerhe his chief of staff—one of the first senior positions he filled upon taking office.[1][24]

Corruption trial

On 8 April 2020, Kamerhe was arrested and detained in Makala prison, facing charges of having embezzled up to $57 million from an infrastructure project.[25] Commenting on his arrest, the Congo Research Group wrote: "Never in Congo's political history over the past two decades has such an important player on the political scene been put behind bars."[6][7] On 20 June 2020, Kamerhe was found guilty of aggravated corruption, money laundering, and embezzling $48 million.[2][3][4][5] He was sentenced to twenty years of forced labour and ten years of ineligibility to vote or hold public office.[2][24][3] One of his co-defendants, the Lebanese businessman Samih Jammal, was sentenced to twenty years of forced labour, to be followed by expulsion from the DRC.[24] Another co-defendant, Jeannot Muhima Ndoole, was sentenced to two years of forced labour.[24] The court also ordered the confiscation from the defendants' relatives of goods that it found to be proceeds of the defendants' crimes, noting that "the things produced by the offense can always be confiscated, regardless of the owner."[4]

Kamerhe appealed his conviction.[2] Aimé Boji, the secretary general of the UNC[2] and Kamerhe's brother-in-law,[26] expressed confidence that Kamerhe's prosecution had been politically motivated.[2] On 18 June 2021, in its first appeal decision, the Kinshasa/Gombe Court of Appeals upheld Kamerhe, Jammal, and Ndoole's convictions but reduced their sentences.[27] Kamerhe was conditionally released from prison in December 2021, on the grounds that his health had deteriorated and he needed medical care outside of prison while awaiting a second appeal.[28] On 23 June 2022, in its second appeal decision, the Kinshasa/Gombe Court of Appeals acquitted Kamerhe and Jammal, saying there had not been enough evidence for a prosecution.[10][11][29] In its 2022 country report on the DRC, the U.S. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor took Kamerhe's acquittal as evidence that "officials frequently engaged in corrupt practices with impunity," presenting it as an example of how "[l]ack of enforcement of court decisions in corruption cases contributed to impunity, as rulings were often overturned in appellate proceedings or dismissed due to procedural errors."[29]

Return to government

On 25 March 2023, Félix Tshisekedi reappointed Kamerhe to his government, this time as deputy prime minister in charge of the economy.[30]

Family

Kamerhe is the brother-in-law of Aimé Boji.[2] He married Amida Shatur on February 19, 2019.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Alfa Shaban, Abdur Rahman (29 January 2019). "DRC president Tshisekedi names coalition ally as Chief of Staff". Africanews. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Ging, John Paul (8 August 2020). "Vital Kamerhe appeal hearing against corruption charges postponed again". Africanews.
  3. ^ a b c d Alfa Shaban, Abdur Rahman (21 June 2020). "DR Congo president's ex-chief of staff jailed 20 years for corruption". Africanews.
  4. ^ a b c "DRC's Vital Kamerhe Loses Fraud Case". Taarifa. Rwanda. 20 June 2020. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020.
  5. ^ a b "DR Congo court gives 20-year sentence to president's chief of staff Kamerhe for graft". France24. 20 June 2020. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Top DR Congo presidential aide Kamerhe goes on trial for corruption". France 24. 11 May 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Note d'analyse – Affaire Kamerhe : opacité, quand tu nous tiens". Congo Research Group (in French). 7 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Congo president replaces chief of staff amid graft trial". Reuters. 12 May 2020.
  9. ^ Lawal, Olorunwa (26 January 2021). "DR Congo Replaces Jailed Chief of Staff with Guylain Nyembo". News Central TV.
  10. ^ a b "DRC: Vital Kamerhe acquitted of embezzlement conviction". Africanews. 24 June 2022.
  11. ^ a b "DRC: Keeping a low profile, Vital Kamerhe savours his freedom". The Africa Report. 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  12. ^ "CSIS - The Road to Presidential Elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Feb 2, 2011" "The question of the name is part of a pseudo-political campaign aiming at depicting Vital Kamerhe as a "rwandaise", hence enemy of the congolese people. Vital Kamerhe himself speaks about this issue during the conference held at the CSIS, in Washington DC on February 2nd, 2011. The question and answer related to this topic can be heard starting at 00:56:26"
  13. ^ a b " Élogieux cursus de Vital Kamerhe, président l’Assemblée nationale " Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine, January 10, 2007, copy on CongoForum.be
  14. ^ "Radio Okapi (2006)"
  15. ^ a b c d Congo: The Electoral Dilemma (Report). International Crisis Group. 5 May 2011. Africa Report N° 175.
  16. ^ "CNN - DR Congo peace deal signed - December 17, 2002" Archived October 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, "accessed on 01/30/2011"
  17. ^ "Call for DR Congo speaker to quit", AFP, 27 February 2009.
  18. ^ "Kabila decision incensed Congolese", Sapa-AFP (IOL), 22 January 2009.
  19. ^ ""Constitution de la République Démocratique du Congo"". Archived from the original on 2006-08-12. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
  20. ^ "LAVDC Radio - Jeudi 26 mars 2009"
  21. ^ "Congolese assembly speaker quits". BBC. 25 March 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
  22. ^ "DECLARATION POLITIQUE DE L’HONORABLE VITAL KAMERHE, PRESIDENT NATIONAL DE L’UNION POUR LA NATION CONGOLAISE, UNC, en sigle (Kinshasa, Mardi 14 décembre 2010)"
  23. ^ "UNC Party Flyer - released on December 14, 2010"
  24. ^ a b c d Kamale, Jean-Yves (20 June 2020). "Congo president's chief of staff guilty in corruption trial". The Daily Herald. Provo, Utah. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020.
  25. ^ Tasamba, James (12 April 2020). "DR Congo court remands president's chief of staff". Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020.
  26. ^ Gras, Romain; Bujakera Tshiamala, Stanis (9 September 2019). "DRC: Who's who in the new ministerial crew". The Africa Report.
  27. ^ Bujakera Tshiamala, Stanis (18 June 2021). "DRC: Kamerhe loses his appeal and his party threatens to drop its alliance with Tshisekedi". The Africa Report.
  28. ^ "DRC: Under what conditions has Vital Kamerhe been released?". The Africa Report. 7 December 2021. Archived from the original on 27 June 2022.
  29. ^ a b 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Democratic Republic of the Congo (Report). U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
  30. ^ "DRC: Vital Kamerhe's spectacular comeback". The Africa Report. Archived from the original on 28 March 2023.
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