Jacques Masangu | |
---|---|
First Vice-President of the Congolese Senate | |
In office 30 June 1960 –July 1961 | |
President | Joseph Kasavubu |
Resident Minister of the State of Katanga to the European Economic Community in Brussels | |
In office October 1960 –7 April 1962 | |
President | Moïse Tshombe |
Personal details | |
Born | Kipushi,Belgian Congo | November 20,1928
Political party | BALUBAKAT |
Jacques Masangu-a-Mwanza (born 20 November 1928) [1] is a Congolese and Katangese politician and diplomat.
Jacques Masangu,originating from Katanga,attended the Solvay Institute of the UniversitéLibre de Bruxelles where he graduated in sociology and diplomatic law in 1960. [2]
Masangu was elected a Senator in the national Senate at the time of independence on 30 June 1960. He became the First Vice-president of the Congolese Senate in Léopoldville,the country's capital,on 22 June 1960. He won the election for First Vice-president with 40 votes (51%) against Michel Denge who obtained 37 votes (48%) and Joseph Okito who obtained 1 vote (1%). [3]
On 11 July 1960,Katangese provincial president Moïse Tshombe declared the mineral-rich province independent as the State of Katanga. On 15 July,Masangu rallied to Tshombe's side [4] and was sent out to Brussels,capital of the former colonising country Belgium,to represent the new state as the Resident Minister of the State of Katanga to the European Economic Community. The office was named the Permanent Delegation to the European Common Market.
In March 1961,mediation efforts between Léopoldville and Élisabethville were undertaken by Malagasy President Philibert Tsiranana. Joseph Kasa-Vubu,Joseph Iléo and Cyrille Adoula of the central authorities met with the Katangese authorities in the Malagasy capital Antananarivo. The outcomes were favourable to the Katangese side. When the Katangese armed troops took the city of Manono the same month,Tshombe was at the height of his glory. [5] A follow-up conference to the Antananarivo conference was planned in Coquilhatville in April-Mai 1961. Masangu warned Tshombe about the possible dangers of going to the city in hostile territory. [6] At the conference,Tshombe and Katangese Minister for Foreign Affairs Évariste Kimba were arrested by the Léopoldville authorities. Masangu and his Paris-based colleague Dominique Diur convened in Milan with Joseph Iléo,Mario Cardoso,and Julien Kasongo,representatives of the central government,to obtain Tshombe's and Kimba's release. [7]
After the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between Léopoldville and Brussels,the Belgian government requested the Katangese office in Brussels to close its doors. The office in Brussels closed on 26 January 1962 and was replaced by the Cultural and Economic Office of Katanga. On 7 April 1962,Masangu resigned and was replaced by Odilon Mwenda. [8] In December 1962,he moved back to Léopoldville as a Senator for the central government. [9] Back at the service of the Léopoldville government,Masangu moved to Washington,D.C. as a Minister Counselor for Congo,where he only stayed for two months. [10]
In 1963,Masangu was appointed as a Deputy Prime Minister charged with social affairs in the government of Cyrille Adoula and,in that capacity,attended the State funeral of John F. Kennedy. His Chef de Cabinet,Oscar Mudiay,was later appointed by the Léopoldville government as a special commissioner charged with the installation of institutions in Northern Katanga. [11] During the period of different crises within the Balubakat party in 1963–1964,Masangu played an important role in their settlement as a prominent member of the party at the central government. [12]
From 1966 to 1977,he held several diplomatic positions. As the ambassador to the German Federal Republic,Masangu attended the state funeral of West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. [13] Tshombe,then sentenced to death in absentia and living in exile in Madrid,Francoist Spain,had the opportunity to sign Adenauer's book of condolence at the West German embassy in Madrid. As a result,Masangu was recalled to Congo on 17 May 1967. [14] Later,Masangu became the representative to the IAEA in Vienna,ambassador to Italy and representative to the FAO. He presented his credentials to Italian president Giuseppe Saragat on 17 October 1969. [15] During his time in Italy,Congolese President Mobutu Sese Seko appointed him as the chairman of the board of directors of Air Congo. Regarding the appointment,Congolese newspaper L'étoile commented that Mobutu "has shown appreciation for worthy efforts of Congolese diplomats abroad." [16] Afterwards,Masangu was appointed ambassador to Switzerland. [17] Masangu ended his diplomatic career in The Hague,where he was Congo's ambassador to the Netherlands,agent at the International Court of Justice (ICJ),and member of the board of directors of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. [18] He represented his country at the precedent-setting case by the ICJ about Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi. [19] In Congo,he was president of the Board of Directors of the SociétéFinancière de Développement (SOFIDE). [20] Masangu founded Lubumbashi-based radio and television outlet Kyondo Radio Télévision in 2011 and supported the organisation after a fire in 2019. [21] [22]
Jacques Masangu is the father of Jean-Claude Masangu Mulongo ,former governor of the Central Bank of Congo. [23] Furthermore,the brother of Jacques Masangu's spouse,Roger Kabulo,was the Chef de Cabinet of Balubakat politician Jason Sendwe. [24]
Moïse Kapenda Tshombe was a Congolese businessman and politician. He served as the president of the secessionist State of Katanga from 1960 to 1963 and as prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1964 to 1965.
Évariste Leon Kimba Mutombo was a Congolese journalist and politician who served as Foreign Minister of the State of Katanga from 1960 to 1963 and Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 13 October to 25 November 1965. Kimba was born in 1926 in Katanga Province,Belgian Congo. Following the completion of his studies he worked as a journalist and became editor-in-chief of the Essor du Congo. In 1958 he and a group of Katangese concerned about domination of their province by people from the neighbouring Kasaïregion founded the Confédération des associations tribales du Katanga (CONAKAT),a regionalist political party. In 1960 the Congo became independent and shortly thereafter Moise Tshombe declared the secession of the State of Katanga. Kimba played an active role in the separatist state's government as its Minister of Foreign Affairs and participated in numerous talks with the central government aimed at political reconciliation. Following the collapse of the secession in early 1963,Kimba had a falling out with Tshombe and took up several ministerial posts in the new province of South Katanga.
The State of Katanga,also known as the Republic of Katanga,was a breakaway state that proclaimed its independence from Congo-Léopoldville on 11 July 1960 under Moise Tshombe,leader of the local Confédération des associations tribales du Katanga (CONAKAT) political party. The new Katangese state did not enjoy full support throughout the province and was constantly plagued by ethnic strife in its northernmost region. It was dissolved in 1963 following an invasion by United Nations Operation in the Congo (ONUC) forces,and reintegrated with the rest of the country as Katanga Province.
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Jason Sendwe was a Congolese politician and a leader of the Association Générale des Baluba du Katanga (BALUBAKAT) party. He served as Second Deputy Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from August 1961 until January 1963,and as President of the Province of North Katanga from September 1963 until his death,with a brief interruption.
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Lucas Samalenge was a Congolese and Katangese politician who was Katanga's Secretary of State of Information.
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