Luc Nkulula (October 18, 1985 - June 10, 2018) was a

Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...

political activist and leader of the pro-democracy movement ''lutte pour le changement'' (LUCHA).

Biography

Nkulula was born in

Lubumbashi Lubumbashi (former names: (French), ( Dutch)) is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katang ...

, a city in southern Congo, and grew up between there and

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 w ...

in the east of the country. He obtained a law degree from the

University of Goma The University of Goma is a public university in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The university was created in 1993 and it is located in the city of Goma, near Lake Kivu in the east of the country. The rector of the school is Jean-Baptist ...

, after which he worked as a

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servi ...

for various

international organization An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...

s. Nkulula joined LUCHA, a Congolese pro-democracy movement, upon its creation in 2012 and became one of its leading members. He represented the movement at a meeting with President

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, Presi ...

in 2016, where he criticized the president for his lack of action for the violence-plagued east of the country and urged him to relinquish power peacefully. Nkulula's activism involved encouraging young people in his country to be involved in public affairs. From his leading role in a campaign to improve access to safe drinking water in Goma, he was often known by the nickname "H2O". Nkulula died on the night of June 9–10, 2018 as his house burnt down. The death was deemed "suspicious" by other LUCHA members, even though "an investigation blamed a faulty solar panel". He was eulogized by

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...

as "one of Congo’s bravest campaigners for democracy and free elections."

References

1985 births 2018 deaths People from Goma Political activists {{Activist-stub