KINSHASA, DR Congo
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has denied newspaper reports that his office spent an extravagant U$17.6 million in the month of July alone. His office said he is a clean leader that even returns money unspent from missions abroad.
Jeune Afrique
a pan-African magazine published in Paris reported in its August 18th edition that the Congolese presidency had
spent more money in July than it had budgeted for three months ahead.
The
Presidency has been at the forefront of fighting corruption including throwing
its chief of staff Vital Kamehre under the bus for syphoning billions meant for
financing projects under the first 100-days of his boss.
However, with
details in the Jeune Afrique article titled; “DRC: the quarterly budget of the
presidency of the Republic consumed in one month”, Tshisekedi is being pressed
tested by his own measures.
In an
11-point rebuttal, the Congolese presidency said that it categorically denies
the erroneous allegations of Jeune Afrique.
“This
magazine drew hasty and erroneous conclusions based on partial data from a
single stage of the public expenditure process, thus exposing the country’s
leading institution to public contempt,” reads in part a lengthy statement
shared on the official twitter handle of the presidency.
The
presidency describes Tshisekedi as a very accountable and non-corrupt leader
who even returns money that is not spent while on trips abroad.
“Recall that
the head of state at the dawn of his official trip to an African country had
returned to the Treasury the remainder of the mission expenses. This strong
gesture was made by His Excellency the President of the Republic to underline
his attachment to the good management of public funds,” the statement said.
The Jeune
Afrique article, said the Congolese Presidency consumed U$17.6 million for the
month of July on budget forecasts of U$16 million for the combined months of
July, August and September 2020.
The
presidency argues that Jeune Afrique should have corroborated with the Cash
Flow Plan established at the Ministry of Finance rather than in the Commitment
Plan of the Ministry of Budget.
“In
particular the main public expenditure accountant assigned to the presidency by
the Ministry of Finance for has exact figures on what the Presidency actually
consumed,” the rebuttal reads in part.
According to
the Congolese Presidency the cash flow plan indicates that for the month of
July, the presidency of the Republic only consumed the equivalent of
approximately U$10 million, or 19,923,000,000 Congolese francs. There is
therefore a difference of more than U$7.6 million compared to the amounts advanced
by Jeune Afrique which never entered the books of the presidency, but which
appears in the Commitment Plan.
This budget
of U$10 million was used in particular for the remuneration of the staff of the
Presidency of the Republic and for operating costs.
The President
of the Republic institution to fulfil its high state offices has several
services grouped together under the term Presidency of the Republic. These
include:
1. The office of the
President of the Republic,
2. The Personal
Services of the Head of State,
3. The National
Security Center,
4. The particular
staff of the Head of State,
5. The National
Service,
6. The Monitoring
Mechanism,
7. The Presidential
Clinic of the AU,
8. Good governance and
fight against corruption,
9. The official journal, The State Protocol,
11.
and the fight against sexual violence.
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