Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi said that Delphin Kahimbi, the sacked former deputy chief of military intelligence who was under European Union sanctions, died by hanging.
A report into an investigation into Kahimbi’s death was publicised on Saturday following a cabinet meeting.
A report by his wife said that Kahimbi suffered a heart attack last month at his home in the capital Kinshasa and died soon after reaching the hospital.
However, speculation was that the 50-year-old either committed suicide or was murdered.
“According to the evidence … it turns out to be a hanging,” a statement quoted the president as saying, AFP reported.
Kahimbi, a close aide to former president Joseph Kabila had been sanctioned by the European Union for alleged human rights abuses in Kabila’s administration from 2001 to 2019.
Tshisekedi was under pressure from the United States to bring him to account for the alleged violations.
According to security sources, Kahimbi had been banned from traveling abroad, deprived of his duties and even interrogated by the national security council.
Kahimbi had been accused of seeking to hide weapons and destabilise the country, according to the sources.
Tshisekedi, who commissioned the investigation into Kahimbi’s death, said that he wanted the inquiry to be expedited to bring relief to the family of the deceased.
