Former Congolese Minister of Education Willy Bakonga was sentenced to three years in prison overnight from Thursday to Friday. His son Joël Bakonga receives six months in prison. It is the verdict issued by the oppressive chamber of the Court of Cassation in a flagrant proceeding. The former minister and his private secretary were charged with transferring more than $ 10,000 abroad and concealing the true origin of the goods.
as reported from Kinshasa, Kamanda Wa Kamanda
The former Minister for Compulsory Education, Upper Secondary Schools and Technical Education did not answer ten days ago out of justice for the presumption of financial embezzlement. Willy Bakonga Wilima had preferred to cross the river at night in the company of his son Joël Bakonga to try to take the plane in Brazzaville to go to the United States.
Two days later, they had boarded an Air France flight of the Brazzavillois services at the request of Congolese justice. Surrendered to Kinshasa on Wednesday, at the end of arduous negotiations, the father and son appeared blatantly before the Cassation Court meeting in a repressive chamber on Thursday, April 29. A lawsuit decided to sanction the former minister’s escape, according to defense attorneys.
Under the leadership of Yemo Mima, its president, the court sat all evening before sentencing around midnight. Willy Bakonga was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $ 90,000. His son Joël Bakonga was sentenced to six months in prison and fined $ 30,000. The court also requested confiscation of the seized money.
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