Qibwe, Jean-Baptiste

Born in a family imbued with the spirit of Katangan separatism . He was educated at the Elizabethville Institute of St. Boniface. He was a lawyer, sociologist and political economist by profession. Since 1954 he worked as a judge in Elizabethville.

In 1958 he took part in the creation of the CONAKAT party by Moise Chombe . Since 1959 - Vice-Chairman of the Party. He was an active supporter of the independence of Katanga. In April – May 1960, Kibwe and Tshombe participated in the Belgian-Congolese round-table conference , where the decolonization of the Congo was discussed ^[1] .

Jean-Baptiste Quibwe adhered to the right anti - communist views, was a supporter of maintaining close ties with Western countries, primarily with Belgium .

On June 30, 1960, Congo 's independence was proclaimed. The government was led by leftist politician Patrice Lumumba . The CONAKAT party was in stiff opposition. Already on July 11, 1960, Tshombe announced the separation of independent Katanga from the Republic of Congo .

In the State of Katanga, Moise Chombe took over as president and head of government. Jean-Baptiste Quibwe received in his office a portfolio of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. He oversaw ties with the Belgian mining corporation UMHK and other foreign investors. Kibwe was considered an effective economic organizer, who did a lot for the economic development of Katanga ^[2] . Along with Tshombe himself and the head of the Katangan security forces, the Minister of the Interior Godfroy Munongo , Jean-Baptiste Kibwe belonged to the most influential leaders of Katanga. Qibwe, along with Godfroix Munongo, Joseph Kivele and Alfons Kiela, was in the “small cabinet” - a group of leading ministers with the right to make decisions in the absence of President Chombé ^[3] .

Jean-Baptiste Kibwe was an implacable opponent of Patrice Lumumba, ranked as the organizer of his murder in Katanga on January 17, 1961 ^[4] . He gave testimony about the assassination of Lumumba by the commission of the Belgian parliament ^[5] .

I saw Lumumba there. I reminded him of how he once told me: “Dear Jean, when I come to Katanga, we will crush your party.” I then answered him: "No, we will crush you." We remembered that. And he said: "Yes, I came here, and you really crushed me."
Jean-Baptiste Quibwe ^[6]

The execution of Patrice Lumumba, Joseph Okito and Maurice Mpolo, Jean-Baptiste Kibwe, explained that if Lumumba and his associates would have done the same, they would have done the same ^[7] . According to eyewitnesses, Kibwe, personally present at the shooting of Lumumba, was in a good mood, exchanged jokes with Munongo ^[8] .

As a result of the Katanga War, the province was reunited with the Congo. During his short tenure as head of government, Kibwe acted as a consultant. After the removal of Tshombe and the rise to power, Mobutu Kibwe was the administrator of UMHK. Unlike the immigrant Moise Chombe, the arrested Godfroy Munongo, the executed Evarista Kimba , Kibwe was not subjected to repression.

Under Mobutu and after his overthrow, Jean-Baptiste Kibwe retained a serious influence on the situation in Shaba-Katanga (largely due to long-standing and close ties with foreign economic partners).

Jean-Baptiste Kibwe participated in the settlement process after the Second Congolese War . He defended the regional interests of Katanga. In 2003 - 2006 Kibwe was a prominent opposition figure to the government of Joseph Kabila . Headed the Lubumbashi Club - a collection of the most influential politicians and businessmen of Katanga. He oversaw the Katanga FC TP Mazembe . He was close to the large entrepreneur Moiz Katumbi , who in 2007 - 2015 was the governor of Katanga ^[9] .

Recent years, Jean-Baptiste Quibwe spent in Brussels . Died at the age of 84.