Zaire The Challenge of Territorial Nationalism: Lumumba and the
MNC
Figure 4. Provinces at Independence, 1960
In the welter of political formations that appeared
after the
Belgian declaration of January 13, 1959, at least one
party stood
as the standard-bearer of pan-territorial nationalist
aspirations:
the Congolese National Movement (Mouvement National
Congolais--
MNC). Technically, the MNC was formed in August 1956. Its
declared
objective was to "pursue the political emancipation of the
Congo,"
while fostering among its members "a consciousness of
their
national unity and responsibilities." Although the party
never
disavowed its commitment to national unity, not until the
arrival
of Patrice Lumumba in Léopoldville in 1958 did it enter
its
militant phase.
There can be little doubt that the MNC owed a great
deal of its
success to Lumumba's charisma, to his uncanny ability to
galvanize
crowds, never more impressive than when venting the
collective
grievances of his followers against Belgian colonialism.
His
undeniable talent as a political organizer and an
activist, coupled
with his passionate commitment to the idea of a united
Congo--
perhaps reflective of his Tetela origins, the Tetela being
a
relatively small group located in Kasai--were critical
factors as
well behind the rapid extension of the MNC in at least
four of the
Belgian Congo's six provinces
(see
fig. 4). On the other
hand, his
well-known propensity to arrogate to himself unfettered
control
over the affairs of the party led to serious frictions
within its
leadership. Internal dissension came to a head in July
1959 when
Joseph Ileo, Cyrille Adoula, and Albert Kalonji decided to
set up
their own moderate wing, from then on known as the
MNC-Kalonji. The
result was to deprive the main part of the party of some
of its
most capable leaders and to considerably narrow its bases
of
support in Kasai and Katanga.
In spite of these handicaps, the MNC-Lumumba was to
claim the
largest number of votes (though not a majority) in the May
1960
national elections, leaving the Belgian authorities no
choice but
to formally recognize Lumumba as prime minister of the new
country.
The subsequent election of the Abako leader, Joseph
Kasavubu, as
president in June 1960 institutionalized in particularly
awkward
fashion a latent conflict between the two radically
different
brands of nationalism. Behind the constitutional crisis
that
developed in the weeks following independence, on June 30,
1960,
loomed a more fundamental crisis of legitimacy, reflecting
diametrically opposed conceptions of the Congolese polity
(see The
Center No Longer Holds
, this ch.).
Data as of December 1993
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