André Lite stated that he 'did things in broad daylight' and insisted that in Kisangani, during the ceremony for handing over 'rehabilitation' funds to the victims, 'everyone saw' how he handed over the money to Mr. Lembalemba, president of 'all the victims'.

"In Kisangani we had released a statement. During the ceremony at the Tshopo governor's hotel, everyone saw how I handed over the money to President Lembalemba who happens to be the President of all the victims and who was accompanied by his staff and some representatives of the victims because within the governor's premises not everyone could enter because there are many victims. There was even representation from the human rights commission that was there. To say we did things in broad daylight. The governor of Tshopo was present with his provincial government. As for myself, I limited myself to handing over the money to their committee represented by a certain Lembalemba. The governor was there as a witness", he clarified.

Minister André Lite also revealed that once appointed to head the Human Rights Ministry, he had set for himself as one of the priority objectives to ensure that where no answer had been found on the jurisdictional level for the reparation of damages suffered by these victims, 'that we could have non-jurisdictional mechanisms for the possibility of providing assistance to the victims, or failing that to their loved ones or why not to the communities'.

The full interview:

Stéphie MUKINZI | @Stephie_MKZ