Kengo Wa Dondo

Léon Kengo Wa Dondo (2008)

Léon Kengo Wa Dondo (born May 22, 1935 in Libenge ) is a Congolese politician. Since May 14, 2007, he has been the second political personality of the Congo after Joseph Kabila , since he was elected President of the Congolese Senate . He is also related by marriage to the family of Deputy Minister for International Relations Franck Mwe di Malila .

Political career

He is the son of a Polish father, his mother was a Tutsi . He was born in Leon Lubicz Libenge in the province of Equateur . In 1971 he changed his name to Kengo Wa Dondo as part of the " Africanization " initiated by long-time President Mobutu .

He became Prime Minister for the first time on November 5, 1982 . After his recall on October 31, 1986 , he was Foreign Minister until 1987 . At nearly four years, it was the longest prime ministerial term in the country's history. He took over the post of head of government a second time on November 26, 1988 to May 4, 1990 . Given the power of the president, his powers were low in the 1980s.

The transitional parliament established in 1990 after the approval of other parties besides the previous unity party Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution (MPR) appointed him a third time in 1994 as a compromise candidate for prime minister. He took office on July 6, 1994 . As a proponent of a free market economy and a strict austerity policy, he was expected to restore the ailing economy.

During his tenure, he ordered the expulsion of the Lebanese minority accused of having been involved in the smuggling of so-called " blood diamonds ". The parliamentary elections planned for 1995 were canceled due to increasing confusion.

Since the end of 1996, Mobutu's rule gradually collapsed and the rebels under Laurent-Désiré Kabila conquered the country. Kengo Wa Dondo was accused of not waging the war against Kabila forcefully enough. The reason for the allegations was his Tutsi origin, as Kabila was supported by the Tutsi governments of Rwanda and Burundi . He submitted his resignation on March 24, 1997 and left office nine days later. The powerless transitional parliament had previously decided to impeach him. Mobutu went into exile in May .

Exile and return

Kengo Wa Dondo retired from politics and went to Belgium. In June 2003 he was investigated for money laundering in Belgium and he returned to his home country on November 16, 2003 . In December 2003 there was some confusion over an alleged arrest of Kengo Wa Dondo for misappropriating public funds in the Mobutu era. His opponents later accused him again of promoting rebel groups in the east of the country because of his partial Tutsi descent.

Web links

• Cabinet lists 1960 to 1990 (French)
• Reports about him at Digitalcongo.net (French)
• Short biography at Rulers.org (English)
• The Berliner Zeitung on his resignation, March 25, 1997
• Congo indépendent on his return, November 26, 2003 (French)
• Jeune Afrique on political dynasties in the Congo, June 26, 2015 (French)