Raymond Ramazani Baya (16 June 1943 – 1 January 2019) was a Congolese politician. He served as the

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

of that country under the transitional government following his appointment to that post on 23 July 2004, by vice-president

Jean-Pierre Bemba Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (born 4 November 1962) is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was one of four Vice-Presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democrat ...

, who was allowed to appoint the foreign minister.

Biography

Ramazani was a long-time member of the regime of President

Mobutu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

, most prominently as Minister of Information and as Ambassador to France. On 23 November 1996, Ramazani was staying in a hotel in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

, not far from Mobutu's Villa del Mare in Roquebrune Cap-Martin when he was summoned by Mobutu to assist at a meeting with Central African President

Ange-Félix Patassé Ange-Félix Patassé (January 25, 1937 – April 5, 2011) was a Central African politician who was President of the Central African Republic from 1993 until 2003, when he was deposed by the rebel leader François Bozizé in the 2003 coup d'ét ...

. In

Menton Menton (; , written ''Menton'' in classical norm or ''Mentan'' in Mistralian norm; it, Mentone ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border. Me ...

, he hit two adolescents with his car while driving well above the speed limit. One victim immediately died, whereas the other went in a coma and died shortly thereafter. He quit his position as ambassador, and was condemned to a

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

of two years in prison and a fine of 56,000 FF. After the fall of Mobutu in 1997, Ramazani became dissatisfied with the new government of

Laurent Kabila Laurent may refer to: *Laurent (name), a French masculine given name and a surname **Saint Laurence (aka: Saint ''Laurent''), the martyr Laurent **Pierre Alphonse Laurent, mathematician **Joseph Jean Pierre Laurent, amateur astronomer, discoverer ...

. He joined the

Movement for the Liberation of Congo The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (french: Mouvement de Libération du Congo, or MLC) is a political party in Democratic Republic of the Congo. Formerly a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo that fought the govern ...

, a rebel group based in

Gbadolite Gbadolite or Gbado-Lite (pronounced ) is the capital of Nord-Ubangi Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town is located south of the Ubangi River at the border to the Central African Republic and northeast of the national capi ...

which was led by Jean-Pierre Bemba. In 2003 the group entered into a transitional government with other rebel groups and 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, Presi ...

government. Bemba became a vice-president and, among other things, was able to appoint the foreign minister. Antoine Ghonda became foreign minister, but Ramazani was by this time an important advisor on diplomacy to Bemba. He became foreign minister in 2004 when Ghonda was sacked. His time in that post ended in February 2007, at the beginning of President Joseph Kabila's second term, when the government of Prime Minister

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 ...

took office. He died on 1 January 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramazani, Raymond 1943 births 2019 deaths Foreign Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Ambassadors of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to France Movement for the Liberation of the Congo politicians