Ernest Wamba dia Wamba (; 1942 – July 15, 2020) was a prominent Congolese academic and political theorist who became a commander of the

Kisangani Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville or Stanleystad) is the capital of Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the fifth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,312,000 in 2021, and the larg ...

faction of the rebel

Rally for Congolese Democracy The Congolese Rally for Democracy (french: Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie; abbreviated RCD), also known as the Rally for Congolese Democracy, is a political party and a former rebel group that operated in the eastern region of the ...

during the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...

.Farewell Ernest Wamba dia Wamba
''Peoples' Dispatch'', 17 July 2020

Early life

Wamba dia Wamba was born in Sundi-Lutete,

Bas-Congo Kongo Central ( kg, Kongo dia Kati ), formerly Bas-Congo is one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Matadi. History At the time of independence, the area now encompassing Kongo Central was part of the g ...

Province. He was raised in Swedish mission schools and grew into adulthood in the period when the

prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

ism of

Simon Kimbangu Simon Kimbangu (September 12, 1887 – October 12, 1951) was a Democratic Republic of Congo, Congolese religious leader who founded the Christianity, Christian new religious movement Kimbanguism. Kimbanguists consider him to be an incarnation of ...

and the political agitation for independence by the Association des Bakongo (ABAKO) was reaching its peak. When ABAKO split, he favoured the faction of

Daniel Kanza Daniel Kanza Kinsona (1909–1990) was a Congolese politician and a leading member of the ''Alliance des Bakongo''. He served as Premier Burgomaster of the capital of the Congo, Léopoldville, from 1960 until 1962. He later served in the National ...

. Upon graduation from secondary school, he was one of three students awarded scholarships by the African-American Institute to study in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He went to

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

, where Wamba wrote his honors dissertation on the philosophers

Maurice Merleau-Ponty Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty. (; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest an ...

and

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...

. He later went on to graduate studies at Claremont before teaching at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

, where he was associated with

Peter F. Drucker Peter Ferdinand Drucker (; ; November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was an Austrian-American management consultant, educator, and author, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business co ...

. He went on to teach at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. During his period in the U.S., Wamba dia Wamba married an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

woman and was involved in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

through the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...

. Once the period of

decolonization Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...

began in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, he joined the supporting committees of various US-based

pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

ist movements. In 1980, he accepted a position as Professor of History at the

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a public university in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. The university became an affiliate of the University of East Africa (UEA) in 1 ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. In 1981, while visiting his parents' village in Zaire, he was arrested by the government of Mobutu Sese-Seko for possessing a paper he had authored that was deemed 'subversive', and was detained for one year. He continued his role as a prominent figure in both academia and political circles in Africa. He is the former president of the

Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is Pan-African research organisation headquartered in Dakar, Senegal. The current President of CODESRIA is Dzodzi Tsikata. Background CODESRIA was established in 197 ...

(CODESRIA) as well as the founder and president of the philosophy club at the

. He was an expert in the Palaver (politics) and other indigenous forms of African democracy. He participated in the Sovereign National Conference, held from 1990 through 1992 in Zaire. In 1997 he co-authored with

Jacques Depelchin Jacques Depelchin (born 06/03/1942) is a Congolese historian and militant. He is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Ota Benga International Alliance for Peace in the DR Congo. Background A native of the Congo, Depelchin was educated i ...

, the African Declaration Against Genocide. In December 1997, Wamba was named a recipient of the Dutch Prince Claus Award for Culture and Development. The announcement of the award cited his "scholarly contribution to the development of African philosophy and for sparking off the philosophical debate on social and political themes in Africa." At this time he also worked closely with Tanzanian President

Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian anti-colonial activist, politician, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as president from 1962 to 1964, aft ...

to end the

Burundi Civil War The Burundian Civil War was a civil war in Burundi lasting from 1993 to 2005. The civil war was the result of longstanding ethnic divisions between the Hutu and the Tutsi ethnic groups. The conflict began following the first multi-party electio ...

The Second Congo War

At the beginning of the

against the government of

Laurent-Désiré Kabila Laurent-Désiré Kabila () (27 November 1939 – 18 January 2001) or simply Laurent Kabila ( US: ), was a Congolese revolutionary and politician who was the third President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 until his assassinati ...

, Wamba was unanimously elected head of the rebel

(RCD), which was backed by

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

and

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

and based in the town of

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the weste ...

. However, the RCD gradually split from November 1998 until 16 May 1999, as it became clear that Rwanda and its supporters' goals were limited to replacement of Kabila. Several attempts were made on Wamba's life during this period, coinciding with attempts to destroy his political power in the RCD. On 16 May 1999, Émile Ilunga was named the new head of the RCD after manoeuvring by Rwanda, and Wamba fled to the Ugandan-controlled town of

. The faction of the RCD he maintained control of was variously known as the Movement for Liberation (RCD-ML), RCD-Kisangani, or RCD-Wamba. The main faction is sometimes referred to as RCD-Goma. The two factions shortly engaged in fierce battles in Kisangani, following which Wamba retreated to

Bunia Bunia is the capital city of Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It was part of the Orientale Province until that province's dissolution. It lies at an elevation of on a plateau about west of Lake Albert in the Albe ...

in the

Ituri region The Ituri Interim Administration is an interim body that administers the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It was established in 2003 by the Ituri Pacification Commission and supported by the UN mission in the DRC. History ...

of the northeastern DRC. Wamba was faced with an internal revolt by Mbusa Nyamwisi, leading to another split in his party's faction. His organization remained known as the RCD-Kisangani (RCD-K), while the Nyamwisi-led group was known as the RCD-ML. In 2001, Wamba denounced a Ugandan proposal to unite the RCD-K, RCD-ML and

Movement for the Liberation of Congo The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (french: Mouvement de Libération du Congo, or MLC) is a political party in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Formerly a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo that fought the govern ...

(MLC) as an unwelcome foreign imposition. The further disintegration of the RCD-K to the point it was without any significant military force may have been the result of Ugandan withdrawal of its support. This action, which took place as the

Ituri conflict The Ituri conflict (french: Guerre d'Ituri) is an ongoing conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). While the two groups had ...

continued escalating, was seen by some members of the

Lendu The Lendu language is a Central Sudanic language spoken by the Balendru, an ethno-linguistic agriculturalist group residing in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in the area west and northwest of Lake Albert, specifically the Ituri Region ...

ethnic group as a support against what they saw as the pro- Hema bias of Uganda.

The Post-War Period

Following the Inter-Congolese Dialogue that ended the war, Wamba became a prominent member of the new government. He spoke extensively on what was needed for the DRC to make a successful transition to a functioning democracy. He continued to be politically involved and to write, and was a noted political theorist widely respected for, in particular, his innovative use of the work of the African-born Parisian philosopher

Alain Badiou Alain Badiou (; ; born 17 January 1937) is a French philosopher, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École normale supérieure (ENS) and founder of the faculty of Philosophy of the Université de Paris VIII with Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucau ...

, whom he introduced to contemporary African political thought. Scholars of Africana like

Michael Neocosmos __NOTOC__ Michael Neocosmos is a Marxist philosopher. He is an emeritus professor in humanities at Rhodes University, Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute and a fellow at the Centre for Humanities R ...

and

Raj Patel Rajeev "Raj" Patel (born 1972) is a British Indian academic, journalist, activist and writer who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and the United States for extended periods. He has been referred to as "the rock star of social ju ...

have taken up Wamba's use of Badiou's work. A May 2008 article authored by Jacques Depelchin warned that there were new threats to assassinate Wamba. In the last years of his life, Wamba remained politically active, running reading groups with young activists in

Kinshasha Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

and engaging popular organisations across the continent, including

Abahlali baseMjondolo Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM, , in English: "the residents of the shacks") is a socialist shack dwellers' movement in South Africa which organises land occupations, builds communes

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Death

Wamba dia Wamba died on July 15, 2020, in a hospital in Kinshasa where he had been hospitalized for multiple days. The cause of death has been reported as an asthma attack.

Selected published works

* Wamba Dia Wamba, Ernest (2005), "DRC: Globalisation, War and the Struggle for Freedom" in Manji, F., and Burnett, P (eds), ''African Voices on Development and Social Justice Editorials from Pambazuka News'', Oxford:

Pambazuka News ''Pambazuka News'' is an open access, Pan-African e-mail and online electronic newsletter. It is published weekly in English, Portuguese and French by the not-for-profit organisation Fahamu. The word ''Pambazuka'' means "dawn" or "arise" in Kiswah ...

br>Fahamu Books
* Wamba Dia Wamba, Ernest (1995), "Zaire: From the National Conference to the Federal Republic of the Congo?" in ''Development Dialogue'' No.2 * Wamba Dia Wamba, E., and M. Mamdani, eds (1995), ''African Studies in Social Movements and Democracy'', CODESRIA, . * Wamba Dia Wamba, Ernest (1994), "In Search of a New Mode of Politics in Africa" in ''Development in an African Perspective'', London: James Currey.

Articles

*Interview with Ernest Wamba dia Wamba (2009). Published in Ota Benga Allianc
Interview with Ernest Wamba dia Wamba , Ota Benga Alliance
*"Balkanisation and crisis in eastern Congo Ernest Wamba dia Wamba speaks to Pambazuka News" (2008). Published in ''

'
Balkanisation and crisis in eastern Congo , Pambazuka News
*"Democracy Today: The case of the Democratic Republic of Congo" (2007). Published in ''Pambazuka News'
Democracy Today: The case of the Democratic Republic of Congo , Pambazuka News
*"Congo" (2004). Published in Zma
zcommunications.org - zcommunications Resources and Information.

References

External links

Experiences of Democracy in Africa: Reflections on Practices of Communalist Palaver as a Method of Resolving Contradictions by Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, 1985

GlobalSecurity.org

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

Conversation with Ernest Wamba dia Wamba
Institute of International Studies,

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

, 17 March 2004
Congo: The Transition - Interview with Wamba
ZNET, 22 June 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wamba Dia Wamba, Ernest 1942 births 2020 deaths People from Kongo Central Harvard University faculty Democratic Republic of the Congo academics Political philosophers Democratic Republic of the Congo philosophers Rally for Congolese Democracy politicians Democratic Republic of the Congo Africanists Democratic Republic of the Congo non-fiction writers 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people