Who killed Cherub Okende it's because? Two months after the assassination of the former Congolese Transport Minister, the question remains unanswered and the deceased's family continues to demand that his body be returned. However, we know more about the statistics of his death.
young Africa in fact, he had access to a confidential note written by the internal security department of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR), addressed to its general administrator.
The document is dated July 14th – that is, it was written the day after the discovery of Chérubin Okende's body. At the time, it was Jean-Hervé Mbelu Biosha who heads the ANR, but will be replaced a few weeks later by Daniel Lusadisu.
According to the ANR researcher, Chérubin Okende was in fact 12 July, around 4 pm, in the parking lot of the Kinshasa Constitutional Court, as his bodyguard testified – he is still detained in the criminal police facilities.
Testimonies from street children
“According to testimonies collected from street children commonly called shegués, on July 12, 2023, at around 4 pm, Chérubin Okende was seen in the parking lot behind the Constitutional Court towards Maisha Park, he writes. They approached him alone in his vehicle and as usual, he gave them money after praising him and praising him as they usually do. »
The story then draws attention to the role that Congolese military intelligence may have played. “After the street children left, the ANR continues, […] a white Land Cruiser type vehicle, unregistered, transporting six elements, in military uniforms usually worn by the security body of the Demiap unit [Détection militaire des activités anti-patrie, autrement dit les renseignements des FARDC], arrived at the scene and began threatening the honorable Okende, who they found alone in his jeep, and two elements entered the jeep and forced it to start. »
Death by asphyxiation
The body of this personality close to the opponent Moses Katumbi will be found on July 13th on avenue des Produits-lourds, in Kinshasa. The judicial authorities mentioned immediate gunshot damage, but in its report the ANR spoke of a death from asphyxiation.
“Information received later, says the ANR investigator, it appears that the honorable Okende was the object of the threats AND intimidation, attitudes not accepted by him, who reacted with insults uttered against his tormentors. As a result of his behavior, those who threatened him ended up covering his head with a bag and thus dying from asphyxiation. »
According to information from ANR, Chérubin Okende was on board the Land Cruiser when he died. He was transported to the Demiap facility, in the commune of Kintambo. “Only the jeep that boarded the honorable entered the grounds of the Demiap court in Kinshasa. [Son] vehicle did not arrive at Kintambo, [il] was parked elsewhere. »
Will an autopsy carried out on August 3 at the Cinquantenaire hospital morgue confirm the ANR version? Its conclusions have not yet been released.
Building in the Mont Fleury neighborhood
Furthermore, several gray areas remained: why did the attorney general state, on the same day the body was discovered, that the victim had been killed by a firearm, that it had been found in his vehicle and that it belonged to his custody? -back ? And why did military intelligence question Okende the day before he was summoned to the Constitutional Court to explain his asset declaration?
The ANR report does not say so, but cites a Demiap agent and “several sources” according to which Chérubin Okende would be heard “on the property of a building located in the Mont Fleury neighborhood acquired by the honorable Okende [et qu'un] head of office of the President of the Republic coveted and wanted purchase".
