Jeannot Bemba Saolona (born September 1941 at Libanga, Équateur,

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

, died 1 July 2009

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) was a Congolese businessman, Minister of the Economy and Industry, and Senator for Équateur. His son

Jean-Pierre Bemba Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (born 4 November 1962) is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was one of four Vice-Presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democrat ...

became the last

Vice-President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Vice-President of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a former political position in Congo, which existed between 2003 and 2006 in the country's interim government after the Second Congo War. Following the end of the Second Congo War, and until ...

. Bemba Saolona's company, Scibe CMMJ, was implicated by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

in smuggling weapons to

UNITA The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...

during the Angolan Civil War. He was a close confidant to President

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

.Profile: Jean-Pierre Bemba
BBC News Africa, 25 May 2008.

References

1941 births 2009 deaths People from Sud-Ubangi Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo businesspeople 20th-century businesspeople 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people {{DRCongo-politician-stub