Tshisekedi restructures the DRC government and appoints former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba as Defense Minister

March 24 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi, has announced the reshuffle of his government, placing former Vice President and ‘warlord’ Jean-Pierre Bemba as Defense Minister.

The restructuring extends to 57 members of the Government, one more than before the change, and in addition to the Minister of Defense contemplates other new ones in charge of the ministerial portfolios, in anticipation of the country’s presidential elections in December, according to Radio Okapi reports.

The former chief of staff of President Vital Kamerhe will be Minister of Economy; the president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress parliamentary group, Peter Kazadi, will be interior minister; former Foreign Minister Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi will be in charge of the Ministry of State; while the sports journalist Claude-François Kabulo will be appointed Minister of Sports.

The most notorious appointment is that of Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was prosecuted for the atrocities committed by the men in his charge in the neighboring Central African Republic (CAR) between 2002 and 2003. He was arrested in 2008 and released ten years later, when the International Criminal Court (ICC) reversed his sentence. He was charged and convicted of other lesser charges, related to obstruction of justice.

Also known to the courts is the new economy minister, Vital Kamerhe. In 2020, the courts found him guilty of misappropriating some $50 million in infrastructure funds, which occurred during the first 100 days of the Congolese president’s term.

The sentence was reduced to 13 years in prison during a first appeal trial in June 2021, and he was ultimately acquitted of all charges in June 2022.