Massive fraud in Congo civil service

Mr Kabila - a big job sorting out endemic corruption

By Mark Dummett in Kinshasa

The Democratic Republic of Congo says a major fraud has been uncovered within its civil service, involving the creation of more than 20,000 non-existent employees.

The civil service minister, Benjamin Mukulungu, said the fraud had cost the government several million dollars.

One man I know has been drawing his salary since 1992 - though as far as I am aware he has not stepped inside the ministry in years

Cleaning up Congo's famously corrupt state finances is no small task.

But the new government seems intent to look like they are doing something about it at least.

Not surprising

Mr Mukulungu told the BBC that by comparing who was on the payroll, and who was on the staff lists, his team of auditors discovered this huge number.

Fraud on such a scale is not surprising.

It was well known, even before Laurent Kabila came to power, that every time a new minister is named, he puts his friends and families on the payroll - then when he leaves, they stay on it.

One man I know has been drawing his salary since 1992 - though as far as I am aware he has not stepped inside the ministry in years.

Rebels fired on those asking them to take the money

But working out who should be paid and who should not is only part of the problem. Salaries are so low that Kinshasa has witnessed several strikes recently - most notably that of nurses and, now, of teachers.

Wage offer

They are paid often as little as five dollars a month, which they say is not enough to even feed a family for a week.

The government says however at least the civil servants on this side of the frontline are better off than those on the other rebel held side in the east of the country.

There, they reportedly have not been paid for 37 months, and minister Mukulungu says he has received letters demanding help to pay for soap and clothes and other necessities.

With this in mind the government has offered to pay the wages of civil servants in the east, as part of its commitment to peace and the inter -Congolese dialogue.

Assistance

This has prompted a columnist in one newspaper on Monday to say that in the DR Congo receiving a salary is no longer a right, it is now humanitarian assistance. Not that this assistance will reach the east quickly.

Rebels of the RCD-Goma say the offer is an attempt to destabilise their economy by flooding the region with cash.

And when students in Bukuva took to the streets last week to demand the rebels take the money - they were fired on.

According to witnesses one 14-year-old was killed and others were wounded.