Étienne Tshisekedi
Encyclopedia
Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba (born 14 December 1932) is a lawyer, politician, and leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) which is a political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
. He was Prime Minister
of the country (then called Zaire
) on three brief occasions: in 1991, 1992–1993, and 1997.
Tshisekedi was born in Luluabourg (now Kananga
), Kasai-Occidental
in 1932. He obtained a diploma in 1961 at the Lovanium University School of Law in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa
). He served in Mobutu
's government in various positions throughout the late 1960s and 1970s.
He is now a candidate for President of Congo. Tshisekedi made statements in November 2011 declaring himself the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
(now called Kananga
, Democratic Republic of the Congo
). Ethnically, he is a member of the Luba people
.
Tshisekedi attended primary school at Kabaluanda (West Kasai
). He obtained a diploma in 1961 at the Lovanium University School of Law in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa
).
(who was in Mobutu's custody) to either Moise Tshombe
or Albert Kalonji
for Lumumba's elimination. Short before Christmas Tshisekedi sent a diplomatic cable to Albert Kalonji
where he discussed the handover of other political prisoners and how they should receive exemplary punishment in death. Earlier Mukamba, Kalonji's commissioner, had described in detail what would happen to Lumumba if Albert Kalonji would get his hands on Congo's first democratically elected prime minister: "Patrice Lumumba would be transferred to Bakwanga and on the city's square he would immediately be killed and cut into small pieces so every Baluba would be able to eat from it."
The following cable, leaked by Mobutu to a Congolese news paper during the 1990s, that was sent by Tshisekedi in December 1960 reads as follows:
On February 9, 1961, the 6 political prisoners who Tshisekedi referred to were flown to Bakwanga, the area under the control of Albert Kalonji to meet their faith earlier described by Mukamba. The 6 political prisoners were: Jean-Pierre Finant, Jacques Fataki, Pierre Elengesa, Camille Yangara, Emmanuel Nzuzi and Christophe Muzungu.
In 1980 Tshisekedi was removed from Mobutu's government and thrown in prison for criticism. Ever since he has been thrown in and out of prison numerous times by both Mobutu's government and Laurent Kabila's. In 1989 still under Mobutu's reign, several cases of his detention were recognized to be unlawful by UN Human Rights Committee
.
On February 15, 1982, he co-founded the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), which he continues to lead. The party remains popular amongst Tshisekedi's Kasaian tribe, with its main goal being a non-violent change to democratic rule.
According to Thomas Luhaka of the competing MLC, the main strengths of the UDPS and its leaders is its close relation to influential members of the local media including "Le Potentiel," "Le Phare," and "La Tempete des Tropiques". This was confirmed by US ambassador to Congo Roger Meece, who claimed "Le Phare" and "La Temptete" are basically UDPS in-house organs. In a cable, ambassador Meece also wrote that although the UDPS members like to refer to "democracy", "republican values" and "rule of law", the UDPS as a political party is far from democratic and that its stance is anti-constitutional, even violating its own political accords.
According to Kapinga (VP of the MPR
), Mobutu kept a number of Congolese tribes happy through the "sharing of money" with the tribes' power brokers. Under Mobutu's regime, Aponet Potia (Secretary General of the MPR) delivered money to Tshisekedi in the middle of the night to "feed his belly". Because the government of Joseph Kabila was not paying Tshisekedi, Tshisekedi was causing problems.
With the country in economic turmoil in the early 1990s, in part due to Mobutu's loss of Western support after the Cold War
, Mobutu promised a transition to multiparty democracy. During that time, Tshisekedi was appointed as Prime Minister on three separate occasions. The first lasted only one month (September 29, 1991 – November 1, 1991), the second only seven months (August 15, 1992 – March 18, 1993). Both times, Tshisekedi complained that he was prevented from functioning properly by Mobutu. The third term, while Laurent Kabila's rebel forces were marching on Kinshasa
, lasted only a week (April 2, 1997 – April 9, 1997) and was again ended by Mobutu's lack of cooperation. A month later Laurent Kabila overthrew Mobutu (see First Congo War
).
In 1998, the Congolese commission to create a new constitution stripped Étienne Tshisekedi of his political rights for his part in the murdering of Congo's first democratically elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba
, and many other Congolese nationalists.
On August 9, 2005, during the election registration process a voter registration center was set on fire in Mbuji Mayi, Kasai Oriental. The fire was put down in time and four people waiting to be registered suffered minor burns. The police and the local population suspected UDPS militants of the attack since the voter registration center is located in the same neighborhood as the provincial headquarters of the UDPS that boycotted the elections.
Realizing that the boycott was a failure, Tshisekedi decided to participate in the election process. As some registration centers were already closed, Tshisekedi pressured the Congolese Independent Electoral Commission (CEI)
to re-open them to accommodate him and the UDPS further risking to delay the already tight electoral calendar. If the CEI wouldn't re-open the registration centers, Tshisekedi no doubt would claim he was being unfairly excluded from the elections, which eventually he did. In Kinshasa, UDPS members began a frantic series of phone calls to the CEI and also to Western Embassies to try to extend the enrollment period for voter registration.
In March 2006, UN Secretary General Koffi Annan and Tshisekedi had meeting about the upcoming elections. Musamba, who was also present at the meeting, was "shocked" when Tshisekedi bluntly told Annan that he had no intention of "lending credibility" to an illegal electoral process.
During the 2006 national elections, Tshisekedi demonstrated a remarkable lack of political savvy and even lack of personal concern for the political future of his supporters demonstrating his failure to adapt to the new political landscape.
Joseph Kabila
won Congo's first democratic presidential elections in decades. Tshisekedi considered the elections of 2006 to be a "masquerade", and has said that Joseph Kabila’s election was decided in advance by influential people outside Congo. Kabila defeated Jean-Pierre Bemba
, with Tshisekedi on the sidelines. So, Kabila remained in office, having initially taken office in 2001, ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila
(who had overthrown Mobutu in 1997).
In August 2011, Tshisekedi announced that he seeks to negotiate with other opposition parties to form a joint effort against incumbent Joseph Kabila
. This is Tshisekedi’s first bid for the presidency since forming the country’s first opposition party in 1982.
Candidates have been campaigning relatively freely, and Tshisekedi has held large rallies. But the outcome of the election is unpredictable, and may lead to unrest according to civil society activist Donat Mbaya: "Tshisekedi said in an interview in Belgium that, whatever happens, Kabila won't win the election, and Kabila has said that whatever happens, he will win the election. In other words, neither candidate is prepared to admit defeat."
Tshisekedi points not only to lack of democracy, but also lack of water and electricity, as reasons to elect him. He says that a vote for him would be a vote for a 30-year fight to uphold the rule of law
and good governance in Congo. Tshisekedi is popular in the country and is supported by about 80 political parties, but he has adversaries within the opposition, such as Vital Kamerhe
, Nzanga Mobutu
(son of the former dictator), and Senate president Kengo Wa Dondo
. Tshisekedi says that none of them have been in the opposition long enough to be credible.
Tshisekedi almost eighty is in ill health. Over the last decade he underwent a series of medical treatments in both South Africa and Belgium. Comming from South Africa Tshisekedi had difficulty walking because his vision has deteriorated significantly making it difficult to maintain his balance. Masamba also expressed that Tshisekedi's mental capability is seriously diminished. Because of his poor health, he also rarely makes public appearances. Mukamba stated that Tshisekedi "would not last two years" in a demanding job. Many independent observers agree that when Tshisekedi dies the UDPS will collapse but as long as he's alive the current UDPS members will try to make use of him as much as possible.
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 Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of the country (then called Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
) on three brief occasions: in 1991, 1992–1993, and 1997.
Tshisekedi was born in Luluabourg (now Kananga
Kananga
Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital of Lulua District in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has a population of 1,130,100 ....
), Kasai-Occidental
Kasai-Occidental
Kasai-Occidental is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It borders the provinces of Bandundu to the west, Équateur to the north, Kasai-Oriental to the east, and Katanga to the southeast. To the south it borders the country of Angola...
in 1932. He obtained a diploma in 1961 at the Lovanium University School of Law in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
). He served in Mobutu
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...
's government in various positions throughout the late 1960s and 1970s.
He is now a candidate for President of Congo. Tshisekedi made statements in November 2011 declaring himself the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Early life and education
In 1932, Étienne Tshisekedi, son of Alexis Mulumba and his wife Agnès Kabena, was born in Luluabourg, ZaireZaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
(now called Kananga
Kananga
Kananga, formerly known as Luluabourg or Luluaburg, is the capital of Lulua District in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has a population of 1,130,100 ....
, Democratic Republic of the Congo
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...
). Ethnically, he is a member of the Luba people
Luba people
The Luba are one of the Bantu peoples of Central Africa. They are indigenous to the Katanga, Kasai, and Maniema regions which were historic provinces of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo...
.
Tshisekedi attended primary school at Kabaluanda (West Kasai
Kasai-Occidental
Kasai-Occidental is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It borders the provinces of Bandundu to the west, Équateur to the north, Kasai-Oriental to the east, and Katanga to the southeast. To the south it borders the country of Angola...
). He obtained a diploma in 1961 at the Lovanium University School of Law in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
).
Political career
In 1960, Étienne Tshisekedi, then a deputy commissioner in Mobutu's College of Commissioners, took part in the negotiations between Léopoldsville, Elisabethville and Bakwanga on the handover of Patrice LumumbaPatrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis...
(who was in Mobutu's custody) to either Moise Tshombe
Moise Tshombe
Moïse Kapenda Tshombe was a Congolese politician.- Biography :He was the son of a successful Congolese businessman and was born in Musumba, Congo. He received his education from an American missionary school and later trained as an accountant...
or Albert Kalonji
Albert Kalonji
Albert Kalonji is a Congolese politician best known for leading the short-lived secessionist state of South Kasai during the Congo Crisis...
for Lumumba's elimination. Short before Christmas Tshisekedi sent a diplomatic cable to Albert Kalonji
Albert Kalonji
Albert Kalonji is a Congolese politician best known for leading the short-lived secessionist state of South Kasai during the Congo Crisis...
where he discussed the handover of other political prisoners and how they should receive exemplary punishment in death. Earlier Mukamba, Kalonji's commissioner, had described in detail what would happen to Lumumba if Albert Kalonji would get his hands on Congo's first democratically elected prime minister: "Patrice Lumumba would be transferred to Bakwanga and on the city's square he would immediately be killed and cut into small pieces so every Baluba would be able to eat from it."
The following cable, leaked by Mobutu to a Congolese news paper during the 1990s, that was sent by Tshisekedi in December 1960 reads as follows:
On February 9, 1961, the 6 political prisoners who Tshisekedi referred to were flown to Bakwanga, the area under the control of Albert Kalonji to meet their faith earlier described by Mukamba. The 6 political prisoners were: Jean-Pierre Finant, Jacques Fataki, Pierre Elengesa, Camille Yangara, Emmanuel Nzuzi and Christophe Muzungu.
In 1980 Tshisekedi was removed from Mobutu's government and thrown in prison for criticism. Ever since he has been thrown in and out of prison numerous times by both Mobutu's government and Laurent Kabila's. In 1989 still under Mobutu's reign, several cases of his detention were recognized to be unlawful by UN Human Rights Committee
Human Rights Committee
The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets three times a year for four-week sessions to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,...
.
On February 15, 1982, he co-founded the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), which he continues to lead. The party remains popular amongst Tshisekedi's Kasaian tribe, with its main goal being a non-violent change to democratic rule.
According to Thomas Luhaka of the competing MLC, the main strengths of the UDPS and its leaders is its close relation to influential members of the local media including "Le Potentiel," "Le Phare," and "La Tempete des Tropiques". This was confirmed by US ambassador to Congo Roger Meece, who claimed "Le Phare" and "La Temptete" are basically UDPS in-house organs. In a cable, ambassador Meece also wrote that although the UDPS members like to refer to "democracy", "republican values" and "rule of law", the UDPS as a political party is far from democratic and that its stance is anti-constitutional, even violating its own political accords.
According to Kapinga (VP of the MPR
Popular Movement of the Revolution
The Popular Movement of the Revolution was a Zairian political party established on May 20, 1967 by then-President Joseph-Désiré Mobutu .-Ideology:...
), Mobutu kept a number of Congolese tribes happy through the "sharing of money" with the tribes' power brokers. Under Mobutu's regime, Aponet Potia (Secretary General of the MPR) delivered money to Tshisekedi in the middle of the night to "feed his belly". Because the government of Joseph Kabila was not paying Tshisekedi, Tshisekedi was causing problems.
With the country in economic turmoil in the early 1990s, in part due to Mobutu's loss of Western support after the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, Mobutu promised a transition to multiparty democracy. During that time, Tshisekedi was appointed as Prime Minister on three separate occasions. The first lasted only one month (September 29, 1991 – November 1, 1991), the second only seven months (August 15, 1992 – March 18, 1993). Both times, Tshisekedi complained that he was prevented from functioning properly by Mobutu. The third term, while Laurent Kabila's rebel forces were marching on Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
, lasted only a week (April 2, 1997 – April 9, 1997) and was again ended by Mobutu's lack of cooperation. A month later Laurent Kabila overthrew Mobutu (see First Congo War
First Congo War
The First Congo War was a revolution in Zaire that replaced President Mobutu Sésé Seko, a decades-long dictator, with rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Destabilization in eastern Zaire that resulted from the Rwandan genocide was the final factor that caused numerous internal and external actors...
).
In 1998, the Congolese commission to create a new constitution stripped Étienne Tshisekedi of his political rights for his part in the murdering of Congo's first democratically elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis...
, and many other Congolese nationalists.
2005–2006 elections
In the run-up to the 2006 national elections, Tshisekedi decided to boycott the electoral process and the constitutional referendum. He hoped that the national elections would never take place, the entire electoral system would collapse, be declared "illegitimate" and that the Congolese population would turn to him as the political savior and become the "rightful leader of the DRC" as he considers himself to be. The more pragmatic members of the UDPS' inner circle like Masamba realized Tshisekedi's misgamble but were unable to turn the course because of the UDPS' autoritarian line. A number of party members thus registered quietly as candidates.On August 9, 2005, during the election registration process a voter registration center was set on fire in Mbuji Mayi, Kasai Oriental. The fire was put down in time and four people waiting to be registered suffered minor burns. The police and the local population suspected UDPS militants of the attack since the voter registration center is located in the same neighborhood as the provincial headquarters of the UDPS that boycotted the elections.
Realizing that the boycott was a failure, Tshisekedi decided to participate in the election process. As some registration centers were already closed, Tshisekedi pressured the Congolese Independent Electoral Commission (CEI)
Independent Electoral Commission (DRC)
The Independent Electoral Commission runs elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.-External links:*...
to re-open them to accommodate him and the UDPS further risking to delay the already tight electoral calendar. If the CEI wouldn't re-open the registration centers, Tshisekedi no doubt would claim he was being unfairly excluded from the elections, which eventually he did. In Kinshasa, UDPS members began a frantic series of phone calls to the CEI and also to Western Embassies to try to extend the enrollment period for voter registration.
In March 2006, UN Secretary General Koffi Annan and Tshisekedi had meeting about the upcoming elections. Musamba, who was also present at the meeting, was "shocked" when Tshisekedi bluntly told Annan that he had no intention of "lending credibility" to an illegal electoral process.
During the 2006 national elections, Tshisekedi demonstrated a remarkable lack of political savvy and even lack of personal concern for the political future of his supporters demonstrating his failure to adapt to the new political landscape.
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...
won Congo's first democratic presidential elections in decades. Tshisekedi considered the elections of 2006 to be a "masquerade", and has said that Joseph Kabila’s election was decided in advance by influential people outside Congo. Kabila defeated Jean-Pierre Bemba
Jean-Pierre Bemba
Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was one of four vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 17 July 2003 to December 2006. Bemba also leads the Movement for the Liberation of Congo , a rebel group...
, with Tshisekedi on the sidelines. So, Kabila remained in office, having initially taken office in 2001, ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila was President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from May 17, 1997, when he overthrew Mobutu Sese Seko, until his assassination by his bodyguards on January 18, 2001...
(who had overthrown Mobutu in 1997).
2011 elections
At a UPDS congress in April 2009, delegates unanimously affirmed that the party would participate in the 2011 election and that Tshisekedi would be its presidential candidate.In August 2011, Tshisekedi announced that he seeks to negotiate with other opposition parties to form a joint effort against incumbent 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...
. This is Tshisekedi’s first bid for the presidency since forming the country’s first opposition party in 1982.
Candidates have been campaigning relatively freely, and Tshisekedi has held large rallies. But the outcome of the election is unpredictable, and may lead to unrest according to civil society activist Donat Mbaya: "Tshisekedi said in an interview in Belgium that, whatever happens, Kabila won't win the election, and Kabila has said that whatever happens, he will win the election. In other words, neither candidate is prepared to admit defeat."
Tshisekedi points not only to lack of democracy, but also lack of water and electricity, as reasons to elect him. He says that a vote for him would be a vote for a 30-year fight to uphold the rule of law
Rule of law
The rule of law, sometimes called supremacy of law, is a legal maxim that says that governmental decisions should be made by applying known principles or laws with minimal discretion in their application...
and good governance in Congo. Tshisekedi is popular in the country and is supported by about 80 political parties, but he has adversaries within the opposition, such as Vital Kamerhe
Vital Kamerhe
Vital Kamerhe is a Congolese politician. Former Speaker of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and former Minister of Information, he is currently Honorary President of the National Assembly, founder and leader of the UNC party and candidate to the 2011 presidential...
, Nzanga Mobutu
Nzanga Mobutu
François-Joseph Mobutu Nzanga Ngbangawe is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is a son of former president Mobutu Sese Seko...
(son of the former dictator), and Senate president Kengo Wa Dondo
Kengo Wa Dondo
Léon Kengo Wa Dondo served as the "first state commissioner" several times under Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaïre. He was one of the most powerful figures in the regime and was a strong advocate of economic globalization and free-market economics...
. Tshisekedi says that none of them have been in the opposition long enough to be credible.
Personality and health
In 2004 Tshishekedi, in an attempt to please both sides travelled to the US to attend the July 2004 Democratic Party (United States) convention while also seeking an invitation for the September 2004 Republican Party (United States) convention. In 2005, Luhaka was asked by Jean-Pierre Bemba to establish contact with Tshisekedi. Luhaka noted that because Tshisekedi and Bemba had very large egos, making an alliance between the two would be almost impossible. Although Tshisekedi likes to refer to democracy, non-violence, "rule of law" and pay homage to the millions of Congolese who died in the civil war in eastern Congo, Tshisekedi has few qualms about inciting many more millions of Congolese to risk their lives to overthrow the government of Joseph Kabila and bring Tshisekedi to power. In 2006 in an interview between US ambassador to Congo Roger Meece and Remy Masamba secretary of the UDPS, Masamba blamed Tshishekedi for "destroying" the UDPS with his ego.Tshisekedi almost eighty is in ill health. Over the last decade he underwent a series of medical treatments in both South Africa and Belgium. Comming from South Africa Tshisekedi had difficulty walking because his vision has deteriorated significantly making it difficult to maintain his balance. Masamba also expressed that Tshisekedi's mental capability is seriously diminished. Because of his poor health, he also rarely makes public appearances. Mukamba stated that Tshisekedi "would not last two years" in a demanding job. Many independent observers agree that when Tshisekedi dies the UDPS will collapse but as long as he's alive the current UDPS members will try to make use of him as much as possible.