Chérubin Okende: What we know about the assassination of the former Congolese minister found dead in his car in Kinshasa

The body of Chérubin Okende, national deputy and former Congolese minister close to the opponent Moïse Katumbi, was found Thursday morning in his car, riddled with bullets. Authorities have launched an investigation. The circumstances of his death are not yet clear.

It was early Thursday morning that an abandoned jeep on the Route des Poids-Lourds, in the city center of the capital Kinshasa, caught the attention of passers-by. Through the window, a man could be seen in a white shirt, partially covered in blood. He was still wearing his seat belt and was sitting in the driver’s seat, his neck bent back.

The body was eventually taken to a morgue in Kinshasa.

In a press conference held Thursday in Kinshasa, Firmin Mvonde Mambu, Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, revealed that Congolese justice detained a relative of the deceased.

He explained to journalists that he had come and gone on Wednesday to the Court of Cassation to file and withdraw correspondence.

“He leaves here at four two minutes. He returns around eight o’clock to find out, to ask if the deceased was still here. He reappears around six in the morning but appears at eight o’clock before our magistrates to say that it was using the GPS system that he found the body, the car,” he said.

Prosecutor Mambu then wonders about the reasons for the delay between the moment when the relative noticed the absence of the deputy and the time when he used the GPS to trace the geolocation of his car.

Before the confirmation of the death of the former minister by officials, it was passers-by who identified the body. They called friends and family members who later confirmed that it was indeed the body of Mr. Chérubin Okende Senga, 62 years old.

On Wednesday, the relatives of the deputy had warned that he had been brutally kidnapped by armed men, in civilian clothes and this, in the enclosure of the Constitutional Court, the last place where he had gone in the company of his bodyguard to drop mail.

At this stage, the prosecutor neither confirms nor denies the presence of deputy Chérubin Okende at the Constitutional Court.

“To the question of whether the late Chérubin Okende had come here to the Constitutional Court, we will have the answer. Right now, I can’t say yes or no,” he says.

On the side of the authorities, the first to react was Mr. Patrick Muyaya, the Congolese Minister of Communication, Media and Government Spokesman, “You heard this morning that one of our colleagues, in this case, Chérubin Okende Senga, the former Honorary Minister of Transport and National Deputy was assassinated in conditions that must be elucidated”

“The government condemns this despicable act,” he added, while announcing that all services have been instructed to shed light on this heinous act, before presenting the government’s condolences to his biological family.

The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr. Félix Tshisekedi also immediately presented his condolences to the family and loved ones. He urges Justice to shed light on this file, in order to punish the culprits of this act which he describes as “despicable”, via a tweet from the Presidency.

In a https://twitter.com/moise_katumbi/status/1679485907492012032?s=20, Moïse Katumbi declared that the assassination of the Honorable Okende after kidnapping before the constitutional court, petrifies. “My condolences to his widow and children. This heinous crime of a politician resembles the Chebeya case. An independent investigation must be conducted to shed light on what looks like a state crime. he concluded.

Born on May 5, 1961, Chérubin Okende Senga had several hats, when he died, at the age of 62, he was an elected representative of the capital, Kinshasa, sitting in the National Assembly.

He was Minister of Transport, Ways of Communication and Accessibility, before resigning on December 28 to join the political opposition.

Among other things, he was spokesperson for the Ensemble pour la République, an opposition party led by Moïse Katumbi Chapwe, candidate announced for the presidential election at the end of this year.

After participating in the Congolese Dialogue in Sun City and Pretoria (2001-2003), as national vice-president of the Civil Society of Congo (SOCICO), he entered active politics in 2003 and was elected National Deputy. He then created his own political party, the Front Social des Indépendants Républicains (FSIR), of which he was President until his death.

Chérubin Okende, a fine orator, held several positions in the communication cells in numerous political groups and coalitions under Joseph Kabila and under Félix Tshisekedi.

This Doctor of Public Law from the University of Kinshasa and a graduate in statistics and management mathematics from the University of Lubumbashi had a long career with the Congolese Control Office (SATOZAC / OCC) between 1989 and 2019.

In the meantime, he was also appointed administrator in several state entities, notably the Fund for the Promotion of Industry (FPI) and the country’s former airline, Les Lignes Aériennes Congolaises (LAC).