Bruno Tshibala Nzenze (born 20 February 1956) is a Congolese politician who served as

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 ...

from 2017–2019.

Education

He finished primary and secondary education 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-Katanga ...

and studied law at the

Marien Ngouabi University Marien Ngouabi University (French: ''Université Marien Ngouabi'', UMNG) is the only state-funded university in the Republic of Congo. It is located in the capital of Brazzaville. History The University of Brazzaville was founded on 4 December 1971 ...

in Brazzaville.

Political career

He began his political career while still a student in April 1980 at the age of 24 when he joined a leftist political party in Zaire during the rule of

Mobutu Sese Seko 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 ...

. In December 1980, he, along with 13 parliamentarians wrote a letter to ask President Mobutu for democratic reforms while the country was still under the one-party system. On 7 April 2017, then-President Joseph Kabila appointed him as Prime Minister during a nationwide televised address. He took office on 18 May 2017. In 2019, Tshibala made a bid to serve as a DRC Senator, but lost the Senate election on 15 March.

Arrest

On 9 October 2016, he was arrested at N'djili International Airport when he was about to board a plane to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and was held at . The country's Attorney General accused him of organizing demonstrations on 19 and 20 September 2016 in Kinshasa. He was later granted a provisional release on 29 November 2016."Bruno Tshibala: a prime minister on temporary release"
Politico CD, 7 April 2017 .

References

1955 births Living people Marien Ngouabi University alumni People from Lomami Province Prime Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Democratic Republic of the Congo) politicians Heads of government who were later imprisoned 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people {{DRCongo-politician-stub