Everything about Albert Kalonji totally explained
Albert Kalonji (b. 1919 or 1929) is a
Congolese best known for leading the
secessionist state of
South Kasai during the
Congo Crisis. Kalonji, a
Luba chief, was a leader (with Joseph Ileo) of a
moderate faction of
Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba's
MNC.
Within days of being granted independence from
Belgium, the new country (at the time called the
Republic of the Congo) plunged into chaos; amid the turmoil,
Moise Tshombe, president of
Katanga Province, announced that "We are seceding from chaos," and declared Katanga's independence on
July 11,
1960. Kalonji, partly motivated by tribal rivalries, followed suit shortly afterwards and declared the independence of the
diamond-rich province of South Kasai on
August 8, giving himself the title
Chef Suprême du Peuple Muluba et Protecteur Incontesté des Tribus Associées à son sort (
French: Supreme Chief of the Muluba People and Protector of the Associated Tribes).
On
April 12,
1961, Kalonji's father was granted the title
Mulopwe (which roughly translates to "emperor" or "god-king"), but he immediately "abdicated" in favor his son.
On
July 16, Kalonji rejected royalty status, but retained the title of
Mulopwe and changed his name to Albert I Kalonji Ditunga.
Kalonji's reign, however, proved to be short-lived; after a four-month military campaign, the military of the central government managed to successfully capture South Kasai, and on
December 30, Kalongi was arrested.
He did manage to escape shortly afterwards, and managed to maintain a government that lasted till October 1962.
Following
Joseph Mobutu's
1965 coup, South Kasai was divided into two regions, partly to discourage future secessionist tendencies.
As of 2007, Kalonji is still living and retains the title
Souverain Possesseur des Terres occupées par les Balubas (Sovereign and Owner of the Land of the Baluba).
He is the author of
Memorandum: Ma lutte, au Kasai, pour la Verite au service de la Justice (published 1964) and
Congo 1960. La Sécession du Sud-Kasaï. La vérité du Mulopwe (published 2005).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Albert Kalonji'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://albert_kalonji.totallyexplained.com">Albert Kalonji Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
