Kabila, Joseph
Kabila, Joseph
(käbē`lä), 1971–, Congolese political leader, eldest son of Laurent KabilaKabila, Laurent-Désiré, 1939–2001, Congolese political and rebel leader. He studied at universities in France and Tanzania. returning home in 1960. He supported Patrice Lumumba, established (1967) a Marxist party, and led a group of rebels that opposed
..... Click the link for more information. . He was educated in Tanzania while his father was in exile there, and after his father became president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he received military training in Rwanda and China. Returning home (1998), he was made a general, named head of Congo's armed forces, and became president (2001) after his father's murder. He quickly reinstated political parties and promised democratic and economic reforms, and made a series of efforts to end the raging civil war. In 2002 Kabila signed a peace agreement with the rebels, but fighting continued. In 2003 UN forces arrived to restore order, and a transitional national unity government led by Kabila took office. After he survived two coup attempts (2004), a new constitution was finally approved (2005) and presidential elections were held (2006). Kabila handily defeated rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba GomboBemba Gombo, Jean-Pierre,
1962–, Congolese politician. Born to wealthy parents, he was educated in Brussels and built a business empire in what was then Zaïre. In the early 1990s he was personal assistant to President Mobutu Sese Seko.
..... Click the link for more information. in a runoff election. In 2011 he was declared reelected after a vote marred by irregularities and fraud. Unable in 2014 to secure constitutional changes that would have permitted him to run for a third term, he succeeded in delaying the next presidential contest for months, remaining in office until Jan., 2019, when opposition leader Félix Antoine Tshisekedi succeeded him. Kabila, his family, and associates have been reported to have looted millions from the Congo government.