République démocratique du Congo

Elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the first half of 2006 and the first quarter of 2007 validated the administration of Joseph Kabila. Several of his main followers and advisors earned posts as deputies or senators, thereby obtaining popular legitimacy. At the same time, however, the elections brought several new players to power in assemblies, national and especially provincial executive administrations, and state enterprises.
The profile of the senators contrasts with that of the national and provincial deputies. They are, on average, older, and fewer are newcomers. The Senate is actually gaining several political actors from past eras, including those of Mobutu, the 'democratic transition', the AFDL, etc. This is due in part to the nature of the indirect ballot (election of Senate members by provincial assemblies), but also to a situation rendered still more complex by the reorganization of the country into 26 provinces. Each constituency was attributed a quota of four senators per new province (Kinshasa, with eight, is an exception). Several pioneers of independence and/or of the First Republic (1960-65), having taken part in various phases of the 'transition', were pushed aside (J. Bomboko, C. Rwakabuba, J. Mukamba, A. Kalonji, A. Kithima, C. Kamitatu, etc.). And it was Antoine Gizenga, whom the aforementioned pioneers excluded from power after the First Republic's initial government (in which he was Lumumba's vice prime minister), who reappeared, like a meteor, to fill the prestigious post of prime minister of the government marking the country's entrance into the Third Republic.

Also of note: despite the dominant regrouping around Kabila, the political trajectories of the actors vary significantly, and those who gained an administration post are much more numerous than before.

This biographical anthology follows a first collection, published in 2006, on actors in the transition resulting from the December 2002 Pretoria Accord. Both volumes cover in a systematic fashion specific and