Joseph Kasa-Vubu
Joseph Kasa-Vubu | |
|---|---|
Kasa-Vubu c. 1961 | |
| 1st President of the Republic of the Congo | |
| In office 27 June 1960 – 24 November 1965 | |
| Prime Minister | Patrice Lumumba Joseph Iléo Justin Marie Bomboko Joseph Iléo Cyrille Adoula Moise Tshombe Évariste Kimba |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Joseph-Désiré Mobutu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1915 Kuma-Dizi, Mayombe, Belgian Congo |
| Died | 24 March 1969 (aged 53–54) Boma, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Political party | ABAKO |
| Spouse |
Hortense Ngoma Masunda
(m. 1941) |
| Children | Justine Kasa-Vubu, among others |
Joseph Kasa-Vubu, alternatively Joseph Kasavubu, (c. 1915 – 24 March 1969) was a Congolese politician who served as the first President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the Republic of the Congo until 1964) from 1960 until 1965.
A member of the Kongo ethnic group, Kasa-Vubu became the leader of the Bakongo Association (ABAKO) party in the 1950s and soon became a leading proponent of Congo's independence from Belgian colonial rule.
He forged an unlikely coalition between his regionalist and conservative ABAKO party and Patrice Lumumba's left-wing nationalist and election-winning Congolese National Movement (MNC) party, offering support in the government. In the agreement, he received from the Lumumbists, in the Senate and the National Assembly, the indirect election as president of the Republic in 1960.
Constantly clashing with his prime ministers, his presidency was especially marked by his participation in the conspiracy that assassinated Patrice Lumumba. He was finally deposed by a coup d'état led by Mobutu Sese Seko in 1965.
His biography was marked by being the main cause of the political instability that has persisted in Congo since its independence in 1960, and as a puppet president, acting in the interests of Belgium and the United States.