Antoine Ghonda Mangalibi (born February 19, 1965) was the foreign minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from June 30, 2003, until July 23, 2004.
Ghonda was born in Leuven, Belgium,[citation needed] and grew up in the Bas Congo province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was then known as Zaire. He did university studies in the United States, and earned a B.A. degree in International Relations from Florida International University in 1992. From 1992 to 2000, he worked in his family's businesses, and developed a lucrative career in international trade. He took a keen interest in politics during these years, but did not align himself politically during the late years of the Mobutu Sese Seko presidency, nor during the early part of the presidency of Laurent-Désiré Kabila.
In 2000, however, he plunged into politics, joining the Congolese Liberation Movement, a rebel group led by Jean-Pierre Bemba. In 2003, the Congolese Liberation Movement made peace with the national government led by Joseph Kabila and joined a transitional government in which there were four vice-presidents, including two heading major rebel groups. Bemba became one of the vice-presidents and was given the power to appoint the foreign minister. Ghonda was given the post.
In July 2004 Bemba demanded that Ghonda be sacked, and President Kabila was forced to oblige. Although there was active speculation in Kinshasa's newspapers about the reasons for Bemba's demand, there was not a consensus, and several reasons were advanced. They included Ghonda's criticism of troops from Rwanda and Uganda operating on Congolese soil, Ghonda's friendship with Joseph Kabila, and the mentioning of Ghonda by George W. Bush as one of the three pillars of the new Congo, with Bemba not being mentioned.[1]
After losing the confidence of Bemba, however, Ghonda became more influential with President Kabila. In the cabinet reshuffle of March 7, 2005, Ghonda was named as one of two roving ambassadors (ambassadeurs itinérants) for the Congolese President.[2] In the 2006 legislative elections, Ghonda was elected to a seat in National Assembly, representing a district in Bas-Congo province whose main town is Kisantu. The Foundation Antoine Ghonda in this town is a leading source of socio-economic development in the area.
^. MONUC. July 23, 2004. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
^Gauthier de Villiers, République démocratique du Congo: De la guerre aux élections (Paris: L'Harmattan, 2009), p.249
April 10, 2024
antoine, ghonda, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, from, article, t. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Antoine Ghonda news newspapers books scholar JSTOR April 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message Antoine Ghonda Mangalibi born February 19 1965 was the foreign minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from June 30 2003 until July 23 2004 Ghonda was born in Leuven Belgium citation needed and grew up in the Bas Congo province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo which was then known as Zaire He did university studies in the United States and earned a B A degree in International Relations from Florida International University in 1992 From 1992 to 2000 he worked in his family s businesses and developed a lucrative career in international trade He took a keen interest in politics during these years but did not align himself politically during the late years of the Mobutu Sese Seko presidency nor during the early part of the presidency of Laurent Desire Kabila In 2000 however he plunged into politics joining the Congolese Liberation Movement a rebel group led by Jean Pierre Bemba In 2003 the Congolese Liberation Movement made peace with the national government led by Joseph Kabila and joined a transitional government in which there were four vice presidents including two heading major rebel groups Bemba became one of the vice presidents and was given the power to appoint the foreign minister Ghonda was given the post In July 2004 Bemba demanded that Ghonda be sacked and President Kabila was forced to oblige Although there was active speculation in Kinshasa s newspapers about the reasons for Bemba s demand there was not a consensus and several reasons were advanced They included Ghonda s criticism of troops from Rwanda and Uganda operating on Congolese soil Ghonda s friendship with Joseph Kabila and the mentioning of Ghonda by George W Bush as one of the three pillars of the new Congo with Bemba not being mentioned 1 After losing the confidence of Bemba however Ghonda became more influential with President Kabila In the cabinet reshuffle of March 7 2005 Ghonda was named as one of two roving ambassadors ambassadeurs itinerants for the Congolese President 2 In the 2006 legislative elections Ghonda was elected to a seat in National Assembly representing a district in Bas Congo province whose main town is Kisantu The Foundation Antoine Ghonda in this town is a leading source of socio economic development in the area References edit nbsp Democratic Republic of the Congo portal nbsp Biography portal DRC Press Review for July 23 2004 MONUC July 23 2004 Archived from the original on 30 April 2010 Retrieved 5 April 2010 Gauthier de Villiers Republique democratique du Congo De la guerre aux elections Paris L Harmattan 2009 p 249 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Antoine Ghonda amp oldid 1183354364, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
