Alphonse Ilunga

Alphonse Ilunga was born on 25 December 1931{{sfn|Mulumba|Makombo|1986|p=117}} in Tshikapa, Kasai, Belgian Congo{{sfn|Ganshof Van Der Meersch|1960|p=70}} into the Katawa clan of the Lulua.{{sfn|Matsanza|2010|p=129}} He later worked as a clerk for the Kasai Brewery.{{sfn|Ganshof Van Der Meersch|1960|p=70}} In 1958 he was elected to the Ndesha communal council and then subsequently appointed to the Luluabourg city council.{{sfn|Mulumba|Makombo|1986|p=118}} His familial relations to the customary chief Kalamba Mangole contributed to his political success.{{sfn|Matsanza|2010|p=129}} He participated in the Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference from January to February 1960 as a delegate for the Parti National du Progrès.{{sfn|Mulumba|Makombo|1986|p=118}}

Ilunga served as the first Congolese Minister of Public Works under Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Following the dismissal of the Lumumba Government in September, he was made Minister of Art, Culture, and Sports under Joseph Iléo. In February 1961 he returned to his position as Minister of Public Works.{{sfn|CRISP no. 120|1961|loc=paragraph 95}} Ilunga retained the office under Prime Minister Cyrille Adoula until July 1962 when Adoula reshuffled his government and made him Minister of Communications and Transport.{{sfn|Young|1965|p=346}} In June 1964 he was elected to the steering committee of the press and propaganda arm of the Rassemblement des démocrates congolaise (RADECO). His service in the government ended on 9 July. In 1965 he was elected to the Senate.{{sfn|Mulumba|Makombo|1986|p=118}} Following Joseph-Désiré Mobutu's seizure of power later that year, Ilunga was able to retain government positions due to the influence of Kalamba and his uncle Bakole wa Ilunga, Archbishop of Kananga.{{sfn|Matsanza|2010|p=129}} He reprised his role as Minister of Public Works on 16 August 1968, serving until 31 July 1969. In 1970 he was elected to the National Assembly.{{sfn|Mulumba|Makombo|1986|p=118}}

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• {{cite book| last = Ganshof Van Der Meersch| first = Walter Jean| title = Congo, mai-juin 1960| publisher = Ministry of African Affairs, Belgium| date = 1960| location = Brussels| language = French| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tVcwAAAAIAAJ|oclc= 716628096}}
• {{cite book| last = Matsanza| first = Guy Aundu| title = État et partis au Congo-Kinshasa: l'ethnicité pour légitimité| publisher = L'Harmattan| date = 2010| language = French| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fuI5AQAAIAAJ| isbn = 9782296096585}}
• {{cite book| last1 = Mulumba| first1 = Mabi| last2 = Makombo| first2 = Mutamba| title = Cadres et dirigeants au Zaïre, qui sont-ils?: dictionnaire biographique| publisher = Editions du Centre de recherches pédagogiques| location= Kinshasa| date = 1986| language = French| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9UoLAQAAIAAJ| oclc= 462124213}}
• {{cite journal| title = Onze mois de crise politique au Congo| journal = Courrier Hebdomadaire du CRISP| issue = 120| pages = 1–24| publisher = Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politiques| date = 1961| language = French| url = http://www.cairn.info/revue-courrier-hebdomadaire-du-crisp-1961-30-page-1.htm| location= Brussels| doi = 10.3917/cris.120.0001| ref = {{harvid|CRISP no. 120|1961}}| url-access = subscription}}
• {{cite book| last = Young| first = Crawford| title = Politics in the Congo: Decolonization and Independence|location= Princeton| publisher = Princeton University Press| date = 1965| oclc= 307971}}

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{{Lumumba Government}}

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Category:1931 births

Category:Living people

Category:People of the Congo Crisis

Category:Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Category:Lumumba Government members

Category:Members of the Senate (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Category:21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people