Jean-Chrysostome Weregemere
Jean-Chrysostome Weregemere | |
---|---|
Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of the Congo | |
In office 2 August 1961 – 11 July 1962 | |
President | Joseph Kasa-Vubu |
Prime Minister | Cyrille Adoula |
Minister of Justice of the Republic of the Congo | |
In office 11 July 1962 – 7 December 1962 | |
Preceded by | Rémy Mwamba |
Member of the Chamber of Deputies for South Kivu | |
In office 1960–1964 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Katana, Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution | 5 September 1919
Children | 9 |
Jean-Chrysostome Weregemere or Weregemere Bingwa Nyalumeke (born 5 September 1919) was a Congolese politician who led a faction of the Centre du Regroupement Africain. He served as Minister of Agriculture in the Congolese government from August 1961 until July 1962 and then as Minister of Justice until December 1962. Weregemere later held prominent positions in parastatals and sat on the central committee of the
Weregemere was born in Kivu Province, Belgian Congo. After studying with various Catholic institutions and taking courses in medicine, he entered the workforce, but frequently ran afoul of the colonial authorities for engaging in political activities. In 1958 he cofounded the Centre du Regroupement Africain (CEREA), a political party. He successfully expanded its influence and became its secretary-general, but continued to face challenges from the Belgian administration. In early 1960 he accused the leadership of CEREA of communist sympathies and created a splinter party. In the Congo's first free elections later that year Weregemere won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. In August 1961 he was appointed Minister of Agriculture. In July 1962 Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula reorganised his government and Weregemere was made Minister of Justice. The appointment was not well received by the public, and following attempts by the Adoula Government to arrest members of Parliament, Weregemere was removed from his office by a motion of censure in the Chamber in December.
During President
Biography
Early life
Jean-Chrysostome Weregemere was born on 5 September 1919 to a Muhavu family in Katana (near
Leader of CEREA
On 23 August 1958 Weregemere joined 11 other Congolese in forming the Centre du Regroupement Africain (CEREA) party. Party members nominated him as chairman of the sectional committee for Bukavu and as a member of the political bureau, and he was appointed secretary of peasant affairs. He then successfully established a CEREA chapter in Kasongo. In 1959 Weregemere became secretary-general of the party, and in that capacity he led CEREA's delegation to the Pan-African Movement for Eastern and Central Africa conference in Dar es Salaam.[2] That year all 12 founders of CEREA were arrested but eventually released.[4] In late October a nationalist party congress was convened in Stanleyville. Weregemere led the CEREA delegation and was elected vice-president of the conference. Civil unrest followed the congress and he was arrested and imprisoned.[2] He was released in Stanleyville, where he was closely monitored for six weeks. In late 1959 municipal elections took place across the Congo and Weregemere's name was inserted into the lists for the Bukavu council election. He encouraged the public to boycott the elections, but his wife—taking his place on the ballot—was elected in December by a wide margin in his place.[4]
Weregemere attended the Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference in early 1960, but appeared later than the rest of the CEREA delegation. Upon his arrival he was disappointed to learn that the other delegates had employed a Communist adviser and endorsed federalism (contrary to the official party plank supporting a unitary system).[5] In April Werengemere accused the president and vice-president of CEREA of harbouring Communist sympathies and organised his own moderate branch of the party, CEREA-Werengemere. It failed to secure the endorsement of CEREA's central committee and did not amass substantial popular support.[6]
Government career
"Lumumba had not taken him as a minister because I had advised him against it...However, Lumumba appreciates the spirit of this wise and certainly intelligent man...Weregemere speaks provocatively and provokingly, which makes him unpopular. He is criticised for being egocentric..."
In the Congo's
Fearing for his life in the capital, Léopoldville, amidst the declining political atmosphere, Weregemere fled to Bukavu on 9 January 1961. He was then detained, tortured by the local authorities, and imprisoned in Stanleyville. When Weregemere returned to Léopoldville he was arrested. Shortly thereafter he was released to testify before a UN conciliation commission. He then went back to Stanleyville and became Minister of Information in the government of the rebellious Free Republic of the Congo, which tasked him with restoring order in Kivu in June.[13]
Following the Lovanium Conclave in July, a measure of reconciliation was reached between some of the Congo's major factions. On 2 August 1961 Weregemere was made Minister of Agriculture in Prime Minister
In November the Adoula Government decreed a state of military rule and arrested four deputies on charges of plotting rebellion. The Chamber was furious; on 23 November the body forced the government to rescind its actions.[18] Seven days later Weregemere submitted a request to the Chamber Bureau for authorisation to indict Deputy Christophe Gbenye on charges of subversion for allegedly appealing to President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana to send him troops to support his political activities. On 4 December a parliamentary committee was formed to investigate the claim. On 7 December it delivered its report to the Chamber, its members unanimously rejecting the allegation. That same day the Chamber called upon Weregemere to face a motion of censure for conducting arbitrary arrests of parliamentarians contrary to the constitution and thereby generating tension between Parliament and the government.[19] Though he pointed out that the November arrests had been conducted by the Ministry of Interior, the motion was passed, 76 votes to four with four abstentions, and he was dismissed.[20][21] The following year he led the Belgian delegation in negotiations on the Belgo-Congolese contentieux—litigation concerning outstanding financial matters following decolonisation.[13] On 30 May 1964 he was appointed the central government's Minister-Resident in Stanleyville to oversee the activities of the Orientale provincial government.[22] He was relieved of his duties in July 1964.[13]
Later life
Under President
Weregemere joined the central committee of the state-sponsored party, the
Notes
- ^ The commission exacted a promise from Lumumba to govern under the supervision of another parliamentary commission of which Weregemere was designated to be a member. The plan never materialised.[11]
- ^ Mulumba and Makombo wrote that Weregemere was given this position on 14 September 1966,[13] while the executive order announcing the appointment is dated 9 September 1968 by the government gazette, Moniteur Congolais.[23]
- ^ According to Gretton, Weregemere was at first appointed to the board of the Office on 27 January 1971.[24]
- ^ Mulumba and Makombo wrote that Weregemere served in the central committee until October.[13]
Citations
- ^ a b c CRISP no. 120 1961, paragraph 94.
- ^ a b c d e f Mulumba & Makombo 1986, p. 483.
- ^ a b Morrissett 1960, p. 49.
- ^ a b c d Morrissett 1960, p. 50.
- ^ Merriam 1961, p. 168.
- ^ Coleman & Rosberg 1964, p. 589.
- ^ Kashamura 1966, p. 96.
- ^ Bonyeka 1992, p. 386.
- ^ Morrissett 1960, p. 34.
- ^ Hoskyns 1965, p. 219.
- ^ Artigue 1961, p. 311.
- ^ Kashamura 1966, p. 159.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mulumba & Makombo 1986, p. 484.
- ^ a b Young 1965, p. 346.
- ^ China Yearbook 1963, p. 263.
- ^ "B. Delegates and observers attending the eleventh session of the conference". Food and Agriculture Organization. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
- ^ Gaviola 1968, p. 269.
- ^ Young 1965, p. 364.
- ^ Bonyeka 1992, p. 326.
- ^ Masson 1970, p. 76.
- ^ Weissman 1974, p. 185.
- ^ CRISP 1965, p. 71.
- OCLC 225137192. Archived from the original(PDF) on 11 October 2017.
- ^ Gretton 1971, p. 15.
- ^ Sub-Saharan Africa Report 1985, p. 110.
- ^ "Congo-Zaïre : l'empire du crime permanent, massacres dits de l'Île d'Idjwi et de Kabare". Le Phare (in French). Kinshasa. 14 August 2013. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- ^ Amnesty International 1987, p. 121.
- ^ Boone 2014, p. 288.
- ^ Democratie au Zaïre 1994, p. 115.
- ^ Republique du Zaire 1992, p. 347.
References
- Artigue, Pierre (1961). Qui sont les leaders congolais?. Carrefours Africains (in French). Vol. 3. Brussels: Éditions Europe-Afrique. OCLC 469948352.
- Amnesty International Report 1987. London: ISBN 0-86210-125-5.
- Bonyeka, Bomandeke (1992). Le Parlement congolais sous le régime de la Loi fondamentale (in French). Kinshasa: Presses universitaire du Zaire. OCLC 716913628.
- Boone, Catherine (2014). Property and Political Order in Africa: Land Rights and the Structure of Politics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107729599.
- China Yearbook : 1963–64. Taipei: China Government Information Office. 1963. OCLC 610369624.
- Coleman, James S.; Rosberg, Carl G. Jr., eds. (1964). Political Parties and National Integration in Tropical Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press. OCLC 794016247.
- Congo 1964 (in French). Brussels: Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politiques. 1965. OCLC 16518788.
- Democratie au Zaïre quelle democratie (in French). Kinshasa: Association des moralistes zaïrois. 1994. OCLC 35669493.
- Gaviola, Carlos A. (1968). Misión en el Congo: dos años con la UN en Kiw (in Spanish). Buenos Aires: Kraft. OCLC 912150961.
- Gretton, George, ed. (April 1971). Report on World Affairs. Vol. 52. London: Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. OCLC 828213798.
- Hoskyns, Catherine (1965). The Congo Since Independence: January 1960 – December 1961. London: Oxford University Press. OCLC 414961.
- "Onze mois de crise politique au Congo". Courrier Hebdomadaire du CRISP (in French). 120 (120). Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politiques: 1–24. 1961. .
- OCLC 465788990.
- Masson, Paul (1970). Dix ans de malheurs; Kivu 1957-1967 (in French). Vol. 2. Brussels: M. Arnold. OCLC 872209409.
- Merriam, Alan P. (1961). Congo: Background of Conflict. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. OCLC 424186.
- Morrissett, Ann (1960). "Conversations with a Congolese Congressman". ISSN 0024-189X.
- "MPR Central Committee Ends 10th Regular Session" (PDF). Sub-Saharan Africa Report. United States Foreign Broadcast Information Service: 109–111. 27 December 1985. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 February 2017.
- Mulumba, Mabi; Makombo, Mutamba (1986). Cadres et dirigeants au Zaïre, qui sont-ils?: dictionnaire biographique (in French). Kinshasa: Editions du Centre de recherches pédagogiques. OCLC 462124213.
- "Rapport Final des Travaux de la Commission Sociale et Culturelle" (PDF) (in French). Kinshasa: Republique du Zaire. August 1992.
- Weissman, Stephen R. (1974). American Foreign Policy in the Congo: 1960-1964. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801408120.
- Young, Crawford (1965). Politics in the Congo: Decolonization and Independence. Princeton: Princeton University Press. OCLC 307971.