By Jerry Nguwa

Nairobi July 21 2009

Hapamedia reports that Senator Gaetan Kakudji has died in unclear circumstances at hospital in Brussels Belgium .

Kakudji, a cousin to the late president Laurent Desiré Kabila and uncle to current president Joseph Kabila has been living on the sidelines of power since the ascension to power of his nephew.

A political science graduate of the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium , Kakudji became governor of the rich Katanga province upon the seize of power by his Cousin from Mobutu. He later rose to be the Minister of interior until the death of his cousin.

Rumours from the corridors of power revealed to Hapamedia that the interim presidency of the D.R. Congo was proposed to him during the crisis cabinet meeting on the day Laurent Desiré Kabila met his death.

In his quality of Minister for interior affairs and internal security, he rejected the offer to support the shocking presidency of his nephew and the then army deputy chief of staff. As history came to show, Joseph Kabila never had his uncle in a clean book. Gaetan had no other choice than to seek legislative positions.

Unconfirmed reports attribute the fallout with his nephew to discordances with the mother to the current president. She is reportedly asking his son to sideline everyone who worked with his father and never “respected” her

The man who had been instrumental in Laurent Desiré Kabila during his heyday as a revolution campaigner against Mobutu's regime. Kakudji was Kabila point man in Belgium and other European countries.

As the then second powerful man in the DRC, Gaetan Kakudji is connected to several corruption cases. He is reported having used State money for his own needs. He is even reported have been asking investors a 25 percent commission to all investors interested in putting their money in Congo .

Talking to Hapamedia this evening from Paris, one of the family members who sought anonymity is suspecting that the death of the senator was precipitated by human actions. Gaetan Kakudji last days were marked by constants visits to hospitals both in Congo and abroad.