DRC demands R4.7 billion from failed coup group for damage to its image

A Congolese Republican Guard and police road block in Gombe, Kinshasa on 19 May 2024, after what the DRC’s government called a coup attempt involving foreigners. (ARSENE MPIANA / AFP)

The DRC government says the 19 May coup plotters damaged the country’s good standing.Civilian victims are also demanding compensation from the plotters.The accused face the maximum penalty and are among more than 800 on death row.

State prosecutors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are suing the 51 people they blame for a failed coup for the equivalent of R4.7 billion in damages, alleging that it gave the country a bad name.

In their ongoing trial, the defendants appeared before the Kinshasa-Gombe garrison military court, sitting at the Ndolo military prison in Kinshasa this week.

Their actions had caused the DRC both moral and material harm, National Bar Association president Matadi Wamba told the hearing on Monday.

No amount of money could undo the harm of the idea, pushed from abroad, that Congolese people should revolt against institutions that aren’t working, he said.

“Material harm also because infrastructure has been ransacked. There is no sum of money that will repair these wrongs suffered.”

But he managed to put a price to it: $250 million, payable in Congolese francs.

Failed coup

On 19 May, armed men briefly seized control of Kinshasa’s presidential office. 

Security troops killed the coup’s apparent leader, Christian Malanga, a local politician who lived in the United States.

READ | American ‘coup’ accused told they face death penalty as DRC military trial opens

Americans Benjamin Zalman-Polun, Malanga’s son Marcel Malanga, his high school friend Tyler Thompson Jr, and British national Youssouf Ezangi are among the 51 on trial for that episode.

Also among those arrested are Mata Maguy and Ephraïm Mangungu from Auberge Chez Momo Inn, where the coup plotters stayed ahead of their plan.

They are accused of providing logistical support to mercenaries.

But just like the State, they are demanding compensation.

Maguy asked for R19 million and Mangungu is seeking R47.5 million for the troubles the plotters had caused.

Stephie Elonga the wife of Kevin Tamba, a civilian killed by Malanga when he refused to give them his Range Rover to use during the attempted coup, is asking for R380 million in damages.

Treason is punishable by death in the DRC. According to the Death Penalty Project, it’s estimated that there are 800 people on death row in the DRC. 

After the government lifted a 20-year moratorium on the death penalty in March this year, the number is likely going up because of cases involving military deserters in North Kivu.

The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

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