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Embezzlement of Funds: the DRC Government Caught Some |
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Posted on July 31, 2008
On July 22, 2008, the Interdepartmental
Commission of the Commission of audit and Good Governance of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
made public the names of those involved in embezzlement of 1.3 billion US
dollars. Among those named are three
financial institutions (DGI, DGRAD, OFIDA) and six public enterprises (ONATRA,
OCC, REGIDESO, SNEL, SONAS and RVA).
The government promised to bring to justice individuals and agencies
found guilty of this crime. However, Mr.
Rachidi Akida, president of Anticorruption and Fraud League encouraged the
government to continue its investigation, bring the criminals to justice and
make sure they return all that they took.
In a report by Radio Okapi on July 23, Mr. Akida expressed his
skepticism and mistrust in the Congolese judicial system saying that “what is
unfortunate for us is that one can denounce this diversion and at the end of
the day one is not able to put the hand on the criminal, and especially to bring
him to justice. If you remember, when there was a denunciation of certain
ministers of the previous government, they were dismissed from their duties,
but after that they no longer were bothered. And, moreover, they were not
brought to justice, and never returned the amounts they were accused to have
stolen.”
The Cost of Corruption to a
Nation
Corruption has been
institutionalized and remains one of the weaknesses of the DRC government. The cost of corruption is extremely
high. Rooted in the culture of not
applying laws, corruption is an expression of a resistance to
accountability.
Such behavior prevents
the people to participate in government, which is in fact one of the ways to
shut down the democratic process because no civil society can be empowered in a
chronic corruption environment. One of
the tangible results of corruption in the DRC is the failure of the state to
control its resources . While at the state
level politicians sign fraudulent mining contracts with multinationals, the
strongest at provincial and grassroots level create illegal markets just to
survive from the state indifference, failure and abuse of its power. Corruption is a good ground for tribalism and
regionalism at the expense of nationalism and the common good. Corruption in the D. R.C is a phenomenon
whose solution is long overdue. The question at hand is: Can the D. R Congo be rebuilt without addressing
the corruption pandemic? The International
Crisis Group has a handful of suggestion and analysis.
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