Kinshasa, June 17th of 2024.

Vast new offices, with brand new chairs, sofas, desks, even high-end computers, that was the life of the newly-created OPCCR, the Office for Political and Corruption Crimes of the Republic; one of the sections of the office, Office 28, is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of corruption in Congolese State-Owned Enterprises, including Cohydro, Gecamines, Sodimco, Okimo, EMK-Mn, Regideso, Snel, Sosider, Afridex, the list is incessantly long. With the discovery of new petroleum barrels in the DRC back in 2022, the possibilities for economic development have been increasingly major, and with it, comes the possibility for corruption, extortion, nepotism and blatant robbery.

It is for that reason that Office 28 was tasked with its first investigation, as supported by both the President and RCEC/2024; and created the investigation into Cohydro, known as Operation Black Gold.

Operation Black Gold, or Operation BG, or even just OBG, was known as the flagship investigation of the Congolese anti-corruption effort; it began by attempting to navigate the complex, complicated bureaucracy that surrounded Cohydro and its files. The lack of state investment, combined with the sordid appointment of Kabila’s cronies as bureaucratic officials, meant that the first step, the entrance into Cohydro’s files, took from June 20th to July 6th, as approval had to be taken, files had to be approved, stamps had to be placed.

The Investigation Begins

After that first, slow, step, the files of Cohydro were available for the OPCCR; in those files, there were confusing amounts of papers, both handwritten and typed, which had confusing lists of employees from 2008 to 2024, and it took Office 28 around four days of organization to even figure out an organogram for the situation of Cohydro.

It was only on July 12th of 2024 that the OPCCR officers investigated their first suspects of corruption in Cohydro; Arnaud Louis Mwamba, Diombelayi Nkulu, and Serge Dubost Kayembe are all suspected of committing multiple crimes while working for Cohydro since their approvals from March to June of 2016.

The investigation first began by investigating the records of all three employees; and it was noted that, Serge D. Kayembe lacked a secondary education, while being supervisor of the 2-8 shift, and both Arnaud L. Mwamba and Diombelayi Nkulu had falsified records of studying at the University of Kinshasa. While that, within itself, is a crime, OPCCR investigations have led to another, interesting situation; it seems that Serge D. Kayembe was responsible for participating in fraud – the crime itself occurred on October of 2023 and it involved the falsely classifying 300 barrels of petroleum, leading to abusive profits by Cohydro – and it served as grounds for indictment.

Serge was indicted on a charge of fraud for participating in the Oct 2023 crime, which carried harsh legal penalties, along with stripping him of his position in Cohydro; it was only through severe pressure since July, that on August 28th, Serge D. Kayembe agreed to become a formal witness in Operation Black Gold; he talked about how he was accepted to the position of shift supervisor by his uncle, Patrice Kayembe, and how he remembers his uncle mentioning a possible interaction with important political figures, and it involved one of the first big charges of this operation, embezzlement.

It would be impossible for Serge to become a witness had the RCEC bill not passed, the government of the DRC, prior to it, offered essentially no protection to whistleblowers and witnesses, but with a flexible witness protection program, along with negotiations by the well-trained OPCCR officers, Serge gave vital information to the investigators, who added Patrice Kayembe as a major suspect of money laundering, embezzlement, passive corruption, and nepotism; it was up to the officers, now, to investigate who hired both Arnaud L. Mwamba and Diombelayi Nkulu.

The investigation, which involved a lot of surveillance and constant monitoring through legal wiretaps, had its first important moment on September 24th of 2024, when a recorded conversation between the manager of the late-night shift, Patrice Kayembe, and chief logistics officer, Pierre Lumumba, was captured by a wiretap on Kayembe’s personal phone.

The conversation, essentially, consisted of Kayembe and Lumumba discussing a previous event, a “delivery” consisting of US$350 thousand; this delivery was due to direct participation of some staff, around five to eight different loaders, who were responsible for overcharging oil barrels, which Kayembe and Lumumba “skimmed” off of the revenue stream for themselves.

This conversation was enough of a charge, combined with the testimony of Serge D. Kayembe, to indict Patrice Kayembe of active corruption, embezzlement and nepotism, while Pierre Lumumba was charged with active corruption and embezzlement; seven of the loaders were also indicted for passive corruption, fraud and bribery.

Serge, already a witness, provided further testimony that Jean-Pierre Bibuwa Tshituka offered the positions of shift manager to both Arnaud L. Mwamba and Diombelayi Nkulu, if they were to provide him with a sum of US$2,100 each; Serge directly talked to both of his acquaintances and provided solid testimonies, along with recorded evidence – through wiretapping – of the participations of Mwamba, Nkulu and Tshituka.

All three were indicted under bribery and active corruption, and faced severe charges that could put them away to, essentially, life. These indictments, along with their incoming trial, served as a major training to the OPCCR, and its chief investigator of Operation Black Gold, wrote a recommendation to the President of the DRC, Moïse Katumbi.

In it, the letter mentioned that the President is urged to perform drastic, and thorough, investigations into the backgrounds of their officials, and to perform surprise audits through the state auditor; furthermore, he recommended replacing the state auditor with a more reliable one, along with providing further investments for recently-graduated students to come and work at, for instance, Cohydro.

The Congolese President admired the letter, and enjoyed its contents so much, that he met with other state officials, including Évariste-Prince Funga Molima Mwata, the Minister of Justice, in order to draft a new plan for the revitalization of the petroleum industry in the DRC – and transform it completely from within.