The Constitutional Court, during its hearing on Thursday, April 18, postponed the resumption of the trial concerning the alleged embezzlement of funds allocated to the Bukanga-Lonzo agro-industrial park in the Kwango province to July 22, 2024, according to a deferral order from this judicial body.

Signed on Wednesday by the president of the Constitutional Court, Dieudonné Kamuleta, this order states: "the responsibility incumbent upon the Constitutional Court called upon to examine the litigation of candidacies and the results of the senatorial elections which require expediency with a binding deadline, constitutes a case of force majeure."

The main accused in this case, former Prime Minister and Senator Augustin Matata Ponyo is prosecuted for having hidden 200 million dollars intended for the realization of this project, according to the Prosecutor’s Office at this Court. His co-accused are Patrice Kitebi, former Deputy Finance Minister, and Kristo Glober, a South African businessman.

They are alleged to have embezzled 205 million dollars out of the 285 million disbursed by the public treasury. In the same case, Deogratias Mutombo, former governor of the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) is also cited, accused of having diverted 89 million USD allocated to the construction of the Kinshasa international market.

The first hearing in this case took place in May 2021. Six months later, that is, in November of the same year, the court deemed that it had no jurisdiction to judge a former Prime Minister. It therefore suspended proceedings against this individual.

It was finally in June 2022 that the trial opened at the Court of Cassation. The first three hearings were devoted to identifying the defendants and their lawyers.

Boni Tsala