The Tshisekedi government has used public prosecutions of high-level officials and the creation of an anti-corruption unit to improve the DRC’s reputation on corruption.  DRC’s 2020 Corruption Perception Index score—170th out of 180—underlines the deep roots of corruption in the country.  The DRC constitution includes laws intended to fight corruption and bribery by all citizens, including public officials.  Anti-corruption laws extend to family members and political parties.  Private companies have applied their own controls to limit corruption and have in the past been more effective at controlling it.

In March 2020, President Tshisekedi created the National Agency for the Prevention and Fight Against Corruption.  Currently corruption investigations are ongoing for three Managing Directors of SOEs.  In June 2020, the court convicted Tshisekedi’s former Chief of Staff Vital Kamerhe of embezzlement and public corruption and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.  Accused of having embezzled funds allocated to Primary, Secondary and Technical Education (EPST), the General Inspector of EPST and General Director of the Service for Control and Payment of Teachers (SECOPE) were sentenced in March 2021 to 20 years of hard labor by the Court of Appeal of Kinshasa/Gombe.

The DRC is a signatory to both the UN Anticorruption Convention and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption but has not fully ratified the latter.  The DRC is not a signatory to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery.  The DRC ratified a protocol agreement with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on fighting corruption.  NGOs such as the consortium “The Congo is Not for Sale,” have an important role in revealing corrupt practices, and the law protects NGOs in a whistleblower role.

U.S. firms see corruption and harassment by local security forces as one of the main hurdles to investment in the DRC, particularly in the awarding of concessions, government procurement, and taxation treatment.

Resources to Report Corruption

Official government agency:

Agence de Prévention et de Lutte contre la Corruption (APLC)
Tel: +243 893 302 819

Nongovernmental organization:

Transparency International
Ligue Congolaise de Lutte contre la Corruption (LICOCO)
Avenue Luango No14, Quartier 1, N’djili
Kinshasa
+243 81 60 49 837
licocordc@gmail.com
http://www.licocordc.org