Colossal allowances, accommodation costs, medical care, police guards, travel documents and diplomatic passports… The former presidents of two Chambers of the Congolese Parliament are demanding the application of a controversial law devoting advantages to the benefit in particular of former presidents of the Republic, former Speakers of Parliament and former Prime Ministers. Something to irritate civil society organizations.
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa
The Congolese NGO Congolese Association for Access to Justice (ACAJ) considers the approach of the two Chambers of Parliament inappropriate and scandalous at a time when the colossal remuneration of deputies is controversial and while civil society advocates for the reduction of the excessive lifestyle of institutions.
At the end of the week, the former presidents of the two chambers met Modeste Bahati, current president of the Senate. The latter pleads for the budgeting, in 2023, of their rights. According to the former presidents of Parliament, the text of the law is not applied. They also requested the payment of arrears.
For Master Georges Kapiamba, of the ACAJ, this request is excessive and immoral. ” We do not agree because these former heads of constituted bodies cannot say today that they are housed in the same boat as people who live in precariousness. We ask them to give up these benefitshe pleaded. The current social temporality cannot found the government as well as the Parliament to be able to foresee in the budget of the financial year 2023 all the advantages which they are claiming. This law should be revised to reduce the benefits. »
A costly measure for state finances
In 2018, in the last hours of Joseph Kabila’s regime, this controversial law was adopted to protect former dignitaries from precariousness, but it could weigh heavily on the public treasury. ” Our experts let us know that if this law is applied, it could swallow up no less than 20 % of national budget. This is extremely serious and will not allow social investments to be made in the interest of the whole nation. “says Kapiamba, calling on the government and the Parliament not to take into consideration the claim of these former dignitaries.
ACAJ also asks to prune the list of beneficiaries and all dignitaries who have been involved in acts of corruption, embezzlement of public funds and money laundering during the exercise of their functions.