Charles Kisolokele

Charles Daniel Kisolokele Lukelo (1914 – 17 March 1992) was a Congolese politician and a key member of the Kimbanguist Church. He was appointed a minister of state in the first Congolese government and later served as Minister of parastatals and Minister of work and social welfare.

Biography

Charles Daniel Kisolokele was born in 1914 in Nkamba, Belgian Congo, the eldest son of Simon Kimbangu. He spent six years in primary school and three years in middle school, the latter in the Colonie scolaire de Boma. Following two years of service as an instructor at the school, Kisolokele became an agent of the public works department of the colonial administration in Maduda. He worked there for 30 years.[1]

First Congolese government

Kisolokele was elected to the Chamber of Deputies with 733 preferential votes as a member of the Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO) party in the Congo's first election in 1960, representing the Cataractes District. On 20 July he withdrew his parliamentary mandate. He served as a minister of state in the Congo's first independent government under Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba's successor, Joseph Iléo, retained Kisolokele in his government in September. In Iléo's second government in February 1961 he was appointed Minister of Parastatals. In April he became the vice-president of the provincial government of Kongo Central.[1] In July he became Minister of Work and Social Welfare.[2]

In 1972, during the height of Zaire's authenticité policy, Kisolokele changed his name to Kisolokele Lukelo (lukelo meaning "it is revealed now").[3] He died on 17 March 1992 at a hospital in Brussels.[4]

Legacy

On the tenth anniversary of Kisolokele's death Kimbanguists from across Europe gathered in Brussels to commemorate the occasion. They met with 12 grandchildren of Simon Kimbangu to hold a grand celebration. A small group of people toured the hospital room where Kisolokele died.[4]

Citations

  1. 1 2 CRISP 1961, paragraph 91.
  2. ↑ CRISP 1961, Composition du Gouvernement Adoula.
  3. ↑ Gampiot 2017, Notes - Chapter 7.
  4. 1 2 Gerloff, Adogame & Hock 2011, p. 311.

References

  • Gampiot, Aurélien Mokoko (2017). Kimbanguism: An African Understanding of the Bible. Penn State Press. ISBN 9780271079684.
  • Gerloff, Roswith; Adogame, Afe; Hock, Klaus (2011). Christianity in Africa and the African Diaspora: The Appropriation of a Scattered Heritage (reprint ed.). A&C Black. ISBN 9781441123305.
  • "Onze mois de crise politique au Congo". Courrier hebdomadaire du CRISP (in French). Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politiques (120): 1–24. 1961. doi:10.3917/cris.120.0001.
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