Patrick Muyaya Katembwe, (born July 10, 1982) is a Congolese politician. He has served as a member of the

National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of 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 ...

since 2011. Since 2021 he is the government spokesman.

Early life

Patrick Muyaya was born July 10, 1982, 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 ...

. He grew up in the commune of

Bandalungwa Bandalungwa is a municipality (''commune'') in the Funa district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its northern portion is occupied by the military barracks of Kokolo, whose buildings prominently display tr ...

, in

Funa District Funa is an area of the capital city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, comprising seven of the city-province's twenty-four administrative divisions—the communes of Bandalungwa, Bumbu, Kalamu, Kasa-Vubu, Makala, Ngiri-Ngiri and Selemb ...

. Muyaya studied communications at the

University of Kinshasa The University of Kinshasa (french: Université de Kinshasa), commonly known as UNIKIN, is one of the three major universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, together with the University of Kisangani and University of Lubumbashi. Origin ...

. He received his degree in journalism in 2009. He later obtained a certificate in democratic management in

fragile state A fragile state or weak state is a country characterized by weak state capacity or weak state legitimacy leaving citizens vulnerable to a range of shocks. The World Bank, for example, deems a country to be ‘fragile’ if it (a) is eligible for ...

s through the International Republican Institute's "Rising Stars" program in 2014. Muyaya began his career as a reporter and journalist for CEBS TV, a local television channel operating in Kinshasa, where he eventually served as president of the board of directors.

Personal life

Muyaya is married to Benoitte Muyaya and has three children.

Political career

Muyaya began his political career in 2005 when he joined the staff of Pius Isoyongo Lofete, second rapporteur for the transitional national assembly. He later became Lofete's political advisor, serving in that post until 2006. In 2007, he became a communications advisor for the Cabinet of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

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 ...

. One year later, he became principal advisor in charge of communications and the press for the Prime Minister's office under

Adolphe Muzito Adolphe Muzito (born 12 February 1957"DR Congo presiden ...

, occupying that post until 2011.

Member of Parliament

In the

2011 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election General elections were held in Democratic Republic of the Congo on 28 November 2011; a facultative run-off on 26 February 2012 was shelved with a change in election laws. The government passed laws to abolish the second round of the presidential ...

Muyaya was elected a member of parliament from the Kinshasa II ( Funa) district. He was elected on the party list of the

Unified Lumumbist Party Unified Lumumbist Party (french: Parti Lumumbiste Unifié or ''PALU'') is a political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The party's name comes from Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of Congo after its independence in 1960 fr ...

. Muyaya was re-elected in the

2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election General elections were held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 30 December 2018, to determine a successor to President Joseph Kabila, as well as for the 500 seats of the National Assembly and the 715 elected seats of the 26 provincial as ...

Government spokesman

In April 2021 he was appointed as government spokesman in the new DRC government.

Other political activities

He served as first secretary of the office of the rapporteur for the provisional bureau of the National Assembly from February to April 2012, and later served as assistant rapporteur for the Foreign Relations commission of the National Assembly. Since July 2016, he is also the leader of the Network of Young Parliamentarians of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In July 2016, Muyaya was invited to attend the

2016 Democratic National Convention The 2016 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from July 25 to 28, 2016. The convention gathered delegates of the Democratic Party, the majo ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

as a guest of the

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs The National Democratic Institute (NDI), or National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, is a non-profit American NGO that works with partners in developing countries to increase the effectiveness of democratic institutions. The NDI's ...

Muyaya worked with the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

in January 2015 on a pre-

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

mediation mission. Muyaya served as an

election observer Election monitoring involves the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or from a non-governmental organization (NGO). The monitoring parties aim primarily to assess the conduct of an electi ...

for the 2013 presidential election in Mali with the support of the

International Republican Institute The International Republican Institute (IRI) is an American nonprofit organization. Most of its board is drawn from the Republican Party. It is committed to advancing freedom and democracy worldwide by helping political parties to become more iss ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muyaya Katembwe, Patrick Members of the National Assembly (Democratic Republic of the Congo) 1982 births People from Kinshasa Unified Lumumbist Party politicians Living people University of Kinshasa alumni