Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde Kyenge (born 4 August 1977) is a Congolese politician from the former Katanga Province who has occupied the role of

Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: link=no, 1=Premier ministre de la République démocratique du Congo, sw, 1=Waziri Mkuu wa Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo, ln, 1=Minisele ya Yambo wa Republiki ya Kɔ́ngɔ ...

since 15 February 2021. He was named the day of the 2021 Congo River disaster. He announced his cabinet on 12 April 2021. He is a member of the Future of Congo party.

Biography

Lukonde was born on 4 August 1977, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and is an engineer by training. He is the son of Stéphane Lukonde Kyenge, an important figure in the political scene of his native Katanga who was assassinated in 2001. After being active in politics as a member of the Avenir du Congo (English, ''Future of Congo'') party, and becoming one of the youngest

Deputies A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

at the

National Assembly (Democratic Republic of the Congo) The National Assembly is the lower house and main legislative political body of the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was established by the 2006 constitution. It is located at the People's Palace (french: link=no, Palais ...

, Lukonde was named Minister of Youth, Sports, and Leisure in December 2014, during the

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician who served as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2001 and January 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, Pres ...

Presidency. He served in this position for 10 months, before resigning to support his party in their opposition to Kabila's bid for a third successive term as President. In June 2019, Lukonde became the Director-General of

Gécamines La Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines) is a Congolese commodity trading and mining company headquartered in Lubumbashi, in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a state-controlled corporation founded in ...

: one of the largest

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

companies 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 ...

, and the biggest in the

Democratic Republic of 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 ...

. He was appointed to this position by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Félix Tshisekedi Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (; born 13 June 1963) is a Congolese politician who has been the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 24 January 2019. He is the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) ...

in June 2019. Prior to this position, he was also deputy general administrator of the Congo National Railway Company, the SNCC. He was named Prime Minister by Tshisekedi in February 2021. He later named his cabinet.

References

1977 births Living people Prime Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo People from Paris 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo politicians {{DRCongo-politician-stub