ABAKO

The Bakongo Association for the Unification, Conservation and Development of the Kongo Language (French: Association Bakongo pour l'unification, la conservation et le développement de la langue Kongo, ABAKO) was a Congolesepolitical party founded in 1950 by Edmond Nzeza Nlandu in Léopoldville. It subsequently came to be headed by Joseph Kasa-Vubu, and emerged in the late 1950s as a vocal opponent of Belgian colonial rule in what is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition to its political role, ABAKO served as the principal ethno-religious organisation for the Kongo people (also known as Bakongo) and became closely intertwined with the Kimbanguist Church, which was extremely popular in the Lower Congo region.