Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso has sanctioned judges in his country, citing a "worm in the fruit", to expose corruption among magistrates, the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSM) announced on Wednesday.
The Head of State chaired Monday in Brazzaville the ordinary session of the CSM. “The conclusion we draw is that there is the worm in the fruit. And we must destroy it. Perhaps not just in the justice sector, but in all state sectors,” he said, quoted in a statement from the CSM.
Mr. Sassou Nguesso, 80 years old in 2023, including almost 40 at the head of the country, has often deplored the "large-scale" corruption that plagues Congo-Brazzaville.
The local press reported on Wednesday "a major cleaning up of justice", because around twenty magistrates were either dismissed or demoted during this session of the CSM. Others have seen some of their functions taken away from them. Still others were simply reprimanded.
In total, nine magistrates were dismissed, for reasons which were not specified by the CSM. Michel Oniangué, long-time Attorney General at the Brazzaville Court of Appeal, is one of them.
In his address to the CSM, the Congolese president recalled that in the past, magistrates had already been relieved of their duties "in the face of the slippages observed".
“We had named others. And, only a few months later, the new magistrates began to do like those who had just been relieved, and even worse, “he said, quoted by the press release from the CSM.
Source: Burkina Information Agency