Nzanga Mobutu
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François Joseph Nzanga Mobutu Ngbangawe (born 1970) is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is a son of former president Mobutu Sese Seko and currently serves in the government as Minister of State for Agriculture.
Nzanga Mobutu is the eldest son of Mobutu Sese Seko by his then-mistress, and later second wife Bobi Ladawa. Nzanga studied in Belgium, France and Canada before returning to the country in the mid-1990s to become an advisor to his father before fleeing into exile when rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila took control in May 1997.
He is the chairman of the Union of Mobutist Democrats (UDEMO), a collection of political parties and civil society associations and non-governmental organisations advocating the restoration of peace, national unity and territorial integrity. He is most popular in the northwestern province of Équateur, from whence his father hailed. In the 2006 presidential election, he ran as a candidate and placed fourth, with about 4.8% of the vote.[1] Following the first round of voting, Mobutu entered into a platform political coalition with incumbent president Joseph Kabila to try to rally votes from the Equateur region where Jean-Pierre Bemba was favored to win. The coalition also involved the political party PALU of Antoine Gizenga.
His younger brother, Albert Philipe Giala Kassa Mobutu (b. 1972), and eight other UDEMO candidates were elected to the National Assembly in the 2006 election. Gizenga became Prime Minister in December 2006, and Mobutu was named Minister of State for Agriculture when Gizenga's government was announced on February 5, 2007,[2] ranking second in the government after Gizenga.[3]
He is married to Cathy Bemba, a sister of Jean-Pierre Bemba, with whom he has three children.
[edit] References
- ^ Elections in Congo-Kinshasa, African Elections Database.
- ^ "La composition du nouveau gouvernement de la RDC connue", African Press Agency, February 5, 2007 (French).
- ^ "Relief at new DR Congo government", BBC News, February 6, 2007.
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