Joseph Midiburo (1930 – 13 June 2008) was a Congolese politician who served as the third President of 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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Joseph Midiburo was born in 1930 in Bwisha, Rutshuru 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 ...

. He could speak Kinyarwanda. He underwent four years of secondary education and took correspondence courses on accounting. Midiburo founded the Rassemblement de l'Est du Congo (RECO/REKO) party, which later merged with the Centre du Regroupement Africain (CEREA). He subsequently became a vice president of the party. He served on the Executive College of the Goma territory.

Career

Midiburo was elected to the first Congolese

in May 1960 on a CEREA ticket from the North Kivu constituency. On 21 June, he was elected 74 votes to 55 to become the Second Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies. In October he was made a member of a commission assembled by deposed Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba tasked with managing his relations with the United Nations Operation in the Congo. He briefly served in the Stanleyville government from late 1960 until he returned to the capital, Léopoldville, in mid-1961. Midiburo was elected First Vice-President of the Chamber on 24 July 1961. In October 1962 he was arrested by Cyrille Adoula's government on charges of subversion, but he was released several weeks later. He was elected President of the Chamber on 3 March 1963. In April 1963, Parliament resolved to create a joint committee to prepare revisions for the constitution. Though the presiding officers of both houses nominally chaired the committee together, Midiburo was left responsible for leading the panel. He served as President of the Chamber until September 1965. He took part in organising the Conference Nationale Souveraine of the early 1990s.

Death

Midiburo died on 13 June 2008 while receiving medical care in

Kinshasa 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 ...

in the presence of his son, Adolphe.

Citations

References

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Midiburo, Joseph 1930 births 2008 deaths Presidents of the National Assembly (Democratic Republic of the Congo) People of the Congo Crisis People from North Kivu 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people