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Ekila Liyonda

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Ekila Liyonda
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Zaire
In office
1987–1988
PresidentMobutu Sese Seko
Preceded byLéon Kengo
Succeeded byJean Nguza Karl-i-Bond
Personal details
Born(1948-10-16)16 October 1948
Leopoldville, Belgian Congo
Died23 June 2006(2006-06-23) (aged 57)
Brussels, Belgium

Adrienne Ekila Liyonda (16 October 1948 – 23 June 2006) was a Zairean (now DRC) politician who served as ambassador to Belgium and was the country's first female Foreign minister.

Early life and education

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Liyonda was born on 16 October 1948 in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). She attended secondary school at the Lycée Sainte Marie-Theerèse before graduating from the Catholic University of Louvain with a Bachelor of Laws in 1974.[1]

Career

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Liyonda worked as a legal advisor to the Zaire Press Agency from 1974 until 1976 and was a member of the Board of directors of Gécamines and of the Permanent Commission for the Reform of Zaire Law. In 1976 she became a legal advisor in the Office of President Mobutu Sese Seko.[2] She was appointed Secretary General of the nationalist unity party Mouvement Populaire de la Revolution in 1981.[1] In 1985, she was appointed Secretary General in charge of Women's Affairs and State Commissioner for Women's Affairs and Social Affairs.[2][3]

Liyonda was appointed Ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in 1985.[1] She returned to Zaire in 1987 and entered the Mobutu government as Minister of Foreign Affairs,[4] making her the country's first female foreign affairs minister.[5][6] In this role she was a signatory to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.[7] In 1988 she became Minister of Information and Press[8][9] serving until 1990.[1]

During the growing conflict of the 1990s, Liyonda became a member of the Union of Democrats and Independents and was the Federal President for Kinshasa.[1] After the arrival of Laurent-Désiré Kabila and the AFDL in May 1997, she returned to live in Belgium.[10]

Liyonda died in Brussels on 23 June 2006. She was buried in the Gombe cemetery.[2][1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Décès à Bruxelles de Mme Ekila Liyonda". Congo Indépendant (in French). 28 June 2006. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Ultime Hommage à feu l'Ambassadeur Ekila Liyonda (ACP)". Congo Forum (in French). 5 July 2006. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  3. ^ Sub-Saharan Africa Report, Issues 84–91. Foreign Broadcast Information Service. 1984. p. 69.
  4. ^ Paxton, J. (2016). The Statesman's Year-Book 1987–88. Springer. p. 1616. ISBN 9780230271166.
  5. ^ Turshen, Meredeth (2016). Gender and the Political Economy of Conflict in Africa: The persistence of violence. Routledge. ISBN 9781317636540.
  6. ^ Lewis, Paul (10 January 1988). "Zaire Mission's Debts in New York Prompt Concern at U.N." The New York Times. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  7. ^ African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (PDF) (Report). Nairobi, Kenya: Organization of African Unity. 28 December 1988.
  8. ^ Paxton, J. (2016). The Statesman's Year-Book 1989–90. Springer. p. 1615. ISBN 9780230271180.
  9. ^ West Africa, Issues 3673–3688. Afrimedia International. 1988. p. 473.
  10. ^ "Décès à Bruxelles de l'ancienne ministre congolaise des AE" (in French). Panapress. 28 June 2006. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
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