Alliance des Bakongo

The Alliance des Bakongo (abbreviated Abako , in Lingála Boyókani bwa bakɔ́ngɔ ; originally Association des Bakongo pour l'unification, la conservation, le perfectionnement et l'expansion de la langue kikongo , dt. Association of the Bakongo for the unification, preservation, perfection and Expansion of the Kikongo language ) was a political-cultural association of the Bakongo and later locally important party in the early Democratic Republic of the Congo in the years after independence in 1960. It was the first independence movement in the Belgian Congo , its chairman Joseph Kasavubu was the country's first president .

history

Before independence

The Abako originally emerged from the Christian Kimbanguist movement , which had many followers, especially among the Bakongo ethnic group . Originally only allowed as a cultural association, from 1950 the abako developed into the strongest mass movement against the Belgian colonialists. These in turn first promoted the Mouvement National Congolais according to the principle of divide et impera in order to create a counterweight to the Abako and thus weaken the nationalist movement.

When local elections were first allowed by the Belgians on December 8, 1957, Abako provided almost all of the mayors in the Bakongo settlement area, and thus also in the capital Léopoldville .

Starting in 1958, the Belgian colonial administration legalized the establishment of parties for the first time, which is why the Abako could officially appear as a party from that year.

In 1959 Joseph Kasavubu was elected President of the Abako, which in the same year sparked an uprising against the colonial administration, in the course of which several representatives of the nationalist movements were arrested.

In the parliamentary elections held in May 1960, the Abako only won 12 of the 137 seats, which is why it later failed to form a government.

After independence

When the Democratic Republic of the Congo gained independence on June 30, 1960, Joseph Kasavubu , elected by the National Assembly, became the first president of the newly formed state. Patrice Lumumba , whose MNC-L party won the most seats in parliament, became prime minister.

Since the Abako under Kasavubu was considered to be more moderate and pro-Western, while the MNC Lumumbas was more of the left-wing camp, violent clashes broke out between the two parties. In addition, because the Abako feared patronizing the Bakongo by other ethnic groups, it was more in favor of a federal form of government, while the MNC-L sought the creation of a centralized state. This even led to some Abako supporters publicly sympathizing with the separatist Moïse Tschombé .

Constitutional conflict

On September 5, 1960, Kasavubu finally dismissed Patrice Lumumba as prime minister, who shortly thereafter declared Kasavubu deposed. However, both politicians refused to give up their offices. However, Kasavubu appointed Joseph Iléo as the new prime minister, but he was initially unable to take over the official duties of Lumumba.

Coup Mobutus

To resolve this constitutional conflict, the Chief of Staff Mobutu launched a coup in September 1960 and initially declared himself neutral. However surrendered after a short time a collaboration between Kasavubus Abako and Mobutu's military regime, eventually leading to the assassination of Lumumba culminated, so Joseph Iléo who was indeed appointed before by Kasavubu prime minister, was able to resume his duties as such.

On August 2, 1961, Kasavubu dismissed Joseph Iléo and installed the US favorite Cyrille Adoula as the new Prime Minister. When he resigned in 1964, Kasavubu installed the former separatist Tschombé . After his release, Mobutu staged another coup and deposed Kasavubu, and in 1967 banned abako.

Foreign relations

Since the Abako, in contrast to Lumumba's MNC, was considered to be more moderate, it maintained good relations with the USA and other western states. For this reason, the Abako was viewed by the states of the Casablanca Group as a political opponent. This ultimately led to tensions between the Abako and the blue helmet contingents sent from the countries of the Casablanca Group.

Furthermore, the Abako maintained good relations with Fulbert Youlou, the President of Congo-Brazzaville . On the one hand, this was due to the fact that Youlou, like Kasavubus Abako, was added to the pro-western camp. On the other hand, Youlou bases his power on the Bakongo people living in the south of Congo-Brazzaville , who also formed the basis of the Abako.

literature

• Center de Recherche et d 'Information Socio-Politiques (ed.): ABAKO 1950-1960 . Dossiers du CRISP, Brussels 1963
• Peter Scholl-Latour : Murder on the Great River. A quarter of a century of African independence . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 978-3-421-06307-6 .
• Benoît Verhaegen , Charles Tshimanga : L'ABAKO et l'indépendance du Congo belge. Dix ans de nationalisme Congo (= Le Congo de l'indépendance et des rébellions. Analyzes, témoignages et documents. Volume 1). Institut Africain-CEDAF, Tervuren, L'Harmattan, Paris 2003, ISBN 978-2-7475-3279-2 .
• Crawford Young : Politics in the Congo. Decolonization and Independence . Princeton University Press, Princeton 1965

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peter Scholl-Latour : Murder on the great river - A quarter of a century of African independence. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt GmbH, 1986, ISBN 3-421-06307-9 , p. 96