Joseph Mbuyi

Joseph Mbuyi
Minister of Middle Classes of the Republic of the Congo
In office
24 June 1960 – September 1960
Personal details
Born12 August 1929
Mikalaye, Luluabourg, Belgian Congo
Died1960/1961
near Charlesville, Republic of the Congo
Political partyMouvement National Congolais-Lumumba

Joseph Mbuyi (12 August 1929 – 1960/1961) was a Congolese politician. He served as the Minister of Middle Classes of the Republic of the Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1960.

Biography

[edit]

Joseph Mbuyi was born on 12 August 1929 in Mikalaye, Luluabourg, Belgian Congo.[1]

Mbuyi joined the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC), and when the party split he joined Patrice Lumumba's wing and became the secretary of its national committee.[2] He initially attended the 1960 Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference in Brussels as a delegate for the MNC-Lumumba. He was replaced and left in early February before the conference ended and returned to Léopoldville.[1] He served as Minister of Middle Classes in Lumumba's government, which was officially invested by Parliament on 24 June 1960.[3] The government planned on eventually making him the Congo's first ambassador to the United States.[4] On 22 July Lumumba left the Congo for New York City. Mbuyi accompanied him as part of a special economic delegation.[5] Belgian Ambassador to the Congo Jean van den Bosch established a confidential line of contact with Mbuyi, since he was regarded as more politically moderate than some other members of the government.[6] Throughout August Lumumba increasingly withdrew from his full cabinet and instead consulted officials and ministers he trusted, including Mbuyi.[7]

On 5 September President Joseph Kasa-Vubu announced the dismissal of Lumumba, along with several of his ministers and declared that a new government would be formed.[8] A political deadlock ensued, and on 14 September, Colonel Joseph-Désiré Mobutu launched a coup to install his own government.[9] Lumumba then began planning to relocate to Stanleyville in the east to reestablish his government.[10] Mbuyi attempted to go but was killed in the Charlesville region[11] in 1960 or 1961.[12]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Artigue 1960, p. 79.
  2. ^ Merriam 1961, p. 157.
  3. ^ Kanza 1994, pp. 103, 109.
  4. ^ Kanza 1994, p. 242.
  5. ^ Hoskyns 1965, pp. 155–156.
  6. ^ Willame 1990, p. 259.
  7. ^ Hoskyns 1965, p. 188.
  8. ^ Kanza 1994, p. 286.
  9. ^ Hoskyns 1965, p. 214.
  10. ^ de Witte 2002, p. 22.
  11. ^ de Witte 2002, p. 52.
  12. ^ Gerard-Libois & Verhaegen 1966, p. 46.

References

[edit]
  • Artigue, Pierre (1960). Qui sont les leaders congolais? (in French). Brussels: Éditions Europe-Afrique. OCLC 468268357.
  • Gerard-Libois, Jules; Verhaegen, Benoît (1966). Congo 1964: Political Documents of a Developing Nation (in French). Princeton: Princeton University Press. OCLC 813515398.
  • Hoskyns, Catherine (1965). The Congo Since Independence: January 1960 – December 1961. London: Oxford University Press. OCLC 414961.
  • Kanza, Thomas R. (1994). The Rise and Fall of Patrice Lumumba: Conflict in the Congo (expanded ed.). Rochester, Vermont: Schenkman Books, Inc. ISBN 0-87073-901-8.
  • Merriam, Alan P. (1961). Congo: Background of Conflict. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press. OCLC 424186.
  • Willame, Jean-Claude (1990). Patrice Lumumba: la crise congolaise revisitée (in French). Paris: Éditions Karthala. ISBN 9782865372706.
  • de Witte, Ludo (2002). The Assassination of Lumumba (illustrated ed.). Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-410-6.