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Congo-Kinshasa: Former DR Congo Prime Minister Sentenced to Hard Labour for Corruption
- On May 20, 2025, the Constitutional Court in Kinshasa handed former Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo a ten-year forced labour sentence for misappropriating approximately $245 million intended for an unsuccessful agricultural initiative.
- The corruption case stems from a large corn farming project 260 km southeast of Kinshasa that collapsed in 2017 after opening under former President Joseph Kabila's administration.
- Deogratias Mutombo, who previously led the DRC's central bank, and Christo Grobler, a businessman from South Africa, were each given five-year sentences of forced labour; all three defendants, including Ponyo, were convicted in their absence and remain free.
- A South African company managed the farm and left after not receiving government payments, while investigations started in 2021 under President Félix Tshisekedi to scrutinize the previous government’s conduct.
- Ponyo’s lawyer called the ruling "unfair and politically motivated," reflecting tensions under Tshisekedi’s government, which has also accused Kabila of backing rebels while Kabila denies those claims.
20 Articles
20 Articles
Former Congolese Prime Minister Sentenced to 10 Years for Embezzlement - teleSUR English
The top court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has sentenced former Prime Minister Matata Ponyo Mapon to 10 years of forced labor after convicting him of embezzling $245 million from a failed corn farming project under former President Joseph Kabila’s administration. Ponyo, who served as Prime Minister from 2012 to 2016, was tried in absentia alongside former central bank governor Deogratias Mutombo and South African businessman Christo…
Former Congo PM sentenced over $245 million corruption scandal
The charges relate to a massive corn farming project launched under Kabila’s administration, which collapsed in 2017. Investigations into the failed initiative began in 2021 under President Félix Tshisekedi.
The Straits Times
The CitizenCongo ex-prime minister convicted of embezzlement in huge failed farm project
A Congolese former prime minister was convicted of embezzling millions from a huge failed agriculture venture, in one of the highest-profile corruption cases brought under President Felix Tshisekedi against the government of his predecessor. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Congo-Kinshasa: Former DR Congo Prime Minister Sentenced to Hard Labour for Corruption
Former Democratic Republic of Congo Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo was sentenced to ten years of forced labour for embezzling around $245 million of public funds, alongside Deogratias Mutombo, the former governor of the central bank, who received a five-year sentence.
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