The corruption case against Vital Kamerhe, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Félix Tshisekedi's chief of staff, has been unfolding with all the ingredients of a thriller.
Kamerhe and his Union for the Congolese Nation political party had formed the Cap pour le Changement (CACH) coalition with Tshisekedi's Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) for the 2018 elections.
So the unlikeliness of the president now going after Kamerhe prompted, among many others, the theory that Tshisekedi acted under pressure from the Trump administration to clean out government graft.
He had become too powerful for the comfort of not only Tshisekedi but other officials and party leaders, including former president Joseph Kabila.
Many believe that after the last elections, Kabila's quid pro quo for anointing Tshisekedi as his successor - rather than his own party's candidate (who failed dismally at the polls) - was that he, rather than Kamerhe, should be the supported candidate next time around.
