After a three-month parliamentary recess, national MPs and senators returned to their seats on Monday 15 September 2025 in the Congolese capital Kinshasa. In the National Assembly, some of the national MPs took advantage of the start of the ordinary September session to lodge a petition against the president of the lower house of the Congolese parliament, Vital Kamerhe. The same applies to senators, who were eagerly awaiting the opening of the session to take action against Sama Lukonde, president of the upper house of parliament.

According to the petitioners, who are seeking the removal of Vital Kamerhe as President of the Assembly, he is accused of mismanagement within the institution.

The petitioners have several grievances against him, including a lack of transparency in the management of parliamentary business, a failure to take account of the social situation of MPs, and the delay or blockage of parliamentary oversight mechanisms.

Vital Kamerhe has been accused of “opaque management of the chamber’s finances, failure to take account of the social situation of MPs, voting on laws lightly, and delaying or blocking the means of parliamentary control”, according to Crispin Mbindule, the national MP who initiated the petition.

When Vital Kamerhe spoke at the opening of the September 2025 ordinary session, he asked his fellow national MPs for forgiveness.

“Am I not the one you affectionately call the peacemaker? Even today, I will be a peacemaker to the end. That is why I would like to say to you, if there are any of you who have felt offended, hurt or disturbed in any way by my conduct or by what I have said, that they should accept the expression of my most sincere regrets and I implore their forgiveness”, said the Speaker of the National Assembly.

Wait and see

Written by Akilimali Chomachoma