Outgoing DRC President Fèlix Tshisekedi has publicly admitted his government scammed the nation of millions of dollars in the Registre des Appareils Mobiles (RAM) or the Mobile Devices Registration tax that was introduced in 2020.
In 2020, the Tshisekedi regime introduced the contentious RAM tax that was to be paid by citizens to requires customers to register their International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) devices with the ARPTC (Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority).
However, the program was scrapped off in March, 2022 after heavy criticism from the public for governemnt’s failure to account for the millions of dollars that had been collected and Tshisekedi has since admitted his government took advantage of the citizenry.
In an interview with Top Congo FM radio in Kinshasa on Monday, Tshisekedi described the RAM tax as an “error” and claimed that his instructions were not followed.
The National Assembly’s Economic, Financial and Budgetary Control Committee (ECOFIN) has also recently called for the immediate removal of the tax, arguing that the tax did not reflect in the government’s budget forecasts.
The RAM tax is one of the giant schemes used that have been used by Tshisekedi and his government to embezzle public funds from the average Congolese population.
