The Parti Solidaire Africain () or PSA was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

active in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

and subsequently in the Republic of the Congo after the country received its independence. The PSA was formed in the aftermath of a series of riots in Leopoldville in 1959 which led to the rapid growth of African nationalist parties and prompted the Belgian government to announce that independence for the colony was his long term aim. It was formally established on 1 February 1959.Claude Emerson Welch, ''Anatomy of Rebellion'', SUNY Press, 1980, p. 231 The new party's President-General was

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 ...

whilst

Cléophas Kamitatu Cléophas Kamitatu Massamba (10 June 1931 – 12 October 2008) was a Congolese politician and leader of the '' Parti Solidaire Africain''. Biography Cléophas Kamitatu was born on 10 June 1931 in Kilombo-Masi, Masi-Manimba Territory, Kwilu Pro ...

served as Provincial President.Legum, ''Africa Handbook'', p. 224 The PSA quickly became one of the best organised of the parties that emerged following the king's edict, and it established a strong base amongst the rural communities of the Kwango and Kwilu Districts of the country. Along with the

Mouvement National Congolais The Congolese National Movement (french: Mouvement national Congolais, or MNC) is a political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. History Foundation The MNC was founded in 1958 as an African nationalist party within the Belgian Cong ...

the PSA was unusual amongst the new parties in that it did not identify with one ethnic group but rather preached

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

. After the elections of 1960 the party was part of the inaugural post-independence coalition government of

Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba (; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic of the Congo) from June u ...

. However the 1961 elimination of Lumumba saw the PSA go into opposition and the rebellion that broke out in Kwilu during the

Congo Crisis The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after ...

was the work of a wing of the PSA under the

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

Pierre Mulele Pierre Mulele (11 August 1929 – 3 or 9 October 1968) was a Congolese rebel active in the Simba rebellion of 1964. Mulele had also been minister of education in Patrice Lumumba's cabinet. With the assassination of Lumumba in January 1961 and ...

.Tshilemalema Mukenge, ''Culture and Customs of the Congo'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002, p. 28 Effectively sidelined from mainstream politics, the PSA disappeared completely after the emergence of

Joseph-Désiré 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 ...

in 1965.

Citations

References

* * {{refend Defunct political parties in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Socialist parties in Africa Political parties established in 1959 1959 establishments in the Belgian Congo Socialism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo