Ernest Wamba dia Wamba
Encyclopedia
Ernest Wamba dia Wamba is a senator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
. He was the vice president of the Senate Permanent Commission on Legal and Administrative Matters in the transitional government
. Previously, he was commander of the Kisangani
faction of the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy
during the Second Congo War
. He is also a prominent academic and political theorist.
Province. He was raised in Swedish mission school
s and grew into adulthood in the period when the prophet
ism of Simon Kimbangu
and the political agitation for independence
by the Association of the Bakongo People (ABAKO) was reaching its peak. When ABAKO split, he favored the faction of Daniel Kanza.
Upon graduation from secondary school, he was one of three students awarded scholarships by the African-American Institute to study in the United States
. He went to Western Michigan University
in Kalamazoo
, where Wamba wrote his honors dissertation on the philosophers Maurice Merleau-Ponty
and Jean-Paul Sartre
. He later went on to graduate studies at Claremont
before teaching at Brandeis University
, where he was associated with Peter F. Drucker. He went on to teach at Harvard University
in Cambridge, MA.
During his period in the U.S., Wamba dia Wamba married an African-American woman and was involved in the Civil Rights Movement
through the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
. Once the period of decolonization
began in Africa
, he joined the supporting committees of various US-based pan-Africanist liberation movements.
In 1980, he accepted a position as Professor of History at the University of Dar es Salaam
in Tanzania
. While visiting his parents' village in 1981, he was arrested by the government of Mobutu Sese-Seko for possessing a paper he had authored that was deemed 'subversive', and was detained for one year. He continued his role as a prominent figure in both academia and political circles in Africa. He is the former President of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
(CODESRIA) as well as the founder and president of the Philosophy Club at the University of Dar es Salaam. He is an expert in the Palaver
and other indigenous forms of African democracy. He participated in the Sovereign National Conference, held from 1990 through 1992 in Zaire. In 1997 he co-authored with Jacques Depelchin
, the African Declaration Against Genocide.
In December 1997, Prof. Wamba was named a recipient of the Prince Claus Award for Culture and Development
. The announcement of the award cited his "scholarly contribution to the development of African philosophy
and for sparking off the philosophical debate on social and political themes in Africa." At this time he also worked closely with Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere
to end the Burundi Civil War
.
against the government of Joseph Kabila
, he was unanimously elected head of the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy
, which was backed by Uganda
and Rwanda
and based in the town of Goma
. However, the RCD gradually tore in two from November 1998 until 16 May 1999, as it became clear that Rwanda and its supporters goals were limited to replacement of Kabila. Several attempts were made on Wamba's life during this period, coinciding with attempts to destroy his political power in the RCD.
On 16 May 1999, Émile Ilunga
was named the new head of the RCD after maneuvering by Rwanda, and Wamba fled to the Ugandan-controlled town of Kisangani. The faction of the RCD he maintained control of was variously known as the Movement for Liberation (RCD-ML), RCD-Kisangani, or RCD-Wamba. The main faction is sometimes referred to as RCD-Goma. The two factions shortly engaged in fierce battles in Kisangani, following which Wamba retreated to Bunia
in the Ituri region of the northeastern DRC.
Wamba was faced with an internal revolt by Mbusa Nyamwisi, leading to another split that left Wamba. His organization remained known as the RCD-Kisangani (RCD-K), but the Nyamwisi-led group was known as the RCD-ML. In 2001, Wamba denounced a Ugandan proposal to unite the RCD-K, RCD-ML and Movement for the Liberation of Congo
(MLC) as an unwelcome foreign imposition. The further disintegration of the RCD-K to the point it was without any significant military force may have been the result of Ugandan withdrawal of its support. This action, which took place as the Ituri conflict
continued escalating, was seen by some members of the Lendu
ethnic group as a support against what they saw as the pro-Hema
bias of Uganda.
Following the Inter-Congolese Dialogue that ended the war, Wamba became a prominent member of the new government. He has spoken extensively on what is needed for the DRC to make a successful transition to a functioning democracy.
He continues to be politically involved and to write and is a noted political theorist widely respected for, in particular, his innovative use of the work of the African born Parisian philosopher Alain Badiou
who he has introduced in to contemporary African political thought. African scholars like Jacques Depelchin, Michael Neocosmos and Raj Patel
have taken up Wamba's use of Badiou's work in innovative new ways that are widely held to have revitalized radical political thought on the continent.
A May 2008 article authored by Jacques Depelchin warned that there were new threats to assassinate Wamba.
http://www.otabenga.org/node/156
'Balkanisation and crisis in eastern Congo Ernest Wamba dia Wamba speaks to Pambazuka News' (2008) Published in Pambazuka News
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/51788
'Democracy Today: The case of the Democratic Republic of Congo' (2007) Published in Pambazuka News
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/40306
'Congo' (2004) Published in Zmag http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/8328
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. He was the vice president of the Senate Permanent Commission on Legal and Administrative Matters in the transitional government
Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo was tasked with moving from the state riven by the Second Congo War to a government based upon a constitution agreed on by consensus. In 2001 President Laurent Kabila was assassinated and his son Joseph Kabila was named head of state...
. Previously, he was commander of the Kisangani
Kisangani
Kisangani is the capital of Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the 3rd largest urbanized city in the country and the largest of the cities that lie in the tropical woodlands of the Congo....
faction of the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy
Rally for Congolese Democracy
The Congolese Rally for Democracy, sometimes Rally for Congolese Democracy, was a rebel group operating in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Assisted by the government of Rwanda, it was a major factor in the Second Congo War . It became a political party in 2003...
during the Second Congo War
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...
. He is also a prominent academic and political theorist.
Early life
Wamba dia Wamba was born in Sundi-Lutete, Bas-CongoBas-Congo
Bas-Congo is one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the only province with a coastline and it borders Bandundu province to the east and Kinshasa to the northeast...
Province. He was raised in Swedish mission school
Mission Covenant Church of Sweden
The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden , founded in 1878, is a Swedish Reformed free church. It is the second-largest Christian denomination in the country, after the national church, the Church of Sweden...
s and grew into adulthood in the period when the prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
ism of Simon Kimbangu
Simon Kimbangu
Simon Kimbangu was a Congolese religious leader noted as the founder of Kimbanguism...
and the political agitation for independence
Congo Crisis
The Congo Crisis was a period of turmoil in the First Republic of the Congo that began with national independence from Belgium and ended with the seizing of power by Joseph Mobutu...
by the Association of the Bakongo People (ABAKO) was reaching its peak. When ABAKO split, he favored the faction of Daniel Kanza.
Upon graduation from secondary school, he was one of three students awarded scholarships by the African-American Institute to study in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He went to Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
in Kalamazoo
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
, where Wamba wrote his honors dissertation on the philosophers Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Maurice Merleau-Ponty was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Karl Marx, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger in addition to being closely associated with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir...
and Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
. He later went on to graduate studies at Claremont
Claremont Colleges
The Claremont Colleges are a prestigious American consortium of five undergraduate and two graduate schools of higher education located in Claremont, California, a city east of downtown Los Angeles...
before teaching at Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
, where he was associated with Peter F. Drucker. He went on to teach at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in Cambridge, MA.
During his period in the U.S., Wamba dia Wamba married an African-American woman and was involved in the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
through the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
. Once the period of decolonization
Decolonization
Decolonization refers to the undoing of colonialism, the unequal relation of polities whereby one people or nation establishes and maintains dependent Territory over another...
began in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, he joined the supporting committees of various US-based pan-Africanist liberation movements.
In 1980, he accepted a position as Professor of History at the University of Dar es Salaam
University of Dar es Salaam
The University of Dar es Salaam is a university in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam. The university was born out of a decision taken in 1970 to split the then University of East Africa into three independent universities; Makerere University , University of Nairobi and University of Dar es...
in Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
. While visiting his parents' village in 1981, he was arrested by the government of Mobutu Sese-Seko for possessing a paper he had authored that was deemed 'subversive', and was detained for one year. He continued his role as a prominent figure in both academia and political circles in Africa. He is the former President of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa
Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa is Pan-African research organisation headquartered in Dakar, Senegal.- Background :...
(CODESRIA) as well as the founder and president of the Philosophy Club at the University of Dar es Salaam. He is an expert in the Palaver
Palaver
Palaver is a 1969 Belgian fantasy film directed by Emile Degelin. The film was entered into the 1969 Moscow International Film Festival. The film was selected as the Belgian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 42nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.-Cast:* Umberto...
and other indigenous forms of African democracy. He participated in the Sovereign National Conference, held from 1990 through 1992 in Zaire. In 1997 he co-authored with Jacques Depelchin
Jacques Depelchin
Jacques Depelchin is a Congelese historian and militant. He is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Ota Benga International Alliance for Peace in the DR Congo -Background:...
, the African Declaration Against Genocide.
In December 1997, Prof. Wamba was named a recipient of the Prince Claus Award for Culture and Development
Prince Claus Awards
The Prince Claus Fund was inaugurated in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of The Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs....
. The announcement of the award cited his "scholarly contribution to the development of African philosophy
African philosophy
African philosophy is used in different ways by different philosophers. Although African philosophers spend their time doing work in many different areas, such as metaphysics, epistemology, moral philosophy, and political philosophy, a great deal of the literature is taken up with a debate...
and for sparking off the philosophical debate on social and political themes in Africa." At this time he also worked closely with Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere
Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985....
to end the Burundi Civil War
Burundi Civil War
The Burundi Civil War was an armed conflict lasting from 1993 to 2005. The civil war was the result of long standing ethnic divisions between the Hutu and the Tutsi tribes in Burundi...
.
The Second Congo War and the peace after
At the beginning of the Second Congo WarSecond Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...
against the government of Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila
Joseph Kabila Kabange is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila...
, he was unanimously elected head of the rebel Rally for Congolese Democracy
Rally for Congolese Democracy
The Congolese Rally for Democracy, sometimes Rally for Congolese Democracy, was a rebel group operating in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Assisted by the government of Rwanda, it was a major factor in the Second Congo War . It became a political party in 2003...
, which was backed by Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
and Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and based in the town of Goma
Goma
Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the western branch of the Great Rift Valley, and Goma lies only 13 to 18 km due south of the crater of the active...
. However, the RCD gradually tore in two from November 1998 until 16 May 1999, as it became clear that Rwanda and its supporters goals were limited to replacement of Kabila. Several attempts were made on Wamba's life during this period, coinciding with attempts to destroy his political power in the RCD.
On 16 May 1999, Émile Ilunga
Emile Ilunga
Emile Ilunga Kalambo is a politician and former leader of the Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma rebel movement.The RCD, operating in the east of the DRC, was a major factor in launching the Second Congo War , a rebellion against the government of Laurent-Désiré Kabila...
was named the new head of the RCD after maneuvering by Rwanda, and Wamba fled to the Ugandan-controlled town of Kisangani. The faction of the RCD he maintained control of was variously known as the Movement for Liberation (RCD-ML), RCD-Kisangani, or RCD-Wamba. The main faction is sometimes referred to as RCD-Goma. The two factions shortly engaged in fierce battles in Kisangani, following which Wamba retreated to Bunia
Bunia
Bunia is a city in Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the headquarters of Ituri Interim Administration in the Ituri region of Orientale Province....
in the Ituri region of the northeastern DRC.
Wamba was faced with an internal revolt by Mbusa Nyamwisi, leading to another split that left Wamba. His organization remained known as the RCD-Kisangani (RCD-K), but the Nyamwisi-led group was known as the RCD-ML. In 2001, Wamba denounced a Ugandan proposal to unite the RCD-K, RCD-ML and Movement for the Liberation of Congo
Movement for the Liberation of Congo
The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo is a political party in Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo that fought the government throughout the Second Congo War. It subsequently took part in the transitional government and is now...
(MLC) as an unwelcome foreign imposition. The further disintegration of the RCD-K to the point it was without any significant military force may have been the result of Ugandan withdrawal of its support. This action, which took place as the Ituri conflict
Ituri Conflict
The Ituri conflict is a conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo . While there have been many phases to the conflict, the most recent armed clashes ran from 1999 to 2003, with a low-level...
continued escalating, was seen by some members of the Lendu
Lendu
The Lendu, or Balendru, are an ethno-linguistic agriculturalist group residing in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the area west and northwest of Lake Albert, in particular the Ituri region of Orientale province. Their language is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages...
ethnic group as a support against what they saw as the pro-Hema
Hema people
The Hema, or Hima, are an ethnic group with about 160,000 members located in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular the Ituri region and Orientale province, as well as parts of Uganda and Rwanda...
bias of Uganda.
Following the Inter-Congolese Dialogue that ended the war, Wamba became a prominent member of the new government. He has spoken extensively on what is needed for the DRC to make a successful transition to a functioning democracy.
He continues to be politically involved and to write and is a noted political theorist widely respected for, in particular, his innovative use of the work of the African born Parisian philosopher Alain Badiou
Alain Badiou
Alain Badiou is a French philosopher, professor at European Graduate School, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure . Along with Giorgio Agamben and Slavoj Žižek, Badiou is a prominent figure in an anti-postmodern strand of continental philosophy...
who he has introduced in to contemporary African political thought. African scholars like Jacques Depelchin, Michael Neocosmos and Raj Patel
Raj Patel
Raj Patel is a British-born American academic, journalist, activist and writer who has lived and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United States for extended periods. He is best known for his 2008 book, Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System...
have taken up Wamba's use of Badiou's work in innovative new ways that are widely held to have revitalized radical political thought on the continent.
A May 2008 article authored by Jacques Depelchin warned that there were new threats to assassinate Wamba.
Selected published works
- Wamba Dia Wamba, Ernest (2005) DRC: Globalisation, War and the Struggle for Freedom in Manji, F and Burnett, P (eds) African Voices on Development and Social Justice Editorials from Pambazuka News, Oxford: Pambazuka NewsPambazuka NewsPambazuka News , published by Fahamu since 2000, is a pan-African electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa providing: contemporary commentary and in-depth analysis on politics and current affairs development, human rights, refugees, gender issues and culture in Africa...
http://fahamubooks.org/
- Wamba Dia Wamba, Ernest (1995) Zaire: From the National Conference to the Federal Republic of the Congo? in Development Dialogue No.2
- Wamba Dia Wamba, E. and M. MamdaniMahmood MamdaniMahmood Mamdani is an academic, author and political commentator. He is a Professor and Director of the at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, and the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at Columbia University, New York. He grew up in Uganda and acquired his B.A from the University of...
, eds, (1995) African Studies in Social Movements and Democracy, CODESRIA, ISBN 2-86978-052-4.
- Wamba Dia Wamba, Ernest (1994) In Search of a New Mode of Politics in Africa in Development in an African Perspective, James Curry, London
Articles
Interview with Ernest Wamba dia Wamba (2009) Published in Ota Benga Alliancehttp://www.otabenga.org/node/156
'Balkanisation and crisis in eastern Congo Ernest Wamba dia Wamba speaks to Pambazuka News' (2008) Published in Pambazuka News
Pambazuka News
Pambazuka News , published by Fahamu since 2000, is a pan-African electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa providing: contemporary commentary and in-depth analysis on politics and current affairs development, human rights, refugees, gender issues and culture in Africa...
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/51788
'Democracy Today: The case of the Democratic Republic of Congo' (2007) Published in Pambazuka News
Pambazuka News
Pambazuka News , published by Fahamu since 2000, is a pan-African electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa providing: contemporary commentary and in-depth analysis on politics and current affairs development, human rights, refugees, gender issues and culture in Africa...
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/40306
'Congo' (2004) Published in Zmag http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/8328
External links
- Experiences of Democracy in Africa: Reflections on Practices of Communalist Palaver as a Method of Resolving Contradictions by Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, 1985
- Rally for Congolese Democracy, GlobalSecurity.org
- Who's Who in the Rebellion: Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, Northeastern University
- Conversation with Ernest Wamba dia Wamba, Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, 17 March 2004
- Congo: The Transition - Interview with Wamba, ZNET, 22 June 2004