The Marcello Tunasi affair: when the truth becomes a public fight
The sermon of truth
This Sunday, August 3, 2025, within the church premises the compassion of Kinshasa, the atmosphere was particularly tense. Pastor Marcello Jérémie Tunasi, usually eloquent and serene, was about to deliver one of the most personal sermons in his career. His theme: “There is a time to be silent and a time to speak”. For this respected man of God, the time of silence was over.
Faced with his congregation, the 26 -year -old spiritual leader of ministry has broken a silence of several months to respond to the charges that have been circulating since his remarriage with Esther Aïcha, celebrated on July 23, 2025 in Brussels. Only a year after the tragic death of his white wife Odia Kandolo, which occurred on June 12, 2024 in Türkiye, this union had triggered an unprecedented media and family storm.
A succession that divides
At the heart of the conflict is a question as old as it is painful: money and heritage. According to the revelations of the pastor, it all started with a gesture of love. Wishing to honor the memory of his deceased wife, Marcello Tunasi had undertaken the construction of a house for his mother-in-law on one of his plots in Bibwa, in the suburbs of Kinshasa.
This was to be a project of $ 250,000, funded by its own means, quickly turned into a claim of $ 800,000 from the paternal family of Blanche. The request was clear: the planned house should not be counted in the inheritance, because it was considered “a gift that Blanche had promised”. The family therefore demanded an additional sum to reach the total amount requested.
Even more disturbing, some family members had challenged the legal designation of Marcello Tunasi as liquidator of his own property, demanding that this role be attributed to his mother-in-law. A request that the pastor categorically refused: “How can I be alive and is someone else who will liquidate my goods?” »»
The inventory of controversy
Faced with the impasse, a legal inventory was launched in accordance with the family code in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The results of this independent expertise have revealed a reality very different from family expectations: the real share of the inheritance of Blanche is estimated at less than 150,000 dollars, an amount lower than the pastor had voluntarily proposed at the start.
This difference is explained by the heritage structuring of the Tunasi couple: some goods had been completely put in the name of the children, others had been given to charities. In particular, their limit plot had been sold to the orphanage at “a gift price”, reducing the inheritance mass.
The most serious accusations
But the case has taken on a darker dimension with accusations of a completely different nature. The pastor reports threats received from South africa-pays/”>africa-pays/”>africa-pays/”>africa-pays/”>Africa, where an anonymous correspondent claimed to have vocal recordings of conversations between Blanche and his mother. These conversations, out of context, were used to tarnish the couple’s image and suggest matrimonial dysfunctions.
Even more serious, implicit accusations of responsibility in the death of Blanche were formulated. Faced with these insinuations, Marcello Tunasi delivered a moving testimony: “How could I kill my children’s mother?” Deprive Tabiri from his mom? Even someone who has just converted could not do such a thing. »»
The pastor reported the circumstances of the death: Blanche had left for Türkiye on Saturday for surgery, he joined it on Sunday to sign the necessary documents. She died of cardiac arrest in the hospital, following post-operative complications. The rapid repatriation of the body, often mentioned as a suspect, explains according to him by his financial means and his medical relations.
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