Congolese Youth Union

Last updated
Union de la jeunesse Congolaise
AbbreviationU.J.C.
Formation1956
Dissolved1964
Leader
Aimé Matsika
Affiliations World Federation of Democratic Youth

The Congolese Youth Union (French : Union de la jeunesse congolaise, abbreviated U.J.C.) was a youth organization in Congo-Brazzaville. The U.J.C. was initially merely a local branch of the Republican Youth Union of France (U.J.R.F.), [1] the youth wing the French Communist Party. [2] However it developed into an independent organization and began organizing cells in different parts of the territory. The movement established a sizeable presence in the cities of lower Congo, such as Point-Noire, Jacob and Dolisie. [1] U.J.C. was led by the trade union leader Aimé Matsika. [3]

The organization worked in close cooperation with the Confédération générale africaine du travail trade union movement and the African Women's Union of Congo. The U.J.C. statutes were deposited with the authorities in 1956. [1]

U.J.C. was a member organization of the World Federation of Democratic Youth. [1] [4]

After independence U.J.C. was targeted by the government of Fulbert Youlou, which labelled the organization as 'communist'. In March 1960 the National Assembly began preparing a law which would restrict the activities of U.J.C. and C.G.A.T. On May 9, 1960 Matsika and other U.J.C. leaders were arrested. By the time the offensive against U.J.C. and C.G.A.T. began, Youlou had already been able to corner the parliamentary opposition. [5] [6] In mid-August 1963, U.J.C. and C.G.A.T. took part in an uprising against Youlou's rule, and together with the army they deposed the government. [7] When a new military/civilian government was formed on Christmas Eve 1963, Matsika was included as Minister of Commerce and Industry. [8]

In 1964 the National Movement of the Revolution (M.N.R.) was established as the sole legal political party, with its own youth wing being the J.M.N.R. [9]

Related Research Articles

Les Trois Glorieuses was the anthem of the People's Republic of the Congo from January 1, 1970 through 1991, when the original anthem, La Congolaise was restored.

Ambroise Édouard Noumazalaye was a Congolese politician who was Prime Minister of Congo-Brazzaville from 1966 to 1968, under President Alphonse Massamba-Débat. Later in life he served as Secretary-General of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) and was a supporter of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. He served as President of the Senate from 2002 to 2007.

Pierre Nzé

Pierre Nzé is a Congolese politician and diplomat. During the single-party rule of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT), he held leading positions in the government and party. Later, he was Minister of State for Justice from 1997 to 1999, and he served in the Senate of the Republic of the Congo from 2002 to 2011.

Florent Ntsiba is a Congolese politician. A high-ranking and long-time figure under President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Ntsiba initially rose to prominence through the military in the single-party regime of the Congolese Labour Party (PCT) in the 1970s. He was Minister of Information from 1979 to 1983; although he fell out of favor with the party leadership in 1983, he returned to the government as Minister of Equipment from 1989 to 1991.

Louis Zatonga was a Congolese politician. Zatonga was appointed one of two secretaries of the Bureau of the National Assembly in 1973. He was appointed Minister of Territorial Administration, Post and Telecommunications in 1975. When the cabinet was reshuffled in April 1977, Zatonga lost his seat in the government. He served as Mayor of Brazzaville from 1977 to 1979.

The African Women's Union of Congo was a women's organization in Congo-Brazzaville. U.F.A.C. was closely associated with the Congolese Youth Union (U.J.C.). U.F.A.C. largely failed to obtain a following beyond the milieus around U.J.C.

The Trois Glorieuses was an uprising in Congo-Brazzaville which occurred from August 13 to 15, 1963. The uprising ended the rule of the first Congolese President, Fulbert Youlou, as the opposition trade union movement and Congolese Youth Union struck an alliance with the army.

The Congolese Democratic Front was a political party in Moyen-Congo. The party was founded by Emmanuel Dadet after he left the Congolese Progressive Party. The FDC failed to become a major force in Congolese politics. In 1956, Dadet joined the Democratic Union for the Defense of African Interests (UDDIA).

The Congolese Progressive Party was a political party in Congo-Brazzaville. It was the first Congolese political party, and the Congolese section of the African Democratic Rally (RDA). Until 1950 PPC was closely connected to the French Communist Party. The party was largely based amongst the Vili people. Aubert-Lucien Lounda was the General Secretary of the party.

The first elections to the Representative Council of Moyen-Congo were held between December 1946 and January 1947. A government decree, issued on 26 October 1946, had called for the holding of elections for Representative Councils in each of the territories of French Equatorial Africa.

National Movement of the Revolution

The National Movement of the Revolution was a political party in the Republic of the Congo. MNR was founded at a congress held June 29 to July 6, 1964. MNR was instituted as the sole legal political party in the country on July 20, 1964, according to the Law No. 25-65. Pre-existing political parties were ordered to fuse into the MNR. MNR adopted scientific socialism as its ideological foundation. Ambroise Noumazalaye was the First Secretary of the party.

M 22

M 22 was a political movement in Congo-Brazzaville. It was active in 1972 and 73 before its guerrilla base was compromised and most of its cadre arrested including its leader Ange Diawara.

M 24 was a political movement in the People's Republic of Congo. The grouping emerged from a strike organized on March 24, 1976. The March 24 strike had demanded the rehabilitation of the Central Committee of the Congolese Party of Labour (PCT). The leaders of the strike were arrested. The name 'M 24' was accorded by the Congolese Students Association (AEC) in France in reference to the coalition who backed the March 24 strike.

Syndicat professionnel des commerçants et transporteurs africains du Congo was an employers' organization in Moyen-Congo. It was formed by African employers, as an alternative to the French-dominated COLPAEF. Ayina was the president of the organization.

Céline Yandza was a Congolese politician. She became the founding president of the Revolutionary Women's Union of Congo (URFC). In 1968, she was included in the National Revolutionary Council.

1956 Moyen-Congo municipal elections

Municipal elections were held for the first time in Moyen-Congo on 18 November 1956. Voting took place in three municipalities; Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire and Dolisie. The Democratic Union for the Defence of African Interests won the polls in all three municipalities. Fulbert Youlou became mayor of Brazzaville.

Between June 5 and 6, 1963, the Guinean president Sékou Touré made an official visit to Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo. He was received by the Congolese president Fulbert Youlou. The visit sparked protests against the Congolese government, marking a beginning to the popular movement that would end Youlou's rule two months later.

Daniel Abibi is a Congolese politician, mathematician and diplomat. During the 1980s, he served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Information and as Minister of Secondary and Higher Education. Later, during the 1990s, he was Congo-Brazzaville's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Alice Mahoungou, born Alice Badiangaba, was a Congolese (Brazzaville) politician and women's activist. She was a Congolese Youth Union (U.J.C) activist and a leader of the African Women's Union of the Congo (U.F.A.C). She took part in the 1958 World Festival of Youth and Students in Vienna. In 1960 she was, along with other U.J.C activists, imprisoned, accused of participating in a 'communist plot'. She became famous in Congo-Brazzaville for her role in the August 1963 revolution, as she threw back a hand-grenade that soldiers had tossed into a crowd of demonstrators.

Alain Rémi Bakou, a Congolese politician. An erstwhile member of the UDDIA party, he served as general rapporteur after the 1991 National Conference. Bakou was Mayor of Brazzaville between 1993 and 1994.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bazenguissa-Ganga, Rémy. Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique . Paris: Karthala, 1997. p. 39
  2. ↑ Guattari, Félix. The Three Ecologies . London: Continuum, 2005. p. ix
  3. ↑ Bazenguissa-Ganga, Rémy. Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique . Paris: Karthala, 1997. p. 66
  4. ↑ Nils M. Apeland (1958). La juventud frente al comunismo. Distribuído por I.U.S.Y. p. 58.
  5. ↑ Bazenguissa-Ganga, Rémy. Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique . Paris: Karthala, 1997. pp. 65, 418, 437
  6. ↑ Bernault, Florence. Démocraties ambiguës en Afrique centrale: Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, 1940-1965 . Paris: Karthala, 1996. p. 308
  7. ↑ Le Vine, Victor T. Politics in Francophone Africa . Boulder, Colo: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004. p. 143
  8. ↑ Bazenguissa-Ganga, Rémy. Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique . Paris: Karthala, 1997. pp. 96-97
  9. ↑ Congo (Brazzaville): Fact file
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.