Joseph Ngalula Mpandajila (

Lusambo Lusambo () is the capital Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city of Sankuru province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town lies north of the confluence of the Sankuru River and the Lubi River. Lusambo is served by Lusambo Airp ...

, 12 December 1928 – 5 February 2001) was a

Congolese Congolese or Kongolese may refer to: African peoples * Congolese people (disambiguation) * Kongo people, a Bantu ethnic group who live along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire (Republic of Congo) to Luanda, Angola, primarily defined by ...

writer and politician who played a prominent role in the Kasai secession of the early 1960s.

Biography

Joseph Ngalula was born on 12 December 1928 in

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 ...

to a

Baluba The Luba people or Baluba are a Bantu ethno-linguistic group indigenous to the south-central region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The majority of them live in this country, residing mainly in Katanga, Kasaï, Kasaï-Oriental, Kasaï ...

family. He undertook six years of primary education and five years of professional courses. He was fluent in English and French. He served as editor of the publication ''Presence Congolaise'', a weekly paper written by and for the Congolese population, which was placed as an insert within ''Le Courrier d'Afrique''. In June 1960

Barthélemy Mukenge Barthélemy Mukenge Nsumpi Shabantu (3 August 1925 – 4 July 2018) was a Congolese politician who served as President of Kasaï Province from 11 June 1960 to January 1962 and July to September 1962. He was a president of the Association des Lul ...

was elected President of Kasai Province by the provincial assembly. Unhappy with the results, on 14 June the assembly opposition declared their own provincial government under Ngalula. On 16 June 1960 Ngalula was appointed Kasai Minister of Economic Affairs by Mukenge without consultation. On 9 August

Albert Kalonji Albert Kalonji (6 June 1929 – 20 April 2015) was a Congolese politician and businessman from the Luba ya Kasai nobility. He was elected emperor ( Mulopwe) of the Baluba ya Kasai (Bambo) and later became king of the Federated State of South ...

declared that the south-eastern region of the province was seceding to form the Autonomous State of

South Kasai South Kasai () was an unrecognised secessionist state within the Republic of the Congo (the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) which was semi-independent between 1960 and 1962. Initially proposed as only a province, South Kasai soug ...

and appointed Ngalula its Prime Minister. In July 1961 the relationship between the two deteriorated, and Ngalula was driven into exile. Since he had been the person chiefly responsible for the organisation of the state, South Kasai's administration broke down following his departure. He subsequently established his own political party, the Democratic Union, to oppose the Kalonjists. In August 1961 he was appointed Minister of Education under Prime Minister

Cyrille Adoula Cyrille Adoula (13 September 1921 – 24 May 1978) was a Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congolese trade unionist and politician. He was the prime minister of the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Republic of the Congo, from 2 August 1961 ...

. He held the post until April 1963. Ngalula was one of the Members of Parliament who signed an open letter to Zaire's President

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa za Banga ( ; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), often shortened to Mobutu Sese Seko or Mobutu and also known by his initials MSS, was a Congolese politician and military officer ...

in 1980. Later, he co-founded the opposition party UDPS, together with

Étienne Tshisekedi Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba also Known as Tshisekedi The Father (14 December 1932 – 1 February 2017) was a Congolese politician and the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), formerly the main opposition political pa ...

Marcel Lihau Marcel Antoine Lihau or Ebua Libana la Molengo Lihau (29 September 1931 – 9April 1999) was a Congolese jurist, law professor and politician who served as the inaugural First President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Congo from 1968 un ...

, and others. Because of his engagement in the political opposition to Mobutu, he was imprisoned, banished, and pardoned several times. There exists confusion over Ngalula's fate. According to some sources, he died on 5 February 2001 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. Despite this, Emizet François Kisangani's

historical dictionary A historical dictionary or dictionary on historical principles is a dictionary which deals not only with the latterday meanings of words but also the historical development of their forms and meanings. It may also describe the vocabulary of an earl ...

of the Congo claims that Ngalula went on to be elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 2007. However, in a more recent edition of the same work, Kisangani omits this and instead states that Ngalula already died in 1990.

Citations

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ngalula, Joseph 1928 births Possibly living people People of the Congo Crisis Members of the Senate (Democratic Republic of the Congo) Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Luba people Governors of provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people