Joseph Kabila
| Joseph Kabila | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
|
Assumed office 26 January 2001 Acting: 17 January 2001 – 26 January 2001 |
|
| Prime Minister |
Antoine Gizenga Adolphe Muzito Louis Alphonse Koyagialo (Acting) Augustin Matata Ponyo Samy Badibanga |
| Preceded by | Laurent-Désiré Kabila |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Joseph Kabila Kabange 4 June 1971 Fizi, Congo-Léopoldville (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) |
| Political party | People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy |
| Spouse(s) | Olive Lembe di Sita |
| Alma mater |
Makerere University People's Liberation Army National Defense University |
| Religion | Anglicanism |
Joseph Kabila Kabange (known commonly as Joseph Kabila, born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician who has been President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since January 2001. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. He was elected as President in 2006. In 2011, he was re-elected for a second term.
Kabila's term was due to expire on 20 December 2016 per the constitution, adopted in 2006. Officials suggested that elections would be held in November 2016. However, on 29 September 2016, the nation's electoral authority announced that the election would not be held until early 2018. Talk has focused on the need for a census before holding elections.
Since coming to power, Joseph Kabila has faced continuous wars in eastern Congo and internal rebel forces supported by neighboring governments of Uganda and Rwanda.
Joseph Kabila Kabange and his twin sister Jaynet Kabila were born on 4 June 1971. According to official accounts, the twins were born at Hewabora, a small village in the Fizi territory of the South Kivu province, in eastern Congo. Rumors have abounded that Kabila was actually born in Tanzania, which would make him a citizen of that country. He is the son of long time rebel, former AFDL leader and president of the Congo Laurent-Désiré Kabila and Sifa Mahanya.
Kabila's childhood coincided with the low point of his father's political and military career. He was raised in relative remoteness, with few records of his early days. Kabila attended a primary school organized by his father's rebel forces, before moving to Tanzania where he completed primary and secondary school. Due to his father's status as an enemy of Zairean strongman Mobutu Sese Seko, Kabila posed as a Tanzanian in his school years to avoid detection by Zairean intelligence agents.
Following high school, Joseph Kabila followed a military curriculum in Tanzania, then at Makerere University in Uganda. In October 1996, Laurent-Désiré Kabila launched the campaign in Zaire to oust the Mobutu regime with his newly formed army, the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL). Joseph Kabila became the commander of an AFDL unit that included "kadogos" (child soldiers) and likely played a key role in major battles on the road to Kinshasa, but his exact whereabouts during the war have been difficult to establish. Joseph Kabila appears to have been present at the liberation of Kisangani where media reports identified him as commander of the rebel force that took the city after four days of intense fighting.
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Wikipedia