After the murder of the Congolese opponent Chérubin Okende Senga in Kinshasa, a first suspect is in the hands of justice, announced Thursday, July 13 the public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation. He was arrested on Thursday at the place where the vehicle in which the dead body of the deputy was found was discovered. The authorities are continuing the judicial investigation opened.
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According to Firmin Mvonde Mambu, a lead should shed light on this crime, assuring that ” a gentleman close to the deceased who came here ” And ” is in our hands “, said the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation to our correspondent in Kinshasa, Kamanda wa Kamanda Muzembe. Thanks to the scientific police and the communication services which are involved, the truth will be discovered, reassured the magistrate who warned social networks against manipulation.
According to the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, Firmin Mvonde Mambu, “There is a gentleman close to the deceased who came here. This person is in our hands.”
According to judicial sources corroborated by several testimonies, when the body of Chérubin Okende was discovered on Thursday morning, the engine of his Jeep was running in front of a garage. The air conditioning was still working, the seat belt was fastened and his white shirt was stained with blood.
The vehicle would have been in front of the garage around 3 a.m. and was only evacuated by the police around 10 a.m.
According to the police, a 9mm weapon was next to the body with bullet holes. This weapon would be that of the policeman who accompanied and protected the spokesperson for Ensemble pour la République on Wednesday.
Last seen in the Constitutional Court
On board the vehicle, Cherubin Okende had gone the day before to the Constitutional Court to request the postponement of his hearing on his declaration of assets as a former minister. He did not go to the scene himself, but sent his bodyguard, a police commissioner, to deposit his correspondence.
When he returned, the policeman saw neither his boss nor his vehicle. His body was not found until the following day, Thursday, in his jeep on a busy road in Kinshasa. The law enforcement officer is heard by the courts and is retained for the reasons of the investigation.
Dieudonné Bolengetenge, secretary general of the Together for the Republic party, was among opposition deputies and colleagues of Cherubin Okende who came to the hospital morgue on Thursday July 13 evening. He also collected the testimony of the police officer’s bodyguard:
“ I spoke with his guard who was with him in the car, to whom he said “drop off the mail and bring back the acknowledgment of receipt and we’re off”. I spoke with the guard and he said “I went out, I raised the seat, I placed the weapon under the seat, I went to take the acknowledgment of receipt and ten minutes later when I return the honorable was no longer there, nor his car”. These are the facts, it was before the court that he was kidnapped. It means that if in front of the Constitutional Court there is insecurity, where are you going to feel safe in this country? Where ? We are faced with a situation where we can tell the government or you know what it is about, so you are the sponsor, the person in charge or you know nothing, you are not in your place, you are dangerous for us . »
Consternation and anger of the family and relatives of Chérubin Okende at the morgue
” We feel like his word was in the way says a colleague
All dressed in black, his colleagues went to the hospital. The body of Chérubin Okende with bullet holes was kept in a locked drawer in front of his inconsolable relatives, reports our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa.
” We know his opinion which is firm in the face of the current power after to have left the government out of conviction and we have the impression that his word bothered each other, revolts the deputy François Nzekuye. To assassinate a deputy is to assassinate democracy. Let the Congolese people realize today that we are facing a dictatorship, we are beginning to muzzle the words of those you have elected to speak on your behalf. »
Read alsoDeath of Chérubin Okende in the DRC: “It’s a political assassination”, says Moïse Katumbi