An autopsy conducted following the suspicious death of opposition Ensemble pour la Republique spokesperson Cherubin Okende has revealed that the official was stabbed to death after being kidnapped by suspected state agents.
Okende was found dead in his vehicle 24 hours after he was kidnapped at the Constitutional Court with a bullet struck to the driver’s seat, a scenario allegedly created to suggest he was struct by a bullet.
His death on July 13 sent shocking waves across the country. The opposition demanded an autopsy supervised by international partners.
Om August 3, 2023, a team of medical personnel that included Belgian, South African, UN and Congolese forensic experts conducted the autopsy in the presence of Okende’s family.
A report compiled so far and sighted by DRC News Today reveals that Okende was stabbed on the right side of his stomach with the bullet that struck him having done so when he was already dead.
There has been no official statement disclosing the outcome of the report by President Felix Tshisekedi’s government for fear that it will confirm the long held speculation that Okende was killed by government agents.
According to a recent report by a French media house, Okende’s death was expertly executed from the kidnapping.
A car cleaner who works in the parking lot of the Constitutional Court told the French that on July 12, he saw armed men dressed in civilian clothes enter the parking lot and ask Chérubin Okende to follow them.
Then, outside the dealership, he says he saw men in military uniforms in a white Toyota pick-up follow Okende’s vehicle.
The eyewitness stated that the men took the wheel of the MP’s vehicle while the latter took a seat in the back.
Okende is a victim of popular opposition leader Moise Katumbi’s bid for presidency. Katumbi’s team is being pursued with his senior special advisor Salomon Kalonda Della and MP Mike Mukebayi currently in jail on trumped up charges.
