List of Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

This is a list of Chiefs of Staff of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zaire.

The available information on the following officers is incomplete and sometimes contradictory. In addition to armed forces chiefs of staff, in 1966 Lieutenant Colonel Ferdinand Malila was listed as Army Chief of Staff.^[1]

Democratic Republic of the Congo 1960-71

• 1960 - c.1961?: Major General Victor Lundula. Promoted in one leap from sergeant-major to major general on the formation of the Armée Nationale Congolaise.^[2]
• Early 1960s (1964–1965): Major then Lieutenant General Joseph-Désiré Mobutu.^[3] Promoted major-general 23 January 1961.^[4]
• 1964-1965: Major General Léonard Mulamba, Chief of Staff since October 1964, until named Prime Minister after coup of 25 November 1965.^[5]
• November 1965^[6] to at least 1972:^[7] General Louis Bobozo, Commandant en chef de l'Armée nationale congolaise. Bobozo was a Major General in 1965 and appears to have been a full General by 1972. Entered the Force Publique on 23 June 1933; after training, joined 3rd Company, 14th Battalion Service Territoriale at Lisala 3 September 1935; promoted Corporal 1 May 1938; promoted Sergeant 19 April 1940, took part in Abyssian Campaign; 1st Sergeant 1947; First Sergeant-Major 1 January 1951. Despatched to Adjutants' School for the Force Publique at Luluabourg, 5 September 1959. Part of 4 Brigade, Thysville, 1960, and became commander of the brigade after 30 June 1960. Promoted in 1961 to Colonel. Tasked with organising units for operations in Katanga; became commander of 4th Groupement, Elisabethville, 1964 and promoted to Major-General.^[8] Became C.-in-C. 25 November 1965; retired 25 July 1972 (see above).

Zaire 1971-97

• c.1972-1977 : Brigadier General Bumba Moaso, former commander of the Airborne Division (DITRAC: Division de Troupes Aeromobiles Reinforcee de Choc). From Equateur; Crawford and Young describe him as 'illiterate, but a forceful personality.'^[9] One of a number of military leaders who entered the Popular Movement of the Revolution (MPR) Political Bureau in 1975, when the MPR was merged with the state, and in 1975 became one of the eight permanent members of the Political Bureau. Captain General of the Forces Armées Zaïroises.
• Sept 1978 - 1981 Général de corps d'armée Babia Zangi Malobia. Former Director-General of the Defence Ministry, and graduate of the Belgian defence academy.^[9]
• 1981-1985: Général d'Armée Singa Boyenge Mosambay^[10]
• 1985-1987: Général de Division Eluki Monga Aundu^[11]
• Oct 1987-1989: Admiral Lomponda Wa Botembe (see fr:Lomponda Wa Botembe)
• 1989-91: Général d'Armée Mazembe ba Embanga
• 1991–1993 : Général Marc Mahélé Lièko Bokungu, Chief of Staff of the Forces Armées Zaïroises^[12]
• 1993–1996 : Général Elugi Monga Aundu (see fr:Eluki Monga Aundu) (February 1993 – 20 November 1996)
• 1996–1997 : Général Marc Mahélé Lièko Bokungu (assassinated 16 May 1997)

Democratic Republic of the Congo 1997-present

• 1997–1998 : James Kabarebe, Chef d'état-major des Forces Armées Congolaises, until July 1998.
• 16 July 1998 – 15 August 1998: Célestin Kifwa^[13]
• August 1998 – 1999: ?
• 1999–?: Général Sylvestre Lwetcha, reappointed 8 March 2001 in accordance with Decree 010/2001.^[14]
• August 2003 – 2004 : Admiral Baudoin Liwanga Mata Nyamuniobo, FARDC
• 21 June 2004^[15]–2007 : Lieutenant Général Kisempia Sungilanga Lombe, Chef d'état-major des forces armées^[16]
• June 2007 : Lieutenant-Général Dieudonné Kayembe Mbandakulu, former DEMIAP director
• November 2008: Général Didier Etumba Longomba^[17]

References

1. ↑ Miami News, 18 June 1966 and Sydney Taylor (ed), The New Africans: A Guide to the Contemporary History of Emergent Africa and its Leaders, Paul Hamlin, London/Reuters, 1967, p.95, 102
2. ↑ Sandra W. Meditz & Tim Merrill (October 1993). Library of Congress Country Study:Zaire. Washington DC. Retrieved April 2008.  Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
3. ↑ Le 3 novembre 1965, il est nommé au grade de Lieutenant-général de l'Armée Nationale Congolaise.' http://www.congolite.ca/biographiemobutu.htm. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
4. ↑ Ludo de Witte, 'The Assassination of Lumumba,' Verso, 2001, 127.
5. ↑ Sydney Taylor, The New Africans, 1967, p.102
6. ↑ Le Potential, 24 novembre 1965 : le communiqué du coup d'Etat du Lieutenant-général Mobutu. Bobozo was made C-in-C under Mobutu when Mobutu seized power, and it was stated initially that he would act as C-in-C 'while Mobutu was acting as President of the Republic.'
7. ↑ Colonel S.C. Davis, British Military Attache Kinshasa, Report on the Zairean Armed Forces for the Period Apr 1971 – Apr 1972, DA/KIN/76, 5 May 1972, FCO 31/1170, accessed at Public Record Office, Kew
8. ↑ Editions Service d'Education d'Information, 'L'Armée nationale congolaise 1960-1970,' Etat-Major General de l'ANC, November 1970, via Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library.
9. 1 2 M. Crawford Young and Thomas Turner, The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State, 1985, ISBN 0-299-10110-X, p.265
10. ↑ https://books.google.com.br/books?id=U47B0mwVU_4C&pg=PA687&lpg=PA687&dq=etat+major+des+faz+1996&source=bl&ots=MlptDNHxHq&sig=6Cq9b2sLFzYUHOUXmj9cxdE55_E&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjk8LCTj4POAhVEFpAKHQ9KCrMQ6AEIQzAF#v=onepage&q=etat%20major%20des%20faz%201996&f=false
11. ↑ https://books.google.com.br/books?id=U47B0mwVU_4C&pg=PA687&lpg=PA687&dq=etat+major+des+faz+1996&source=bl&ots=MlptDNHxHq&sig=6Cq9b2sLFzYUHOUXmj9cxdE55_E&hl=pt-BR&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjk8LCTj4POAhVEFpAKHQ9KCrMQ6AEIQzAF#v=onepage&q=etat%20major%20des%20faz%201996&f=false
12. ↑ Canadian Government Immigration Review Board, Issue Paper: Zaire: The Balance of Power in the Regions, April 1997
13. ↑ http://www.congoned.dds.nl, Congo developments XXIV Chronicle: 1 June – 26 August 1998
14. ↑ Decree 010/2001, Portant Nomination du Chef d'etat-major inter-armées et du chef d'etat-major Q.G. Also Gerard Prunier, 'From Genocide to Continental War: the 'Congolese' Conflict and the Crisis of Contemporary Africa,' Hurst & Co., London, 2009, ISBN 978-1-85065-523-7, p.263 (see also p.230; there is also a confusing reference to General Lwetcha being made FAC chief of staff in September 1999).
15. ↑ http://www.panapress.com/paysindexlat.asp?codepays=eng014&page=81
16. ↑ République Démocratique du Congo : L'armée doit arrêter l'utilisation d'enfants soldats, Bruxelles, 19 avril 2007, Human Rights Watch
17. ↑ Xinhua, . See also U.S. State Department cable on his appointment: http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/11/08KINSHASA1025.html