Christian Malanga
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Christian Malanga | |
|---|---|
 Official UCP photo, 2014 | |
| President of the United Congolese Party | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Christian Malanga Musumari 2 January 1983 Kinshasa, Zaire |
| Died | 19 May 2024 (aged 41) Kinshasa, DR Congo |
| Political party | United Congolese Party |
| Occupation | Politician, businessman, military officer |
Christian Malanga Musumari, commonly known as Christian Malanga (2 January 1983 – 19 May 2024),[1] was a Congolese-American[2] politician, businessman, and military officer.[citation needed] He was President of the United Congolese Party (UCP), a national political party he formed after his experiences in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's widely disputed parliamentary elections in 2011.[citation needed] During the foiled coup d'état in Kinshasa 2024, he was shot and his son arrested along with two American co-conspirators as the U.S. government distanced itself from involvement.[1]
Early life[edit]
Christian Malanga Musumari was born on 2 January 1983, to Christine Kapay Loyinda and Joseph Itejo Malanga in the capital city of Kinshasa.[citation needed] Malanga's father, Joseph Malanga was born and raised in the village of Mangai in the Bandundu Province.[citation needed] His mother Christine was a local of Ngaba, Kinshasa, where Malanga's parents met as students.[citation needed] They settled outside of the city, where his mother worked at a local market and his father worked as a mechanic in Kinshasa proper.[3]
In 1993, Malanga's family relocated to Swaziland as political refugees.[citation needed] Malanga went to primary school at Saint Paul's Methodist Primary School in Swaziland.[citation needed] In 1998, Malanga moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States as a political refugee with asylum status.[citation needed] There he owned several small businesses until 2006, when he cofounded the DRC non-profit Africa Helpline Society.[4] He worked directly with children at the on-site orphanage and with the organization's global outreach initiatives. Malanga used his experiences to simultaneously form his own non-governmental organization, Friends of America, during this time period.[citation needed]
Early career[edit]
Military service[edit]
In June 2006, Malanga returned to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to participate in military service, and in 2007 he achieved the rank of captain in the Congolese Military. His principal duties during service included brigade morale officer and command of a training company with responsibility for approximately 235 men under his command.[citation needed]
Malanga Congo[edit]
After his tour of military duty ended in 2010 Malanga started his own company, Malanga Congo, which hired 250 employees in several sectors to perform public works and contracting projects.[citation needed] These projects included creating and maintaining water purification and bottling plants and several mining operations.[citation needed] These businesses proved profitable enough to provide the platform from which he launched his political career that same year.[5]
Political career[edit]
2011 parliamentary elections[edit]
In 2011 Malanga attended a general assembly meeting of all political opposition leaders to select a candidate to challenge the incumbent President Joseph Kabila.[citation needed] When the general assembly proved to be indecisive, Malanga decided to run in the parliamentary election as an independent opposition candidate.[6][7] He was detained two days before the parliamentary elections by government security forces and held for more than two weeks.[citation needed] Upon his release he was offered a position as National Youth President under the current government.[citation needed] Malanga declined the position and moved to form his own political party.[8]
Creation of the United Congolese Party[edit]
Malanga returned to the United States in 2012.[9] He founded the US-registered United Congolese Party (UCP).[9] Malanga campaigned amid the Congolese diaspora in the United States, Europe and South Africa in preparation for the next round of national elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[5]
International Religious Freedom Roundtable[edit]
On 12 December 2013, Malanga participated at a convening of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable, a coalition of NGOs in Washington DC. The IRF Roundtable [10]is an informal group of individuals from all faiths and none, including governments, who gather regularly to discuss IRF issues on an off-the-record basis. The IRF Roundtable has attracted representatives of 800 organizations and launched more than 200 multi-faith initiatives. These initiatives have been deployed by and for people from across the theological and political spectrum as well as across the globe.
African Leaders Programme[edit]
Britain groomed him as a potential leader in waiting, sending him and a group of his supporters to a political conference in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2016.[citation needed] The African Leaders Programme was to learn how to fight against corruption, reform fiscal policy and tax systems, privatize state-owned enterprises, build a welfare system, create a competitive education and healthcare system, and streamline procurement.[citation needed] The conference took place at the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. The delegation worked with policymakers to strengthen the party's economic plan.[11]
Knighted Grand Cross[edit]
On April 29, 2017 at the basilica Santo Spirito in Sassia in Rome, Malanga received the rank of knight of the order of Saints Peter and Paul. After this distinction, he received the support of the Catholic Church in Congo.[12][1]
Government in exile[edit]
On 17 May 2017, Malanga created a government-in-exile in Brussels, Belgium.[citation needed] He named it ″New Zaire″. The ceremony hosted dignitaries from Europe and the United States.[9][13][14]
Attempted coup d'état[edit]
On 19 May 2024 Malanga was the leader in a foiled coup d'état against Tshisekedi’s government in Kinshasa.[citation needed] General Sylvain Ekenge, the army spokesman, gave a message on national television.[citation needed] A group of at least 20 armed men in riot gear stormed the "Palais du Peuple", the seat of the National Assembly and the Senate, where President Félix Tshisekedi's offices are located after attacking the nearby home of Economy Minister Vital Kamerhe.[citation needed] The shootout with the regular military left at least three attackers dead, as well as two police officers, including their leader Malanga, while the remaining members of the command were arrested.[citation needed] Among them were Malanga's son, 22-year-old Marcel Malanga, as well as several US American mercenaries and at least one British citizen, the number two of the group.[citation needed] Among them Benjamin Reuben Zalman-Polun of Maryland and Patrick Ducey (alias Taylor Thomson).[undue weight? ][15][16][9]
Reports in local media suggested the arrested men were CIA operatives and the US government scrambled to distance itself from any involvement.[citation needed] USA’s alleged involvement in this coup came after a series attacks organized by members of Bancroft Global Development, a private company in the Central African Republic targeting mines belonging to Chinese companies, most recently Gaga’s gold mine on 12 May 2024.[citation needed] For political activists, the USA was intensifying the struggle for political influence in the region and moved on to more violent actions. Through NGOs, its citizens, agents and private military companies, the USA was conducting a series of violent actions in order to impose its policy in the region.[17]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "RD Congo: le capitaine Christian Malanga tué dans une tentative de coup d'Etat à Kinshasa". L'Horizon Africain. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
- ^ US-Amerikaner und Briten laut Armee an Putschversuch beteiligt, Die Zeit, 20 May 2024
- ^ "United Congolese Party | Meet President Malanga". Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ Africa Helpline Society Mission.[dead link]
- ^ a b "United Congolese Party – Meet President Malanga". Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "Congo Planet news article on 2011 parliamentary candidates". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ [1][dead link] Archived 2011-12-24 at the Wayback Machine National Independent Electoral Committee 2011 Independent candidate list. Malanga was candidate 133 in the district of Idiofa.
- ^ "Inyenyeri News article on Malanga and the UCP". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- ^ a b c d AFRIKA/D.R. KONGO - Der merkwürdige Staatsstreich in Kinshasa, Agenzia Fides, 20 May 2024
- ^ "International Religious Freedom Roundtable | Coalition | Washington DC". International Religi. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ "BEC African Leaders Program". bec.ge. bec. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
- ^ "President Malanga Knighted in Vatican 04/29/2017". Youtube. United Congolese Party. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
- ^ "With Kabila gone, change can be rapid, and great for the people of the D.R.Congo". www.panafricanvisions.com. panafricanvisions.
- ^ "Congo's general elections 'will not happen', says leading opponent". churchnewspaper.com. Church of England Newspaper. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
- ^ Armee stoppt mutmasslichen Putschversuch in Kongo, Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen 19 May 2024
- ^ https://www.africaintelligence.com/southern-africa-and-islands/2022/05/24/american-cannabis-entrepreneurs-and-congolese-politician-track-down-gold-together,109787002-art
- ^ DR Congo’s army accuses America of involvement in failed coup, Vanguard, 20 May 2024