Constant Mutamba, once the barking watchdog of Félix Tshisekedi’s regime, is now a caged convict.
The Cour de Cassation has sentenced the former Justice Minister to three years of forced labor for embezzling US$19 million, with a crushing judgment that allows no parole, no voting rights, no eligibility, and no public office for five years.
For a man who paraded himself as the guardian of justice, this is poetic humiliation. Mutamba was never shy with his threats; he bragged about throwing Tshisekedi’s opponents behind bars, he swore to silence dissent, and in one of his wildest outbursts, he even threatened to arrest—or kill—Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame.
He believed his voice was law, that his word was enough to jail the innocent and intimidate the powerful.
But today, the “justice-seeker” has been judged, and not by history or by critics, but by the very justice system he once abused as a weapon.
The man who used prison as his favorite tool has finally been sent there himself. The same cells where he dumped thousands of innocent Congolese now welcome him as their newest resident.
Imagine the bitter laughter echoing in those corridors—those he condemned now watch their tormentor wearing the same chains.
This is not just Mutamba’s fall; it is Tshisekedi’s pattern. The president has perfected the art of manufacturing political hit men—loud, reckless enforcers who do his dirty work.
They shout, they intimidate, they brutalize. But when the spotlight turns on them, Tshisekedi discards them like broken tools.
Mutamba is merely the latest casualty of this cycle. Yesterday’s feared prosecutor is today’s humiliated prisoner.
And Mutamba deserves no sympathy. His arrogance blinded him. He thought his threats made him powerful. He mistook cruelty for strength.
Now he learns, too late, that pawns are always expendable. The guard dog that barked too loudly has been abandoned in the kennel.
The lesson is cruel but clear: in Congo, those who rise by serving tyranny are destined to be swallowed by it.
Mutamba’s downfall should terrify every other “attack dog” still barking on Tshisekedi’s leash. Because if history is consistent, they will all meet the same fate.