RDC: following a petition, the president of the National Assembly Vital Kamerhe resigned

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the President of the Assembly resigned on Monday, September 22. Vital Kamerhe was targeted by a petition signed by 262 elected officials. And while the deputies were convened in plenary to vote on this text, he took the front steps and announced his resignation as president of the institution.

In RDC, it is the first vice-president of the lower house, the honorable Jean-Claude Tshilumbay, who made this announcement at the very beginning of the plenary, on the evening of Monday, September 22. He then gave the speech to the outgoing president Vital Kamerhe.

“This debate pushed the real challenges to the background: national unity, cohesion, the defense of sovereignty and economic progress. Voilà ce qui would have captured all our energy. “From tomorrow, we will find the essentials,” he regretted.

A little before the opening of this plenary, several elected members of the UNC – the party of Vital Kamerhe – had confirmed to us this resignation, which was submitted earlier in the day, in front of the office of the institution.

Vital Kamerhe who also wanted to demonstrate that the complaints contained in the petition were unfounded, according to him, and that they were not legal. The president of the session then interrupted to explain that this was not the place for this type of explanation.

The session was then adjourned without the commission set up to examine this petition and render its report on which it had worked several days. Peter Kazadi, the president of this commission, in effect considered that the report was outdated in view of these new elements. For him, it is relief at the end of this plenary session. « The charge was heavy. Vital Kamerhe n’est pas n’importe qui. The sight of him entering a confrontation with 260 of his voters would have caused damage, he estimated.

A procedure entangled with irregularities according to the opposition

In the camp of Vital Kamerhe, on prend acte of this resignation. Emile Sumaili Miseka believes that this act shows that Vital Kamerhe is a statesman. « He just waited for the right moments to present to the world that these were imaginary griefs. But en homme d’État, he said: “Now, let’s concentrate on the essential questions that touch the security aspect, the economic aspect and above all the social aspect of our country,” he explained.

On the side of the opposition, this procedure is tainted with irregularities. « On ne peut pas participate ou accompany une masquerade, parce que c’est une masquerade. The decision is already taken at the highest level by the sacred union and the rest is just a theater because all the rules of law have been violated in order to kill certain people. On a trouvé que cétait inutile. To preserve the honor of one and the other, it was important to resign”, says Christian Mwando, leader of the opposition.

Another member of the bureau also resigned. This is Dominique Munongo, deputy rapporteur and sole member of the opposition at the office of the National Assembly.