Faustin Birindwa

Faustin Birindwa (* 1943 ; † April 29, 1999 ) was Prime Minister of Zaire , now the Democratic Republic of the Congo , from 1993 to 1994 .

Political career

Together with Etienne Tshisekedi , he co-founded the initially illegal party Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS) in 1982 . In 1987, under pressure, the party accepted to become part of the Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution (MPR) unity party . He and Tshisekedi were temporarily detained and placed under house arrest. In the following year the UDPS acted again from the underground.

In 1990, President Mobutu Sese Seko , who had ruled authoritarian since 1965, was forced to introduce a multi-party system. Tshisekedi became Prime Minister and Birindwa Minister of Finance for the first time on September 29, 1991 . The government was dismissed by Mobutu on November 1, 1991 .

A national conference convened in 1992 appointed Tshisekedi again as head of government in August 1992. In the spring of 1993 Mobutu succeeded in getting Birindwa on his side and on March 29, 1993 appointed him the new Prime Minister. Tshisekedi's predecessor Nguza Karl-I-Bond became Minister of Defense in his government. Since Tshisekedi did not accept his dismissal, two parallel governments existed in the period that followed. Mobutu continued to control the security forces and was able to give the Birindwas government the necessary authority to keep Tshisekedi and his ministers out of their offices.

The unstable situation weakened the country's already fragile economy and fueled hyperinflation , which reached around 9,000% in 1993 compared to around 3,000% in the previous year. The government tried to bring the situation back under control by introducing a new currency in October 1993, banning critical media and arresting members of the opposition. However, the new currency immediately experienced a drastic decline in value. Birindwa's tenure ended on January 14, 1994 when Mobutu dismissed his government and announced that both houses of parliament would designate a new prime minister.

After the introduction of a new constitution and Mobutu's agreement with parliament, a new government under Kengo Wa Dondo was formed on July 6, 1994 . Shortly before Mobutu was overthrown by Laurent-Désiré Kabila , Birindwa left the country and went into exile with his family in Italy . There he died of a heart condition two years later.

Web links

• The US State Department on the situation in 1993, 31 January 1994 (English)
• Agency report about his death, May 3, 1999 (English)