Leon Lubicz (1935-1971)
He was born to a Polish Jewish father and a Rwandan Tutsi mother in the Belgian Congo–what would become the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Leon Kengo wa Dondo (1971-)
During Mobutu\’s Africanization campaign, Leon changed his name to Kengo wa Dondo. Like Ngugi wa Thiong\’o, this name change reflects a return to an African identity.
He would earn his PhD in Law at the Free University of Brussels in 1968.
Dondo would become responsible for introducing the 1974 constitution, which changed the name of the newly formed country to Zaire–before it became the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This led to him becoming the 12th Prime Minister of Congo.
However, he was criticized for the questionable decision to expel members of the Lebanese community over spurious accusations about being involved in the illegal trade of diamonds and for the lack of response during the Congolese Civil War. He resigned as Prime Minister in 1997. Shortly thereafter, a new government was installed.
Sources
- Chancellery of the Senate of the Republic of Poland. \”Leon Kengo wa Dondo.\” Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0 PL. Changes include resizing and placing two images between original image.
- Colwell, Dan. \”The Jews of the Congo\”, The Bulletin (Brussels), 26 February 2004.
- \”Leon Kengo wa Dondo.\” Wikipedia.
- Mutua, Makau wa; Rosenblum, Peter (1990). Zaire: repression as policy : a human rights report. New York: Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.
- Prunier, Gerard. The Rwanda crisis: history of a genocide, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, London, 1995.
- Ynkawen, Robescot. \”Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o | Name Changes.\” Brilafamo. 2021.
- Zaire\’s Prime Minister Gives in to Parliament and Resigns Post\”. Los Angeles Times. 25 March 1997.