Cléophas Kamitatu
Cléophas Kamitatu | |
---|---|
Minister of the Interior of Congo-Léopoldville | |
In office July 1962 – April 1963 | |
President | Joseph Kasa-Vubu |
Preceded by | Christophe Gbenye |
Personal details | |
Born | Cléophas Kamitatu Massamba 10 June 1931 Kilombo-Masi, Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution Parti démocrate et social chrétien |
Spouse | Marie-José Mafuta Mingi |
Children | Olivier Kamitatu Etsu |
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 Province, Belgian Congo. He underwent six years of primary studies in Muniangi-Kinzambi and learned Latin humanities at a Jesuit school in Kinzambi. He then spent three years in novitate at the Compagnie de Jésus, studying philosophy. He left and took up an internship at a daily newspaper, Le Courrier d'Afrique. In 1953 he became a clerk in the territorial service. Three years later he was made president of the Kwilu chapter of the Association des anciens élèves des Pères jésuites (Assap). In 1958 he became an activist for the Union des travailleurs congolais (UTC) in Kikwit.[1]
Political career
In 1958 Kamitatu helped establish the
Kamitatu led the PSA's delegation to the
In September Colonel Joseph-Désiré Mobutu deposed Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and created his own government. In spite of pressure from Mobutu and President Joseph Kasa-Vubu, Kamitatu remained loyal to Lumumba.[6] Meanwhile the colonel's soldiers patrolled the streets in the capital with force. Kamitatu protested their activities and accused them of committing rape and violence against local citizens, threatening to lead his province into secession.[7] On the night of 7 November 30 soldiers attempted to seize various government buildings in Léopoldville, but were arrested. Their officers escaped and the following morning Mobutu accused Kamitatu, responsible for the provincial police, of plotting against him. Two days later Kamitatu was arrested. Following negotiations on the handling of the police and a promise to improve relations with the army, he was released.[8]
In March 1961 Kamitatu was sent to Stanleyville to negotiate on behalf of the central government with Gizenga's rival state, the Free Republic of the Congo.[9]
After Gizenga was arrested in January 1962 for his rebellious activities Kamitatu emerged as the sole leader of the PSA. In July 1962 he was appointed Minister of the Interior, replacing Christophe Gbenye,[3] and in April 1963 he became Minister of Planning and Development,[10] a position he held until 1964.[11] He briefly served as Foreign Minister under Évariste Kimba's short-lived government until Mobutu seized power definitively in November 1965. On 18 June 1966 a special tribunal sentenced Kamitatu to five years in prison for complicity in a supposed plot to kill Mobutu.[12] He soon fled the country and formed the Front Socialiste Africain (FSA) as an opposition group to the government. He later wrote a highly critical biography of Mobutu entitled, La grande mystification au Congo-Kinshasa.[2]
In 1983, Mobutu offered general
Kamitatu is remembered in the Congo as one of the "fathers of independence".[14]
Family
Kamitatu was married to politician Marie-José Mafuta Mingi. They had a son named Olivier Kamitatu Etsu, another politician.[15]
Citations
- ^ Bakajika 2004, p. 118.
- ^ a b c "Cléophas Kamitatu Masamba tire sa révérence". Congo Planète (in French). 14 October 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ a b c LaFontaine 1986, p. 198.
- ^ "Cléophas Kamitatu n'est plus!". Radio Okapi. 13 October 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
- ^ Weigart 1995, p. 53.
- ^ Gerard & Kuklick 2015, pp. 124–125.
- ^ "Mobutu Faces Open Clash Over Congo Charges - Kamitatu May Secede, Hits Terror Regime". The Kingston Daily Freeman. Kingston, New York. Associated Press. 20 October 1960. p. 1.
- ^ O'Ballance 1999, p. 37
- ^ LaFontaine 1986, p. 16
- ^ Welch 1980, p. 232.
- ^ a b Kisangani 2016, p. 332
- ^ Taylor 1967, p. 95
- ^ Kisangani 2016, p. 333
- ^ "Congo Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Independence". Congo Planet. Congo News Agency. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
- ^ CEDAF 2004, p. 82
References
- Bakajika, Thomas B. (2004). Partis et société civile du Congo-Zaïre: la démocratie en crise, 1956-65 & 1990-97 (in French). Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 9782747572040.
- Cahiers africains (in French). Belgium: Centre d'étude et de documentation africaines. 2004. ISBN 9782747563901.
- LaFontaine, J.S. (1986). City Politics: A Study of Léopoldville 1962–63. American Studies. Cambridge University Press Archive.
- Gerard, Emmanuel; ISBN 978-0-674-72527-0.
- Kisangani, Emizet Francois (2016). Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4 ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442273160.
- O'Ballance, Edgar (1999). The Congo-Zaire Experience, 1960–98 (illustrated ed.). Springer. ISBN 9780230286481.
- Taylor, Sidney (1967). The New Africans: A Guide to the Contemporary History of Emergent Africa and Its Leaders (reprint ed.). Putnam.
- Weigart, S. (1995). Traditional Religion and Guerrilla Warfare in Modern Africa (illustrated ed.). Springer. ISBN 9780230371354.
- Welch, Claude Emerson (1980). Anatomy of Rebellion (illustrated ed.). SUNY Press. ISBN 9780873954419.