Évariste Kimba

Evariste Kimba Mutombo (July 16, 1926 – June 2, 1966) served briefly as the Republic of the Congo's prime minister from October 18 to November 25, 1965. A protégé of President Joseph Kasavubu, he fell foul of Kasavubu's main enemy Joseph Mobutu (later Mobutu Sese Seko), who became the chief Congolese strongman in November 1965. Mobutu subjected Kimba to a show trial and had him sentenced to death on charges of high treason. In June 1966 Kimba was hanged before a vast crowd in Kinshasa, along with other ex-ministers Jérôme Anany, Emmanuel Bamba and André Mahamba.

Early life

Kimba was born on July 16, 1926, in the village of Nsaka in the North Katanga province. His father was a railway worker. He spent much of his youth in Elizabethville, where he attended Roman Catholic schools. After receiving a basic education Kimba, like his father, worked on the railroad, but continued to study at night, eventually becoming a journalist.

Political career

From 1960–1963 he was foreign minister of the separatist State of Katanga.

Prime minister

Kimba was appointed prime minister on 16 October 1965, following the dismissal of Moise Tshombe by President Kasa-Vubu. While in office he reestablished diplomatic relations with Congo-Brazzaville and reopened the Congo-Uganda border, which had been closed since February. Kimba's government was markedly less amicable towards Belgian interests than Tshombe's administration and more nationalistic. Both Kasavubu and Kimba were removed from office six weeks later when, on 25 November 1965, Mobutu staged a coup d'état.

Arrest and death

On 31 May 1966, Kimba was arrested by Mobutu's security forces and publicly accused of taking part in a plot to overthrow Mobutu. On 2 June 1966, Kimba and the other men accused in the plot were publicly hanged in Kinshasa before a crowd of over 100,000.

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Africa Digest. 13. 1965. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• "Congo's New Premier" (PDF). New York Times. 17 October 1965. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
• "100,000 in Congo See Hanging of Ex-Premier and 3 Others" (PDF). New York Times. Associated Press. 2 June 1966. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
• Gibbs, David N. (1991). The Political Economy of Third World Intervention: Mines, Money, and U.S. Policy in the Congo Crisis. American Politics and Political Economy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226290713. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• O'Ballance, Edgar (1999). The Congo-Zaire Experience, 1960–98. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-28648-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)