A former prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been sentenced to a decade's forced labour for corruption. Matata served as prime minister of the DRC from 2012 to 2016 and now heads the country's Leadership and Governance for Development party (LGD). Forced labour is legal in DR Congo when mandated by a court for a criminal penalty, according to the US State Department. Both men have been barred from public service for five years from the end of their terms of forced labour, the AFP news agency reports. It was intended to provide reprieve to the 28 million people who currently face acute food insecurity in DR Congo, which has been plagued by conflict for more than 30 years, since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.