1. Vital Kamerhe Lwa Kanyiginyi Nkingi was born on 4 March 1959 and is a Congolese politician, currently serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Economy and the leader of the Union for the Congolese Nation party.
16 Facts About Vital Kamerhe
1. 2.
Vital Kamerhe served as the President of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2006 to 2009.
3.
Vital Kamerhe supported Felix Tshisekedi as a coalition partner in the 2018 presidential election, and became chief of staff when Tshisekedi took office.
4.
In 2020, Kamerhe was charged with and convicted of the embezzlement of US$50 million.
5.
Vital Kamerhe was temporarily replaced as chief of staff when his trial began, and permanently replaced half a year after he was convicted.
6.
Vital Kamerhe appealed his conviction, and a second appeal led to his acquittal in 2022.
7.
Vital Kamerhe began his primary school in Bukavu and then in Goma.
8.
Vital Kamerhe then continued in the Kasai-Oriental, in Gandajika, where he finishes his primary school.
9.
Vital Kamerhe then moved to Kananga and finally, after one year, to Mbuji-Mayi where he obtained his State degree in 1980.
10.
Vital Kamerhe started his political career in 1984 with the Union for Democracy and Social Progress.
11.
Vital Kamerhe was elected deputy for South Kivu in the National Assembly in 2006, and he served as president of the National Assembly until 26 March 2009.
12.
On 14 December 2010, Vital Kamerhe officially quit the PPRD, announcing his candidacy for the 2011 presidential election and the creation of his new party, the UNC.
13.
On 8 April 2020, Vital Kamerhe was arrested and detained in Makala Central Prison, facing charges of having embezzled up to $57 million from an infrastructure project.
14.
Vital Kamerhe was sentenced to twenty years of forced labour and ten years of ineligibility to vote or hold public office.
15.
Aime Boji, the secretary general of the UNC and Vital Kamerhe's brother-in-law, expressed confidence that Vital Kamerhe's prosecution had been politically motivated.
16.
Vital Kamerhe was conditionally released from prison in December 2021, on the grounds that his health had deteriorated and he needed medical care outside of prison while awaiting a second appeal.