Kabila suspends 6 ministers, 10 company executives

Congolese President Joseph Kabila suspended six government ministers and 10 senior managers of state-owned companies on Thursday following a report by the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, accusing them of corruption.

A presidential decree suspending the ministers for energy, transport and communication, mines, higher education, public works and foreign trade, as well senior managers of 10 of the country's state-owned companies affiliated with these ministers accused the officials of illegal payments and other unlawful acts.

"The president of the republic has taken preventive measures that suspend certain ministers cited in the auditing report initiated by the National Assembly's Finance and Economic Committee," the decree, which was read on national TV, stated.

According to a member of the committee that wrote the report, who sought anonymity, the suspension was taken in agreement with the country's four vice-presidents.

"We noted that some ministers received money from the companies that were under their tutelage - we did a technical work [and] it is now up to the justice system to acquit or to sentence," the member said.

A parliamentary inquiry was launched after the national audit office published a report in September citing embezzlement by the companies' managers. The September report said a handful of managers earned monthly salaries ranging between US $8,000 and $32,000, and paid themselves other benefits. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an average public servant earns $10 per month.

"The auditing was flaky, based on press reports without any proof of embezzlement," one of the suspended company managers, who asked not to be named, said. "It is a bit political, but let's leave the justice system do its job. We didn't pay anything to ourselves and the new executives that the ministers will appoint won't allow themselves to be ridiculed."

The transitional government in the Congo was installed in June 2003 after a five-year war. Under the transition, belligerents signed a comprehensive peace agreement, which among other things, stipulates that government posts and senior positions in state-owned companies need to be equitably divided among the former enemies.

Thus, new ministers and managers will have to come from the parties that have been given these positions as agreed upon under the agreement.

A National Assembly session is scheduled for Friday to debate the situation.