Joseph Bonaventure Lutula La Puku Pene Omasumbu (6 October 1927 – 17 March 2008) was a Congolese politician who served as Minister of Agriculture of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(then Republic of the Congo) in 1960. He reassumed the post in 1961 and held it until April 1963, when he was appointed Minister of Middle Classes and Community Development. He resigned from the government that September. He died in 2008.

Biography

Joseph Lutula was born on 6 October 1927 in the village of Usumba-Wembo-Nyama, Katako-Kombe Territory,

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 ...

to a Tetela family. He was schooled by Methodists alongside

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 ...

. In 1947 he moved to Stanleyville and stayed with Lumumba and Paul Kimbulu. Lutula worked as a clerk in the colonial administration. He served as the secretary of a Protestant Tetela association in

Léopoldville 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 of ...

. Later, several Tetela syndicates conglomerated into the Groupement Batetela and Lutula was chosen as its secretary. Lutula joined the

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 Cong ...

(MNC), and after the party split he aligned himself with Lumumba's faction, serving on the central committee. In March 1960 Okito participated in the Akutshu-Anamongo Congress of Lodja, serving as one of the conference's secretaries. The participants resolved to create an Association des Akutshu-Anamongo to assist the MNC in the upcoming

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 ( ...

Kasai Province Kasai or Kasaï may refer to: Places Congo * Congo-Kasaï, one of the four large provinces of Belgian Congo * Kasaï District, in the Kasai-Occidental province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Kasai Province, one of the provinces ...

, and Lutula was given control of its permanent secretariat. Lutula ran on an MNC-Lumumba ticket in the May elections in the Sankuru District. He received 11,917 preferential votes and won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. He was appointed by Prime Minister Lumumba to serve as Minister of Agriculture in his government of the newly independent Republic of the Congo. Lutula and Lumumba were its only members to come from Sankuru. The government was officially invested by Parliament on 24 June 1960. He was dismissed by President

Joseph Kasa-Vubu Joseph Kasa-Vubu, alternatively Joseph Kasavubu, ( – 24 March 1969) was a Congolese politician who served as the first President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocra ...

on 12 September. After Lumumba was killed in Katanga in early February 1961, he accompanied Lumumba's widow, Pauline Opango, as she led a demonstration to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

office in Léopoldville to ask for assistance in recovering his body. Following the execution of numerous Lumumba supporters in Bakwanga over the course of the month, Lutula fled Léopoldville and joined

Antoine Gizenga Antoine Gizenga (5 October 1925 – 24 February 2019) was a Congolese (DRC) politician who was the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 30 December 2006 to 10 October 2008. He was the Secretary-General of the Unified Lumum ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

in Stanleyville as Minister of Agriculture. After a national political reconciliation in August, Lutula resumed his position in the central government under 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 ...

. On 17 April 1963 Adoula reshuffled his cabinet and made him Minister of Middle Classes and Community Development. He resigned in September. In the 1970s Lutula moved to Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville), but in the late 1980s he returned to Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville). He died at 20:00 on 17 March 2008 at the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital in Kinshasa following cardiac issues.

Citations

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lutula, Joseph 1927 births 2008 deaths Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Lumumba Government members Belgian Congo people Tetela people People of the Congo Crisis 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people