Augustin Matata Ponyo, former Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has been sentenced to 10 years of hard labour after being convicted of embezzling $245 million in public funds.
The ruling, delivered by the DRC’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday, also found Deogratias Mutombo, the former governor of the country’s central bank, guilty in the same case. Mutombo received a five-year sentence of hard labour.
Matata’s lawyer denounced the verdict as unjust and politically driven, claiming his client is a victim of persecution.
The funds were reportedly siphoned from the Bukanga-Lonzo Agro-Industrial Park, a major agricultural project meant to combat severe food shortages in the country. Launched in 2014, the initiative was anticipated to create 22,000 jobs and address the urgent needs of over 28 million Congolese facing acute food insecurity.
Matata, who served as Prime Minister from 2012 to 2016 and previously held the position of finance minister, was once commended by the International Monetary Fund for stabilizing the DRC’s economy. He currently leads the Leadership and Governance for Development (LGD) party.
Despite his presidential ambitions in the 2023 elections, Matata eventually withdrew from the race. He has consistently maintained his innocence throughout the nearly four-year investigation, which was initiated after the country’s Inspectorate General of Finance uncovered the large-scale misappropriation of funds in 2020.
The AFP reports that both Matata and Mutombo have also been barred from holding public office for five years following the completion of their sentences. Under Congolese law, forced labour is a legal form of punishment when imposed by a court.
