Jason Sendwe

Jason Sendwe
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo
In office
2 August 1961 – 28 December 1962
President Joseph Kasa-Vubu
Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula
President of North Katanga Province
In office
July 1963 – 15 March 1964
In office
28 April 1964 – 19 June 1964
Personal details
Born 1917
Kabongo, Katanga Province, Belgian Congo
Died 19 June 1964
Near Albertville, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Political party Association Générale des Baluba de Katanga
Children 8

Jason Sendwe (1917 – 19 June 1964) was a Congolese politician and a leader of the Association Générale des Baluba de Katanga (BALUBAKAT) party. Drawing on substantial popularity in northern Katanga Province, he posed a great political threat to Moïse Tshombe's secessionist State of Katanga from 1960–1963. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister of Congo-Léopoldville from 1961–1962. In July 1963 he became President of the new province of North Katanga. The following year he faced increased political opposition and was removed from office before being reinstated by the central government. His administration was overthrown by Simba rebels and he was shortly thereafter executed.

Biography

Jason Sendwe was born in 1917 in Kabongo, Belgian Congo to a Baluba family.[1] He was a childhood friend of Moïse Tshombe.[2] He received six years of primary schooling from Methodists in Kabongo and four years of secondary education at a mission in Kanene.[1] For five years he took nursing courses in Stanleyville and at the École officielle pour Infirmiers à Élisabethville.[3] He completed his studies at the École des Assistants Indigènes de Léopoldville, graduating as a nurse.[1] Sendwe's aspirations to become a doctor were curtailed by the lack of educational opportunity under colonial rule,[4] so he worked as a Methodist minister and a teacher.[5] In 1942 he entered the service of the colonial administration. He was a founding member of the Amitiés Belgo-Congolaises cultural organisation and served on the council of the Church of Christ in the Congo.[6][lower-alpha 1] He was married and had eight children.[8]

Entry into politics

In 1957 Sendwe founded and became president of the Association Générale des Baluba de Katanga (BALUBAKAT) party to represent the interests of the Baluba of the Katanga Province and organise for upcoming municipal elections.[9] Three tenants underlined his political philosophy:[10]

  1. Protection of the Baluba
  2. Achievement of Congolese independence
  3. Primacy of conciliation in settling disputes.

In 1958 Sendwe attended the Brussels Expo. Afterwards he joined the short-lived Mouvement pour le Progres National Congolais, a party formed by attendees of the exposition.[11] On 5 February 1959 Sendwe brought the BALUBAKAT into Tshombe's Confédération des associations tribales du Katanga (CONAKAT) party on the condition that it be able to maintain a significant amount of autonomy.[12] He initially shared the xenophobic stances of CONAKAT, but soon grew concerned that its hostility toward immigrants would extend to incoming Baluba. Sendwe was also worried by Tshombe's close connections to the Belgians[13] and was repulsed by the prominence of several of his political rivals within the party's ranks. In late 1959 he withdrew BALUBAKAT from CONAKAT.[12] In January 1960 Sendwe went to Brussels to participate in the Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference.[14] In May he traveled to the United States at the invitation of the American government.[1]

Rise to prominence

In the national elections before the Republic of the Congo's independence on 30 June 1960 Sendwe earned a seat in the Chamber of Deputies, elected with 20,282 votes from the Élisabethville (present-day Lubumbashi) district.[1] Though CONAKAT held a slight electoral majority locally and controlled the provincial government, Sendwe was nominated by Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba to be the State Commissioner for Katanga.[13] The President of the Katanga Provincial Assembly, Charles Mutaka, threatened secession if the appointment were confirmed.[15] In early July Tshombe led the province into secession but actively sought Sendwe's support, hoping to build a coalition that would bring him in as vice-president of an independent Katanga. Sendwe rejected the idea, rupturing relations between them.[13] Tshombe thereafter "outlawed" him from Katanga.[16] The Senate initially rejected all of Lumumba's nominees for state commissioner. But on 22 July the body, in a move meant to convey its wish that central government authority be reestablished in Katanga, voted to confirm Sendwe's appointment, 42 to 4 with 7 abstentions.[17]

Sendwe was slated to lead part of the army into northern Katanga to reestablish the central government's authority, but this plan dissolved following Lumumba's dismissal by President Joseph Kasa-Vubu in September.[13] The dismissal caused a substantial amount of turmoil and Sendwe was appointed by the Chamber to serve on a reconciliation commission; he acted as its rapporteur.[18] Meanwhile, northern Katanga rejected Tshombe's leadership and the secession in favor of Sendwe, who they saw as a proponent of nationalism and a protector of the Baluba. Sendwe also enjoyed a substantial amount of popularity around Élisabethville, posing a significant political threat to Tshombe. However, many politicians in the central government saw him as having been too close with the deposed prime minister.[13] On 19 October, three days after Tshombe concluded a deal with Colonel Joseph-Désiré Mobutu to "neutralise" Lumumba, Sendwe was incarcerated by central government officials. The United Nations (UN) quickly secured his release on the basis of parliamentary immunity. With its sponsorship, Sendwe went on a tour of northern Katanga to promote peace, receiving an ecstatic welcome from the Baluba. Tshombe denounced him as a "public danger".[19] While the central government was negotiating the transfer of Lumumba to Katanga (where he would be executed upon arrival), Tshombe repeatedly asked to receive Sendwe. Though initially agreeing to the plan, central government officials later backed away from their commitment.[20] In December he attended a Francophone-African conference in Brazzaville where foreign diplomats attempted to provide mediation between the Congolese factions.[21] In early 1961 Sendwe appealed to the UN to go on another pacification tour of northern Katanga, receiving their approval on 8 January. However, the next day forces of the rival Free Republic of the Congo invaded the area and BALUBAKAT began to organise its own administration of the region as the "Province of Lualaba".[22] Sendwe's trip didn't occur until July.[23] Meanwhile, he traveled to Belgium in February and in May he participated in the Conference of Coquilhatville.[1] In August a new government was formed under Cyrille Adoula, and Sendwe was selected to become one of two new deputy prime ministers.[24] Other nationalists in Parliament wanted him to assume the premiership, but he preferred to focus his political energies on Katanga instead of the national level, where he had less support.[25]

Demise

By the end of 1962 Sendwe was at the peak of his political aspirations, being able to exert great authority and influence over the new province of North Katanga.[26] However at 22:00 on 23 December[27] his son became involved in a youth gang street brawl. Sendwe arrived on the scene and ordered some accompanying soldiers to intervene. In the process they beat Senator Pierre Medie, who had come to support his own son.[28] The following week President Kasa-Vubu nominated Sendwe for the post of Commissioner Extraordinaire for Katanga.[29] That same day, 28 December,[3] in the Senate Sendwe attempted to defend his actions during the street altercation, being frequently interrupted by angry cries from the majority of the senators.[30] Before he was able to complete his defense, they passed a motion of censure against him, 45 votes to four with four abstentions.[27] This resulted in his dismissal as Deputy Prime Minister, causing him to withdraw from national to local politics.[26]

"Jason had battled so long for his Baluba idea...had seen victory, worn the leopard skin, been carried on the shoulders of his people...become a minister, touched power and money, lost his aura and perished."

British journalist Ian Goodhope Colvin[31]

In early 1963 Katanga was reintegrated into the Congo as multiple provinces and Tshombe agreed to cooperate with government officials. Sendwe vied for control of the region, leading to ethnic clashes in Jadotville in April in which approximately 74 people were killed.[32] After Tshombe fled the country, Sendwe sought to extend his constituency beyond the Baluba to establish control over the whole of Katanga.[33] In July he forced fellow BALUBAKAT member Prosper Mwamba Ilunga to resign from his post as Provincial President of North Katanga and replaced him.[26][lower-alpha 2]

In January 1964 at a party conference in Albertville Sendwe lost his seat as BALUBAKAT president in a vote, 28–3. He failed to secure any significant party office.[35] On 15 March the provincial assembly dismissed Sendwe from his post and replaced him with the leader of a party that had split from BALUBAKAT,[lower-alpha 3] but he was reinstated by the central government[37] on 28 April with new ministers. In his inaugural address he pledged to strengthen North Katanga's institutions and territorial integrity, protect political parties that sought to further "superior interests" of the Congo, and encourage friendly relations between BALUBAKAT and CONAKAT. He also announced his intention to increase economic cooperation with other provinces and establish cooperatives for merchants and consumers.[36]

On 27 May Simba rebels launched a coup in Albertville, overthrowing Sendwe's government.[38] They accused him of embezzling public funds.[39] Three days later a small government force under the command of Colonel Louis Bobozo recaptured the town and rescued Sendwe—who claimed to have been nearly buried alive by the rebels. However, unrest persisted and on 19 June the population revolted and the government evacuated. Sendwe attempted to flee but was hampered by government troops.[40] He drove towards Fizi with an American missionary but his car was stopped by Simba rebels. His police escort fled and he and his companion were murdered.[31] There is a rumor that the execution was carried out by several Bayombe under orders from Laurent-Désiré Kabila.[41] Questions about his death were raised in several newspapers, and the central government released an official report on it two weeks later.[42]

Legacy

According to British journalist Ian Goodhope Colvin, Sendwe's death deprived Adoula of a figure who could guarantee him Katangese support, forcing him to welcome Tshombe back into the country.[43] His murder also disillusioned many Baluba in North Katanga with the Simbas' cause, and as a result many abstained from joining their rebellion.[44] In November 1966 President Mobutu posthumously awarded Sendwe for dying "in defence of the country's honour".[45] An avenue and a hospital in Lubumbashi were named after him.[46][41]

Notes

  1. ↑ The Church of Christ in the Congo is a united church, aimed at coordinating Protestant activities in the Congo.[7]
  2. ↑ Mwamba Ilunga and Sendwe had a complex party rivalry that emerged in 1960. While Sendwe was leader of BALUBAKAT, Mwamba Ilunga had led the anti-Tshombe rebellion in northern Katanga from 1960 to 1962.[34]
  3. ↑ Prosper Mwamba Ilunga, then serving as President of the North Katanga Provincial Assembly, maintained that the censure motion was not a "coup" but merely the exercise of the assembly's responsibility to check the power of the executive office.[36]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 CRISP 1961, paragraph 83.
  2. ↑ Gerard & Kuklick 2015, p. 131.
  3. 1 2 Gérard-Libois 1966, p. 301.
  4. ↑ Legum 1961, p. 101.
  5. ↑ Clarke 1968, p. 23.
  6. ↑ Chomé 1966, p. 75.
  7. ↑ Kisangani & Bobb 2009, p. 153.
  8. ↑ Merriam 1961, p. 138.
  9. ↑ Kisangani & Bobb 2009, p. 32.
  10. ↑ Les Cahiers du CEDAF 1989, p. 50.
  11. ↑ Lemarchand 1964, p. 281.
  12. 1 2 Lemarchand 1964, p. 241.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Gerard & Kuklick 2015, p. 132.
  14. ↑ Hoskyns 1965, p. 26.
  15. ↑ Gérard-Libois 1966, p. 85.
  16. ↑ Horizon 1962, p. 9.
  17. ↑ Bonyeka 1992, p. 135.
  18. ↑ Hoskyns 1965, p. 219.
  19. ↑ Gerard & Kuklick 2015, p. 133.
  20. ↑ Gerard & Kuklick 2015, p. 197.
  21. ↑ Hoskyns 1965, p. 275.
  22. ↑ Gerard & Kuklick 2015, p. 187.
  23. ↑ Colvin 1968, p. 66.
  24. ↑ Kisangani & Bobb 2009, p. 316.
  25. ↑ Les Cahiers du CEDAF 1989, p. 72.
  26. 1 2 3 Willame 1972, p. 50.
  27. 1 2 Bonyeka 1992, p. 327.
  28. ↑ Young 2015, p. 364.
  29. ↑ Africana 1977, p. 405.
  30. ↑ Young 2015, p. 365.
  31. 1 2 Colvin 1968, p. 168.
  32. ↑ Kennes & Larmer 2016, p. 63.
  33. ↑ Willame 1972, p. 55.
  34. ↑ Olorunsola 1972, p. 250.
  35. ↑ Young 2015, p. 382.
  36. 1 2 Sendwe Installed as Nord Katanga Premier, Élisabethville: Congo Domestic Service, 5 May 1964
  37. ↑ O'Ballance 1999, pp. 72–73.
  38. ↑ Hoskyns 1969, p. xii.
  39. ↑ Colvin 1968, p. 159.
  40. ↑ O'Ballance 1999, p. 73.
  41. 1 2 Rahmani 2007, p. 192.
  42. ↑ Les Cahiers du CEDAF 1989, p. 107.
  43. ↑ Colvin 1968, p. 160.
  44. ↑ Colvin 1968, p. 173.
  45. ↑ Posthumous award for Jason Sendwe, Kinshasa: BBC Monitoring, 18 November 1966
  46. ↑ Fabian 1990, p. 139.

References

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  • Chomé, Jules (1966). Moïse Tshombe et l'escroquerie katangaise (in French). Brussels: Éditions de la Fondation J. Jacquemotte. OCLC 919889.
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  • Colvin, Ian Goodhope (1968). The rise and fall of Moise Tshombe: a biography. London: Ferwin. OCLC 752436625.
  • East Africa and Rhodesia. 39. London: Africana. 1977. OCLC 4830800.
  • Fabian, Johannes, ed. (1990). History from Below: The Vocabulary of Elisabethville by André Yav: Texts, Translation, and Interpretive Essay. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 9789027252272.
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  • Horizon. 4. Salisbury: Rhodesian Selection Trust Group of Companies. 1962. OCLC 503847205.
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