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MP Adolphe Onusumba was found guilty as charged and sentenced to a
12-month jail term and slapped with a $100,000 fine for statutory rape
by the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) Friday, September 28.
After sentencing, Onusumba was taken away to Kinshasa Makala Prison,
where he'll serve his sentence.
The speedy trial at the CSJ --five court sessions (from Monday,
September 24 to Friday, September 28)--was due to the case of
flagrante delicto involving a member of parliament.
Paradoxically, the CSJ explained the light sentence due to the
extenuating circumstances over the controversy swirling around the age
of Ms. Mireille Owale, the victim of the statutory rape and longtime
ward of MP Onusumba.
One of the six lawyers of the team representing Ms. Owale told
reporters he was dissatisfied by this slap-on-the-wrist sentence that
sends the wrong signal to other sexual predators:
"The public prosecutor was requesting a 20-year jail term but the
Court has settled for 12 months.
"Therefore, we are not quite satisfied regarding this part of the
ruling for it should have served as an example to other predators.
"We are going to take the case to the Grand Instance Court to sue for
damages on behalf of the girl since she'd been sexually abused."
On their part, lawyers of MP Onusumba were subdued and accepted the
verdict and the sentence.
Said one of them:
"The Court rendered its verdict in all sovereignty. We abide by it.
"It's out of the question to talk about either satisfaction or not.
"We respect the verdict of the Court."
After the verdict, Kinshasa tabloids and the grapevine of
Radio-Trottoir went on overdrive with conspiracy theories of settling
of scores along two main threads:
1) FIRST THREAD. According to Kinshasa tabloid "Congo News," MP
Onusumba had allegedly set up a Ponzi-scheme company through which
he'd defrauded investors of $10 million in a bogus bankruptcy.
Those investors, for the most part brass of the regime, had concocted
this sex scandal to take revenge on Onusumba.
2) SECOND THREAD. Still according to "Congo News," though both are
members of the Presidential Majority, MP Onusumba and DRC Media
Minister Lambert happen to be bitter political rivals in their
constituency of Lodja, in the Oriental Kasai Province.
To be sure, Mende and Onusumba are members of the Tetela ethnic group.
But Mende is a Tetela from the forest where the city of Lodja is
located, whereas Onusumba belongs to the Tetela group from the
savannah whose presence in Lodja is resented by locals as an
encroachment.
During the 2011 legislative electoral campaign, supporters of Mende
and Onusumba clashed violently--with death tolls ranging from 1 to 3,
according to last year's press reports.
It took the personal intervention of President Joseph Kabila for the
two rivals to come to an uneasy peace.
"Congo News" report sees the hand of Mende behind the alleged
double-cross. It points to the fact that all the 6 lawyers
representing Ms. Mireille Owale are Mende's own lawyers.
Anyway, this case could be the end of the political career of Adolphe
Onusumba--whose trajectory includes a stint as chairman of the
Rwandan-backed RCD rebel group, DRC Defense Minister in the
post-conflict Transitional regime, and Member of Parliament.
(With radiookapi.net, africanews.cd, Kinshasa tabloids & Radio-Trottoir)
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PHOTO CREDITS: Klaus Werner
Via: africanews.cd
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