Albert Kalonji
| Albert Kalonji | |
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| Head of State of South Kasai (first as President, later as Mulopwe) |
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In office 9 August 1960 – 5 October 1962 |
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| Preceded by | position established |
| Succeeded by | position disestablished |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
6 June 1929 Hemptinne (near Luluabourg), Belgian Congo (Now Katende, Democratic Republic of the Congo) |
| Died | 20 April 2015 (aged 85) Mbuji-Mayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Political party | Mouvement National Congolais-Kalonji (MNC-K) |
Albert Kalonji (6 June 1929 – 20 April 2015) was a Congolese politician best known as the leader of the short-lived secessionist state of South Kasai (Sud-Kasaï) during the Congo Crisis.
Kalonji, a chief from the Luba ethnic group, began his political career under Belgian colonial rule as a member of the nationalist Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) party led by Patrice Lumumba. Kalongi, however, split with Lumumba to form a federalist faction of the party, known as the Mouvement National Congolais-Kalonji (MNC-K), which failed to achieve significant success while Lumumba was made Prime Minister of the independent Congo in 1960.
Within days of being independent from Belgium, the new Republic of the Congo found itself torn between competing political factions, as well as by foreign interference. As the situation deteriorated, Moise Tshombe declared the independence of Katanga Province as the State of Katanga on 11 July 1960.
Kalonji, claiming that the Baluba were being persecuted in the Congo and needed their own state in their traditional Kasai homeland, followed suit shortly afterwards and declared the autonomy of the diamond-richSouth Kasai on 8 August, with himself as head. Unlike Tshombe, Kalonji shrank from declaring full independence from the Congo and rather declared its "autonomy" with a hypothetical, federalised Congo. He, as representatives of his party, continued to sit in the Congolese parliaments in Léopoldville.
On 12 April 1961, Kalonji's father was granted the title Mulopwe (which roughly translates to "emperor" or "god-king"), but he immediately "abdicated" in favor of his son. On 16 July, Kalonji rejected royalty status, but retained the title of Mulopwe and changed his name to Albert I Kalonji Ditunga. The move was controversial with members of Kalonji's own party and cost him much support.
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