The Congolese National Movement (French: Mouvement national Congolais, or MNC) is a political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
👉 Mouvement National Congolais in the context of South Kasai
South Kasai (French: Sud-Kasaï) was an unrecognised secessionist state within the Republic of the Congo (the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo) which was semi-independent between 1960 and 1962. Initially proposed as only a province, South Kasai sought full autonomy in similar circumstances to the much larger neighbouring state of Katanga, to its south, during the political turmoil arising from the independence of the Belgian Congo known as the Congo Crisis. Unlike Katanga, however, South Kasai did not explicitly declare full independence from the Republic of the Congo or reject Congolese sovereignty.
The South Kasaian leader and main advocate, Albert Kalonji, who had represented a faction of the nationalist movement (the Mouvement National Congolais-Kalonji or MNC-K) before decolonisation, exploited ethnic tensions between his own ethnic group, the Baluba, and the Bena Lulua to create a Luba-focused state in the group's traditional heartland in the south-eastern parts of the Kasai region. As sectarian violence broke out across the country, the state declared its secession from the Congo on 9 August 1960 and its government and called for the Baluba living in the rest of the Congo to return to their "homeland". Kalonji was appointed president. Although the South Kasaian government claimed to form an autonomous part of a federal Congo-wide state, it exercised a degree of regional autonomy and even produced its own constitution and postage stamps. The state, supported by foreign powers, particularly Belgium, and funded by diamond exports, managed numerous crises, including those caused by the large emigration of Luba refugees, but became increasingly militarist and repressive.
In this Dossier
Mouvement National Congolais in the context of 1960 Belgian Congo general election
General elections were held in the Belgian Congo on 22 May 1960, in order to create a government to rule the country following independence as the Republic of the Congo (Congo-Léopoldville), scheduled for 30 June. The 137-seat Chamber of Deputies was elected by men over the age of 21. The seats were filled by district-based lists, although only two parties, the Mouvement National Congolais-Lumumba (MNC-L) and the Parti National du Progrès, submitted lists in more than one district.
The MNC-L, led by Patrice Lumumba, won the most seats and Lumumba was confirmed as prime minister by Parliament after forming a coalition that included the Parti Solidaire Africain, Centre de Regroupment Africain and other parties. Voter turnout was 82%.
Mouvement National Congolais in the context of Joseph Kasongo
Joseph-Georges Kasongo (25 December 1919 – 19 October 1990) was a Tanganyikan-born Congolese lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the first President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). He later held office as a deputy prime minister and as a senator.
Kasongo was born in 1919 in Dar es Salaam to a family with ties to the Maniema region in the Belgian Congo. Following his education he took up work in business and in the indigenous courts in Stanleyville. In the late 1950s he became a leader in Patrice Lumumba's Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) party and worked to expand its influence. In 1960 the Congo became independent and Kasongo was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, shortly thereafter becoming its president. Lumumba became Prime Minister, but later that year he was removed from office as the country became embroiled in a political crisis. Parliament was also adjourned. Kasongo remained loyal to Lumumba and demanded that Parliament reconvene. In July 1961 he was reelected President of the Chamber, serving in the post until March 1962. The following year he became Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Coordination under the leadership of Cyrille Adoula, but was then ejected from the MNC. Kasongo formed a splinter group from the party and in 1966 he became a member of the Senate. He died in 1990 while trying to reestablish the MNC.