Isaac Kalonji

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Isaac Kalonji
President of the Senate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In office
November 1962 – October 1965
Preceded byVictor Koumorico
Succeeded bySylvestre Mudingayi
Personal details
Born9 September 1915
Convention Nationale Congolaise
Parti Démocrate Social Chrétien
Military service
Allegiance Congo
Branch/serviceForce Publique
Years of service1940

Isaac Kalonji Mutambayi (9 September 1915 – 3 August 2009) was a Congolese Protestant minister and statesman who served as the

President of the Senate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
from 1962 until 1965. He was one of the few politicians to serve the country continuously from its independence in 1960 until its democratisation in the 1990s.

Early life

Isaac Kalonji was born on 9 September 1915 in

Banque Belge d'Afrique. He remained in the city until 1959,[2] running several successful business ventures.[4]

In 1953 Kalonji founded the Fédération des Ressortissants du Kasai. He traveled to Belgium in 1954 and toured the

Confédération des associations tribales du Katanga (CONAKAT)'s perceived anti-Baluba bias[5] and politically mobilise Katangese residents of Kasian origins. [6]

Senate career

Kalonji served as a delegate for the Katanga Cartel (an alliance between FEDEKA, BALUBAKAT, and ATCAR) at the Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference in early 1960.[7] Afterwards he ran the Cartel's office in Belgium for several months and attended the Economic Round Table Conference as an observer. In May he was elected provincial deputy in Katanga Province[2] and then on 12 June as senator on a non-customary, FEDEKA ticket.[8] Kalonji dropped the former office to hold the latter.[2] Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba nominated him as State Commissioner for Kasaï Province in the first government of the independent Congo.[7] The Senate rejected all of Lumumba's nominees for state commissioner on the grounds that the provincial governments had not been adequately consulted on the selections.[9] As the country fell into crisis, Kalonji's position in national politics became tenuous due to his mixed ethnicity and the fact that he adhered to Lumumba's beliefs.[10] He was opposed to the Katangese secession.[11] In October he was made a member of a commission assembled by Lumumba (then deposed) tasked with managing his relations with the United Nations Operation in the Congo.[12]

In July 1961 Kalonji was elected First Vice President of the Senate. That year he played a significant role in attempting to reconcile the Luba and Lulua tribes and attended the Eurafrican Interparliamentary Conference of Strasbourg on the Association of African Countries in the

Convention Nationale Congolaise (CONACO). He was reelected senator in 1965, representing the province of South Kasai.[13] His presidency of the Senate ended in October 1965[14] when he was unexpectedly defeated for reelection by Sylvestre Mudingayi of the Front Démocratique Congolais, 57 votes to 54.[15] During the Second Republic he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the National Order of the Leopard.[16]

Later life

Kalonji assisted

Parti Démocrate Social Chrétien as the Congo began democratising.[16] He served as the first president of the Conference Nationale Souveraine in 1991, though he was later replaced at the behest of opposition delegates, who regarded him as too close to Mobutu. With this political activity, he became one of the few politicians to be continuously active in the Congo from its independence in 1960 until the 1990s.[17] Following the end of the Conference in 1992 Kalonji moved to Johannesburg. He died there on 3 August 2009.[16]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Omasombo Tshonda 2018, p. 230.
  2. ^ a b c d Mulumba & Makombo 1986, p. 152.
  3. ^ a b CRISP 1969, p. 17.
  4. ^ Young 2015, p. 202.
  5. ^ O'Ballance 1999, p. 7.
  6. ^ Kennes 2009, p. 162.
  7. ^ a b Merriam 1961, p. 138.
  8. ^ Chomé 1966, p. 213.
  9. ^ Bonyeka 1992, p. 135.
  10. ^ Omasombo Tshonda 2018, p. 231.
  11. ^ Gérard-Libois 1966, p. 108.
  12. ^ Kashamura 1966, p. 159.
  13. ^ Mulumba & Makombo 1986, pp. 152–153.
  14. ^ Mwanyimi-Mbomba 1985, p. 81.
  15. OCLC 12032018
    .
  16. ^ a b c Ngongo, Aimé Jr. (4 September 2009). "Décès de Kalondji Mutambayi, un des derniers vétérans de la politique congolaise depuis la lutte de l'indépendance". Uhuru (in French). Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  17. ^ Kisangani 2016, pp. 330–331.

References

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