Aloïs Kabangi Kaumbu (1 August 1922 – 27 April 2014) was a Congolese politician. He served as Minister of Economic Coordination and Planning of the
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
from June to September 1960 and again from February 1961 to July 1962.
Biography
Aloïs Kabangi was born on 1 August 1922 in
Lusambo
Lusambo is a territory in and capital of Sankuru province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town lies north of the confluence of the Sankuru River and the Lubi River. Lusambo is served by Lusambo Airport.
In 1890 Lusambo was chosen by Paul ...
,
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colo ...
. He received a Catholic education at the Ecole Moyenne Officielle de Lusambo,
studying there for four years. He subsequently became a clerk in the colonial administration. In 1945 he served as a member of the Cercle d'Agrément Prince Léopold III de Lusambo. He was a member of the founding committee of the short-lived Union des Populations rurales et extra rurales du Congo. In 1959 he was made attache to the cabinet of the Governor of Kasai Province. In March 1960 the Mouvement pour l'Unité Basonge (MUB) was founded in
Kabinda
Kabinda is the capital city of Lomami Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Projected to be the second fastest growing African continent city between 2020 and 2025, with a 6.37% growth.
Geography
Kabinda is served by Tunta Airpo ...
and he became its president. Worried about worsening tribal conflict in
Luluabourg, he and other leaders of the MUB formed a cartel with
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba (; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic of the Congo) from June u ...
's
Mouvement National Congolais
The Congolese National Movement (french: Mouvement national Congolais, or MNC) is a political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
History Foundation
The MNC was founded in 1958 as an African nationalist party within the Belgian Con ...
(MNC) on the guarantee that the latter would support the creation of Province of Basonge.
In the
general elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
of May 1960 Kabangi was elected to the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
on a Cartel MUB/MNC-Lumumba ticket in the Kabinda constituency, winning with 12,480 preferential votes. He was appointed by Prime Minister Lumumba to serve as Minister of Economic Coordination and Planning in
his government of the newly independent
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
. The government was officially invested by Parliament on 24 June 1960. The handover in the Ministry of Economic Coordination and Planning under Kabangi's leadership was relatively smooth, and the department busied itself with organising the distribution of foreign food aid to the interior of the Congo. As Lumumba became increasingly radical, Kabangi, a more moderate politician, grew distant from him. In September Lumumba was dismissed and replaced with
Joseph Iléo
Joseph Iléo (15 September 1921 – 19 September 1994), subsequently Zairianised as Sombo Amba Iléo, was a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was prime minister for two periods.
Early life
Joseph Iléo was born on 15 ...
. Iléo retained Kabangi as Minister of Economic Coordination and Planning, but he refused to accept the position. Iléo appointed him to the same post on 9 February 1961 in his second government. In July 1962 Prime Minister
Cyrille Adoula
Cyrille Adoula (13 September 1921 – 24 May 1978) was a Congolese trade unionist and politician. He was the prime minister of the Republic of the Congo, from 2 August 1961 until 30 June 1964.
Early life and career
Cyrille Adoula was born t ...
appointed him Minister of the Civil Service. On 17 April 1963 Adoula appointed him Minister of Public Administration.
After the creation of the Province of Lomani, Kabangi served as its ''de facto'' indirect ruler. He used his position in the central government to ensure that the territory received improved transportation infrastructure and was appropriated needed funds. Kabangi also instructed the special commissioners tasked with keeping order in the province to keep the civil service under the control of the provincial secretary, ensuring continuity and stability in the local administration. In 1964 Kabangi brought the MUB into the Comité Démocratique Africain, a national political coalition. He was later made a member of the political bureau of the
Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution
The Popular Movement of the Revolution (french: Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution, abbr. MPR) was the ruling political party in Zaire (known for part of its existence as the Democratic Republic of the Congo). For most of its existence, it w ...
(MPR). In December 1970 the bureau was reorganised and he was dismissed from his position.
Kabangi was awarded a gold medal of civic merit in January 2012. He died on 27 April 2014 at the Ngaliema clinic in Kinshasa
[ while awaiting a flight to South Africa for medical care.] A funeral was held on 20 May.[
]
See also
*Benoît Verhaegen
Benoît Verhaegen (1929–2009) was a Belgian academic and Africanist who specialised in the political sociology and post-colonial history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Verhaegen fought in the Korean War and arrived in the Belgian Congo ...
- Belgian Africanist who served as Kabangi's chef de cabinet
In several French-speaking countries and international organisations, a (French; literally 'head of office') is a senior civil servant or official who acts as an aide or private secretary to a high-ranking government figure, typically a minist ...
after independence
Citations
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kabangi, Aloïs
1922 births
2014 deaths
Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Lumumba Government members
Belgian Congo people
People of the Congo Crisis
21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people