06 January 2010

President Joseph Kabila has sacked 119 managerial staff and employees and forcibly retired 2,569 others in his fight against corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Tuesday.

The dismissed staff worked for the ministries of finance and the budget, the tax department, the customs and excise office, and the directorate of administrative receipts and state property.

"The dismissal concerns any agent who has been involved in the bad management of public finances," Budget Minister Michel Lokola told AFP.

At the same time, some 1,500 agents in the public services concerned were promoted, under a series of decrees signed at the beginning of January by the head of state.

Those who were laid off or retired often held the posts of directors of services, divisional chiefs and office chiefs, mostly in the tax department and in the finance ministry.

"There's nothing arbitrary about this," Lokola said. "These measures are part of the struggle against corruption and embezzlement."

In mid-2009, Kabila dismissed or retired almost 1,300 civil servants and more than 100 magistrates, again in the name of the fight against corruption.

Sapa-AFP