Cyrille Adoula

Cyrille Adoula
Prime Minister of Congo-Léopoldville
In office
2 August 1961 – 30 June 1964
President Joseph Kasa-Vubu
Preceded by Joseph Iléo
Succeeded by Moise Tshombe
Personal details
Born 13 September 1921
Léopoldville, Belgian Congo
(Now Kinshasa, Congo-Kinshasa)
Died 24 May 1978(1978-05-24) (aged 56)
Lausanne, Switzerland
Political party Congolese National Movement

Cyrille Adoula (13 September 1921 – 24 May 1978), was a Congolese trade unionist and politician. He was the prime minister of the Republic of the Congo, from 2 August 1961 until 30 June 1964.

Early life and career

Cyrille Adoula was born on 13 September 1921 in Léopoldville, Belgian Congo.[1] He was a member of the Bangala tribe.[2] He attended a Catholic primary school and received his secondary education at St. Joseph's Institute. In 1941 he began working as a clerk for various commercial firms until 1952 when he accepted a senior position at the Belgian Congo Central Bank, the first African to hold a significant post there. In 1948 he became a member of the Conseil pour le Travail et la Prevoyance Sociale Indigene (Council for Labour and Native Social Security).[1]

In 1954 Adoula joined the Belgian Socialist Party and subsequently became the representative for Action Socialiste in the capital. He also enrolled in the Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique (General Federation of Belgian Labour). Once he became one of the top Congolese delegates in the association he resigned from his bank post and committed his time to politics.[1] In 1957 he attended the International Labour Conference in Geneva as an adviser to the Belgian delegation. At a General Federation conference in 1959 he successfully lobbied for the Belgian branch of the association to become independent, subsequently becoming secretary-general of the new federation's western branch. In this capacity he traveled to West Germany and Israel to meet with other trade unionists and became a deputy committee member of the International Congress of Federated Trade Unions.[2]

In 1958 Adoula, Patrice Lumumba, and Joseph Iléo formed the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC), with Adoula becoming party vice president.[3] While Lumumba became increasingly strident and nationalistic, Adoula remained relatively moderate. In 1959, he and Albert Kalonji made an unsuccessful attempt to oust Lumumba from the party and formed their own faction, MNC-Kalonji.[1] With the independence of the Republic of the Congo the following summer, Adoula became a senator. He requested that his membership of the International Congress of Federated Trade Unions be suspended so that he could devote his time to his new position. In spite of this, he remained well connected with trade unions and labour organizations.[2]

The Congo fell into disorder shortly after independence, as the army's mutiny and the secession of the Katanga Province under Moïse Tshombe created the Congo Crisis. Adoula increasingly distanced himself from Lumumba, who had become prime minister, but continuously lobbied that the United Nations Operation in the Congo use force to put down the rebellion in the proclaimed State of Katanga. President Joseph Kasa-Vubu dismissed Lumumba in September and appointed Iléo to be his replacement, though Parliament refused to confirm him. Adoula briefly served as Iléo's minister of interior.[4] Lumumba was definitively removed from power and eventually killed in a coup by Colonel Joseph Mobutu, who forced a new government upon Kasa-Vubu. Adoula began attracting interest from the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a liberal, anti-communist alternative from Lumumba.[5]

In early 1961, the United States began to push for an Adoula-led government. To the chagrin of American President John F. Kennedy, United States Secretary of State Dean Rusk directed CIA agents to ensure that Adoula would become the next Congolese prime minister.[6] The CIA acted in concert with other Western intelligence agencies in bribing Congolese parliamentarians to support Adoula. Following appointment by Kasa-Vubu, Adoula was formally confirmed by Parliament as prime minister on 2 August 1961.[3]

As prime minister

Cyrille Adoula with United States President John F. Kennedy in 1962

Once prime minister, Cyrille Adoula sought to bring together a coalition government to help reunify the Congo. He managed to balance his cabinet with many former Lumumba supporters, though Antoine Gizenga, Lumumba's deputy, denounced him as a Western pawn and maintained a counter government in Stanleyville, Orientale Province.[5] When negotiations with Tshombe and Gizenga failed, Adoula successfully solicited the assistance of the United Nations in suppressing their governments.[3] However, the Simba rebellion of 1964 saw much of the eastern Congo overrun by leftist guerrilla forces. Unable to contain the insurrection, Kasa-Vubu forced Adoula to resign.[5] He then voluntarily left the country, but returned following Mobutu's seizure of power in November 1965.[7]

Later life and career

Adoula was accommodating of Mobutu's new regime and served as the Congolese ambassador to the United States and Belgium. From 1969–1970 he served as foreign minister, then retiring from politics.[5] In 1978 Adoula suffered a heart attack and went to Lausanne, Switzerland for treatment.[4] He succumbed to an illness and died there on 24 May, 1978.[5]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 Akyeampong & Gates 2012, p. 95
  2. 1 2 3 LaFontaine 1986, p. 220
  3. 1 2 3 Waters Jr. 2009, p. 2
  4. 1 2 Lentz 2014, p. 861
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Akyeampong & Gates 2012, p. 96
  6. ↑ Paterson 1989, p. 263
  7. ↑ Waters Jr. 2009, p. 3

References

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Political offices
Preceded by
Joseph Iléo		 Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
2 August 1961 – 30 June 1964 		Succeeded by
Moise Tshombe
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