Kinshasa defends Cabinet perks

The DRC Government has defended decrees that grant Ministers lifetime salaries and other benefits. The two decrees, which grant former Ministers benefits of more than $2 000 have been widely criticised. BBC News reports that the outgoing government said the Ministers deserve ‘a minimum to satisfy their basic needs, notably food, lodging and healthcare’. The two decrees, signed by outgoing Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala in November, were only widely reported in the media recently. An adviser to former President Joseph Kabila said the decrees were ‘not consistent with our socio-economic context’.