By Basanda Nsimbyi Oswald

The interfederal of the Union for the Congolese Nation in South Kivu Me Daniel Lwaboshi thanks God and Congolese justice for upholding the rule of law by acquitting their national president Vital Kamerhe.

Me Daniel Lwaboshi said it just after the judgment of the Gombe court this Thursday, June 24, 2022 which acquitted vital Kamerhe in the 100-day trial file for lack of proof.

This indicates that this acquittal allows them to salute the rule of law advocated by the Head of State.

“I don’t have to say, except to thank the Lord, to thank the Congolese people, the UNC executives who supported, who marched for this day to come. We also thank Congolese justice for having done its job properly. We have always said it, we trust our justice, we trust the rule of law. For us the rule of law is not a myth, it is a reality.

The interfederal of the UNC in South Kivu indicates that their vital leader Kamerhe is a state and he will contribute to the development of the country.

“The head of state had already said in June 2021 that Vital Kamerhe is an honest man, an intelligent man and he has a big role to play for his country. This comes from the mouth of the head of the state. And so we are reassured that from the moment he was cleared, he is a free man, he is a man who has regained his dignity and as he has always devoted himself to this work, he will still devote to the service of his country.

Just after this acquittal, UNC activists circulated the city with horns, whistles and others to express their joy.

The Kinshasa-Gombe Court of Appeal acquitted Vital Kamerhe on Thursday June 23 in the 100-day case. The verdict on appeal in the case involving the former chief of staff of the Head of State and his co-defendants has been made public after several postponements.

According to Hugues Pulusi Eka, one of Vital Kamerhe's lawyers, who confirms the information, the president of the Union for the Congolese Nation (UNC) was exonerated in the case of the alleged embezzlement of funds allocated to the emergency program of 100 days of the President of the Republic.

“I confirm that our client Mr. Kamerhe was acquitted by the Kinshasa-Gombe Court of Appeal. The offenses of embezzlement were declared not established in fact and in law by the said court.

The hearing which was scheduled for tomorrow, Friday June 24, has turned into a communication of the Court's judgment to the parties to the trial without an extract from the role.

On April 11, the Court of Cassation overturned the decision of the Kinshasa / Gombe Court of Appeal, sentencing Vital Kamerhe to 13 years of forced labor.

During a short hearing behind closed doors, the judges had motivated their decision by the fact that the appeal judgment was tainted with procedural defects.

In fact, the Court of Appeal had continued to judge Kamerhe while the latter had challenged its composition and had already seized the Constitutional Court.

The Court of Cassation had found that the Kinshasa / Gombe Court of Appeal violated article 104 of the code of criminal procedure, by examining the file when it was not ready.

This court had also underlined the fact that the Court of Appeal ruled on the basis of a notification of the hearing date when it should have summoned the defendant, which also constitutes a violation of the right of defense provided for by the 19 of the Constitution.

The case was therefore sent back to the Kinshasa/Gombe Court of Appeal, but this time with another composition in order to retry the case on its merits.