Word: kimba
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Elegantly suited and vested, Premier-Designate Evariste Kimba sat on the front bench of the crowded Chamber of Deputies and tried to look confident. Three rows back, his predecessor, Moise Tshombe, tapped his foot nervously. As the Congolese Parliament met in joint session last week, about the only empty seat in the Palais de la Nation was the leopard-skin presidential chair itself: President Joseph Kasavubu, who could not vote anyway, had gone off to attend a memorial service for the nation's civil war dead...
Ostensible purpose of the session was a confidence vote on Kimba and his Cabinet, which had been installed last month after Kasavubu fired Tshombe. But even more was at stake. With Parliament and the 21 provincial legislatures due to elect a new President this winter, the vote was the first test of strength between Kasavubu, who wanted badly to be reelected, and Tshombe, his only serious rival for the job. Honoring Congolese political tradition, both sides had spent huge sums to win votes and influence legislators-some of whom reportedly were offered more than $15,000 for their allegiance...
Shocking as it was to many Congolese and Westerners alike, Tshombe's ouster seemed unlikely to set off another rampage in the Congo. To take his place, Kasavubu named 39-year-old Evariste Kimba, a onetime railroad worker who was Tshombe's Foreign Minister during the Katanga rebellion and accompanied him into exile in Europe. Kimba's first steps as Premier were encouraging. "To the Congolese people and to the foreigners in our country," he announced, "we guarantee peace and security." Then he invited Tshombe, who still commands the biggest voting bloc in Parliament, to take...
Katanga because, as Foreign Minister Evariste Kimba complained, "You have done nothing for us." But Tshombe was beaten nonetheless. Even his old ally, Sir Roy Welensky, Prime Minister of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland, told him he had "acted wisely" in yielding...
Three times, U.N. Civilian Chief Smith communicated with Katanga's Foreign Minister Evariste Kimba, demanded that the roadblock be removed. Kimba promised to comply, but as time went by, it became clear that he had little or no control over the determined Katanga forces. It was now apparent that the U.N. personnel could reach the town only by using force. Then came word that Katangese units were moving up to encircle the airport itself, and one of Katanga's Dornier planes flew over the field. Certain that an attack against the U.N. was imminent, Smith turned...