Former Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo has been sentenced to 10 years' hard labor and five years' deprivation of access to public office, the right to vote, and conditional release for embezzlement of public funds. The Constitutional Court delivered its verdict on May 20, 2025. His co-defendants, Déogratias Mutombo, former governor of the Central Bank of Congo (BCC), and Christo Grobler, a South African Africom executive, received five years' hard labor, each.

The court found that Augustin Matata Ponyo had "conceived, participated in, and benefited" from misappropriating funds by validating payments for unperformed or overpriced work. More than $156 million was allocated to the Bukanga-Lonzo agro-industrial park and $89 million to the construction of the Kinshasa International Market, two projects never completed.

Although Matata Ponyo's lawyers claim the case is politically motivated, the conviction tarnishes the image of technocratic and budgetary rigor once associated with the economist. Prime Minister between 2012 and 2016 under President Joseph Kabila, Matata Ponyo had built a reputation for economic discipline and modernization of public management in the DRC.

During his tenure, the country experienced sustained economic growth, peaking at over 9.5% in 2014, largely driven by the mining sector revival and agricultural initiatives. His key measures included the bancarization of civil servants' payrolls—eliminating thousands of fictitious agents—and the launch of the Bukanga-Lonzo agro-industrial park, intended to revive large-scale agriculture.

Despite these macroeconomic achievements, Matata Ponyo faced criticism for managing the Bukanga-Lonzo project, which was initially hailed as "the agricultural project of the century" but is now viewed as a failure.

Protected by his immunity as a member of parliament, Augustin Matata Ponyo remains at liberty for the time being.

This article was initially published in French by Ronsard Luabeya (intern)

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho