Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis, has authorized the beatification of a new anti-corruption martyr from the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is against the backdrop of a corruption scourge estimated to cost the African continent a yearly $140 billion.
Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, a young customs officer, was killed in 2007 aged 26 years, after refusing to take a bribe. He had been employed in the eastern city of Goma by the Congolese Control Office, a public body responsible for ensuring the quality, quantity and conformity of goods to national and international standards. Among other things, the work involves physicochemical and microbiological analyses of sampled items.
In the course of his duties, Floribert intercepted a shipment of spoiled rice from Rwanda, intended for the Congolese market, which could have had severe health consequences for consumers. Despite being offered bribes by the traders, Floribert steadfastly refused to allow the tainted cargo to pass.
When the bribes turned into threats, he still did not relent. On July 7, 2007, unknown assailants forced him into a car. Two days later, on July 9, his lifeless body was discovered in a vacant spot near the site of his abduction. It was determined that Floribert had been tortured and beaten before being killed. He was just 26 at the time of his death.
On Nov. 25, Pope Francis authorized the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree concerning his martyrdom, asserting that the young Congolese civil servant was killed in hatred of the faith.
