In a massive cabinet overhaul, President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo named Jean-Pierre Bemba, the country’s former vice president who spent more than a decade in jail for war crimes, to the position of defense minister. The President’s Spokesperson announced his appointment on national television late on Thursday, calling the reorganization of the 57-person cabinet “urgent and vital.” There was a complete lack of context. Tshisekedi is expected to run for reelection as president on December 20, and this shakeup is more comprehensive than anybody had anticipated.
“This is a fundamentally political shuffle,” said Jason Stearns, head of the Congo Research Group and professor at Canada’s Simon Fraser University. In November of 2019, we should have a definitive list of presidential candidates revealed. Martin Fayulu, who declared victory in the 2018 election, is seen as a possible presidential opponent. Former governor of oil-rich Katanga province Moise Katumbi is another. Tshisekedi selected Vital Kamerhe, his former chief of staff and an embezzlement prisoner who was released from jail in December 2021, to be economics minister. The position of finance minister is still held by Nicolas Kazadi. Stearns said that Tshisekedi’s alliance will be strengthened by the nominations of political heavyweights before of elections. Senior politicians with huge constituencies to appease are sometimes granted key roles despite having little experience in their new ministries. Kamerhe is not trained in economics. Bemba was a rebel, he added, but he had no real military experience.
Kamerhe, a powerful figure in Congo’s political scene, was found guilty of embezzling about $50 million from a presidential economic initiative and given a 20-year jail sentence in 2020. He said they were all false. On appeal, his sentence was reduced to 13 years, but that ruling was reversed by a higher court in June of 2022. The International Criminal Court detained Bemba, a former rebel commander, in 2008 for war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated by his men in the Central African Republic between 2002 and 2003. His conviction was overturned on appeal, and he was finally freed after serving 10 years. On the other hand, he was charged and found guilty of witness tampering.
