The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has backed the decrees that provide Cabinet ministers lifetime salaries of $2,000 and other benefits.
The Congolese government is said to have argued that the payments were not to enrich the officials after the decrees were criticized in a country where most of the population live in abject poverty.
Former President Joseph Kabila’s administration also defended the package saying the State was giving the ministers “a minimum to satisfy their basic needs, notably food, lodging and healthcare”.
Among others, the first decree grants former prime ministers monthly salaries equal to 30 percent of the current Prime Minister’s, one business class flight per year and a monthly housing stipend of $5,000.
