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Moise Tshombe

Moise Tshombe (10 November 1919 – 29 June 1969) was Prime Minister of Congo-Leopoldville from 10 July 1964 to 13 October 1965, succeeding Cyrille Adoula and preceding Evariste Kimba. From 11 July 1960 to 15 January 1963, he served as the only President of Katanga, a secessionist state in the southern Congo that fought against the United Nations-backed central government during the early years of the Congo Crisis. In 1964, he was made Prime Minister under Joseph Kasa-Vubu as a part of a peace deal with the Leopoldville government, only to be kidnapped by French intelligence in 1965 and possibly murdered.

Biography[]

Moise Tshombe

Tshombe speaking to the press in 1961

Moise Tshombe was born on 10 November 1919 in Musumba, Belgian Congo. He was the son of a successful businessman, and Tshombe would become politically active during the 1950s. In 1958, he founded the CONAKAT party, which claimed that the Katanga region should keep its own resources; it was a Christian and anti-communist party, and he declared that any United Nations intervention in the Congo Crisis would be met with force. In 1960, he became the leader of an independent Katanga after Belgium backed the secession of the diamond-rich region, and Tshombe opposed the government at Congo-Leopoldville.

Leader of Katanga[]

Tshombe phone

Tshombe speaking to Charles de Gaulle on the phone

In late 1960, Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba of Congo-Leopoldville was ousted from power by President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and army officer Joseph-Desire Mobutu for being a pro-Soviet politician, and Lumumba was captured and sent to Katanga. In January 1961, Tshombe had Lumumba executed by a Katangese firing squad due to his opposition to Lumumba's communist sympathies. General Tshombe would also carry out his threats made against the UN by besieging several Irish and Swedish UN peacekeepers at Jadotville in November 1961. Tshombe spoke with President of France Charles de Gaulle on the phone and arranged for De Gaulle to send 1,000 former French Foreign Legion troops to serve as "security guards" for the French mining companies in the Congo; Tshombe became their commander once they were on the ground, and he had them capture the UN garrison at Jadotville, which they did, despite heavy losses and no fatalities on the UNside. Tshombe became Prime Minister of Congo-Leopoldville on 10 July 1964 as a part of a compromise peace between the Congolese government and Katanga, and Tshombe fought against the Simba Rebellion, crushing the late Lumumba's communist supporters. However, in 1965 France's SDECE agency hijacked his plane and flew him to Algeria, where he died in 1969 of "heart failure"; it is very possible that Tshombe was murdered to prevent him from returning to power.

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