Christophe Gbenye ( 1927 – 3 February 2015) was a Congolese politician, trade unionist, and rebel who, along with Gaston Soumialot, led the
Simba rebellion, an anti-government insurrection in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
during the
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis () was a period of Crisis, political upheaval and war, conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost ...
, between 1964 and 1965.
Biography
Christophe Gbenye was born in
Bas-Uélé District,
Orientale Province
Orientale Province () is one of the former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It went through a series of boundary changes between 1898 and 2015, when it was divided ...
in the
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...
in 1927 as a member of the Mbua tribe.
Relatively little is known about his early life.
He served as a clerk for the
Stanleyville municipal government's finance department and became a
trade union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
ist. He later served as the vice president of the eastern Congo branch of the
General Labour Federation of Belgium which in 1951 became the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of the Congo.
[
Gbenye joined ]Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba ( ; born Isaïe Tasumbu Tawosa; 2 July 192517 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as the Republic o ...
's independence oriented ''Mouvement National Congolais
The Congolese National Movement (, or MNC) is a political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
History Foundation
The MNC was founded in 1958 as an African nationalism, African nationalist party within the Belgian Congo. The party wa ...
'' (MNC-L) in the late 1950s, and became a prominent leader of the party by 1959.[ Lumumba appointed him minister of the interior in the first Congolese parliament in 1960 following independence.][ In September, President Joseph Kasa-Vubu dismissed Lumumba from his position as prime minister. Gbenye was also dismissed, and he retired to Stanleyville where he enjoyed political support. Lumumba's eventual arrest and execution in January 1961 deeply angered Gbenye, though he did briefly return to his position as interior minister under Cyrille Adoula's coalition government. He replaced Lumumba as president of the MNC-L.][ However, Gbenye was seen as a political liability by the ]United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
, which was largely responsible for Adoula's rise to power. Adoula then dismissed Gbenye, ostensibly because of his political rivalry with Victor Nendaka Bika, though Gbenye remained in parliament through early 1962. He then briefly returned to eastern Congo, then under the control of Antoine Gizenga's rebel government.[
In September 1963 he relocated to ]Brazzaville
Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...
in the neighbouring Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...
. On 3 October, Gbenye, Bocheley Davidson, Gaston Soumialot, and other dissidents established the revolutionary organization ''Comité National de Libération''.[ Assistance was sought from the Soviet Union in the form of equipment and training. In 1964, under the leadership of Gbenye, Mulele and Soumialot, much of the eastern Congo was overrun by young rebel fighters who called themselves ''simba'' (lions). Gbenye served as President of the People's Republic of the Congo (''République populaire du Congo''), the state established by the rebels in Stanleyville (modern Kisangani). By late 1965 the rebellion had been suppressed by the Congo's central government, under the tacit control of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, and Gbenye and others soon fled the country.
From 1966 to 1971 Gbenye lived in exile in ]Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
. He returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo after being granted amnesty in 1971.
In 2010 the then 83-year-old Gbenye was living in retirement in Kinshasa
Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...
. He died on 3 February 2015.Itimbiri ya Sika, 5th of February 2015
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See also
*Gold Scandal
The Gold Scandal of 1965 was a significant political scandal in Uganda that played a key role in the lead up to the Mengo Crisis of 1966. The scandal centered on allegations of illegal profiteering from gold, ivory, and cash originating from the D ...
(1965)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gbenye, Christophe
Year of birth missing
1920s births
2015 deaths
People from Bas-Uélé
Democratic Republic of the Congo rebels
People of the Congo Crisis
Mouvement National Congolais politicians
Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo exiles
Lumumba Government members
Deputy prime ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo expatriates in Uganda
21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people