Joseph Kasa-Vubu

1st President of the Republic of the Congo

Joseph Kasa-Vubu, alternatively Joseph Kasavubu, (c. 1915 – 24 March 1969) was a Congolese politician who served as the first President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the Republic of the Congo until 1964) from 1960 until 1965. A member of the Kongo ethnic group, Kasa-Vubu became the leader of the Bakongo Association (ABAKO) party in the 1950s and soon became a leading proponent of Congo's independence from Belgian colonial rule. He forged an unlikely coalition between his regionalist and conservative ABAKO party and Patrice Lumumba's left-wing nationalist Congolese National Movement (MNC) party, offering support in the government.

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