The Katangese Gendarmes and War in Central Africa

Miles Larmer, Erik Kennes

Description

Erik Kennes and Miles Larmer provide a history of the Katangese gendarmes and their largely undocumented role in many of the most important political and military conflicts in Central Africa. Katanga, located in today's Democratic Republic of Congo, seceded in 1960 as Congo achieved independence and the gendarmes fought as the unrecognized state's army during the Congo crisis. Kennes and Larmer explain how the ex-gendarmes, then exiled in Angola, struggled to maintain their national identity and return "home." They take readers through the complex history of the Katangese and their engagement in regional conflicts and Africa's Cold War. Kennes and Larmer show how the paths not taken at Africa's independence persist in contemporary political and military movements and bring new understandings to the challenges that personal and collective identities pose to the relationship between African nation-states and their citizens and subjects.

Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Becoming Katanga
2. The Katangese Secession 1960-63
3. Into Exile and Back 1963-67
4. With the Portuguese 1967-74
5. The Katangese Gendarmes in the Angolan Civil War 1974-1976
6. The Shaba Wars
7. Disarmament and Division 1979-1996
8. The Overthrow of Mobutu and After 1996-2015
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• African Studies
• Human Rights
• HISTORY
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Histoire
• África
• Central Africa
• History of Africa
• Central
• Africa

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 04 juillet 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253021502
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE KATANGESE GENDARMES AND WAR IN CENTRAL AFRICA
THE KATANGESE GENDARMES AND WAR IN CENTRAL AFRICA
Fighting Their Way Home
Erik Kennes and Miles Larmer
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2016 by Erik Kennes and Miles Larmer
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kennes, Erik, author. | Larmer, Miles, author.
Title: The Katangese gendarmes and war in Central Africa : fighting their way home / Erik Kennes and Miles Larmer.
Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015047636| ISBN 9780253021304 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780253021397 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Katanga (Congo)-Militia-History. | Front de lib ration nationale du Congo-History. | Congo (Democratic Republic)-History-Autonomy and independence movements. | Angola-History-Autonomy and independence movements. | Africa, Central-History-20th century.
Classification: LCC DT665.K3 K46 2015 | DDC 967.51803-dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015047636
1 2 3 4 5 21 20 19 18 17 16
Dedicated to the memory of Gr goire Kabobo, son of Antoine Munongo, son and scholar of Katanga
Contents
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1 Becoming Katanga
2 The Katangese Secession, 1960-1963
3 Into Exile and Back, 1963-1967
4 With the Portuguese, 1967-1974
5 The Katangese Gendarmes in the Angolan Civil War, 1974-1976
6 The Shaba Wars
7 Disarmament and Division, 1979-1996
8 The Overthrow of Mobutu and After, 1996-2015
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Photo gallery follows page 98 .
Acknowledgments
O VER THE TWENTY years or so in which this book has been in development, the authors have been assisted by many more people than it is possible to name here.
First and foremost, we are particularly grateful to the former Tigres themselves, without whom this book would not have been possible. Among the dozens who provided invaluable assistance, the most important are: Justin Mushitu, an active member of the Tigres in Angola in 1974-1977 and in Sweden until the 1990s, who patiently explained their history during many visits to his refugee home in Stockholm and who generously shared his archives; D ogratias Symba, influential during key periods from 1977 until the toppling of Mobutu in 1997; Daniel Mayele, who shared his meticulously kept archives, which document the history of anti-Mobutu resistance during the 1970s and 1990s; Henri Mukachung Mwambu and Irung a Wan, key political actors for the movement in Angola, who shared many useful insights; and Jean Pierre Sonck, who shared his invaluable documentation on Katanga and who is one of the foremost experts on its history. Among the military ex-Tigres, we express our deepest thanks to Generals Pascal Kapend, Fran ois Kapend, and Sylvain Mbumba Kadhafi. Colonel Vincent de Paul Nguz was a tremendous help and assisted in research, and Colonel Robert Yav, Elie Kapend, Colonel Yav Nasser, and, last but not least, General Nathana l Mbumba were valuable sources of information. In Belgium, Colonel Ren Pire often shared his insights and experience of the Katangese Gendarmerie. From the political wing of the Tigres, we are very grateful to Jacques Cartier Mutombo, J r me Nawej, Joseph Kabwit, Yves Nawej and Nickel Rumb.
The initial impetus for this study can be traced back to Filip Reyntjens at the University of Antwerp (IDPM), who greatly facilitated the first research visits undertaken by Erik Kennes between 1997 and 1999. Generous support was also given by the director of the Section for Contemporary History of the African Museum in Tervuren, Dr. Gauthier de Villers, during the years 1999-2009. A first outline of the history of the Katangese gendarmes was as a result included in Erik Kennes s doctoral study, which in turn would never have been possible without the outstanding assistance and creative insights of Bogumil Jewsiewicki.
Miles Larmer s research was generously supported by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, which funded a Research Fellowship in 2011-2012; and the British Academy, which provided a Small Grant at the start of his research in 2007-2008. His research was also enabled by many colleagues at the universities of Sheffield Hallam, Sheffield, and Oxford.
Researchers on the subject who assisted with interviews, documents, and contacts include most of all the very knowledgeable Crispin Kalumba Nsanki, Justin Mulangu, Li vain Mwangal, Peter Ngoy Kaodi, Raymond Nshimba, Gr goire Kabobo, Hon. Mwando Nsimba, Ren Pelissier, John Cann, and the expert journalist Jean-Fran ois Bastin. In Portugal, Pezarat Correia, Admiral Rosa Coutinho, Major General Renato Marques Pinto, and Colonel Oliveira Marques were particularly helpful. Nathaniel Kinsey-Powell kindly provided access to documents from the French Foreign Ministry and the Jimmy Carter Library.
We are deeply grateful to the many archivists who assisted our research: Jos de Quintanilha Mantas of the Torre do Tombe state archives in Lisbon; the UNHCR archives in Geneva; the Portuguese Military History archive; the 25 April Documentation Centre at the University of Coimbra; the US State Department archives in College Park, Maryland; the UK National Archives at Kew; the Contemporary History Library of the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren; Neels Muller at the Foreign Affairs archives in Pretoria; and the colonial archives housed at the Belgian Foreign Ministry.
The research was developed through presentations at conferences and seminars at the following institutions: the universities of and universities in Botswana, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Exeter, Florida, Kalemie, Kinshasa, Leiden, Leuven, London (SOAS), Oxford, Paris, Pretoria, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam, Stockholm, Swaziland, and Zambia. Draft research findings were presented at various conferences including the African Studies Association (United States) conference, the European Conference on African Studies, and the African Studies Association of the United Kingdom. Numerous contributors and organizers of these events provided invaluable advice. The authors would particularly like to thank Jocelyn Alexander, David Anderson, Nir Arielli, Filip de Boeck, Daniel Branch, James Brennan, Andrew Cohen, Bruce Collins, Stephen Ellis, Alastair Fraser, Jan-Bart Gewald, Patricia Hayes, Marja Hinfelaar, Lars Huening, Emma Hunter, Bogumil Jewsiewicki, Nathaniel Kinsey-Powell, Prince Kaumba Lufunda, Ren Lemarchand, Reuben Loffman, Giacomo Macola, Henning Melber, Bob Moore, Justin Pearce, Catherine Lee Porter, Filip Reyntjens, Daniel Spence, Henning Tamm, Thomas Turner, Theodore Tr fon, Harry Verhoeven, Luise White, Benjamin Ziemann, and the anonymous readers of the draft manuscript for their support, insights, and criticism. All remaining omissions, oversights and errors are our own.
The book draws on material previously published by the authors in Cold War History and the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History . We are grateful for permission to reuse a limited amount of that material from those articles, which can be accessed at www.tandfonline.com .
Finally, the authors would like to thank Many Madika and Laura Cole, for their relentless support, encouragement, and patience during the repeated absence of their research-obsessed husbands/partners.
List of Abbreviations
A25A
Centro de documenta o 25 de Abril (25 April Documentation Centre, University of Coimbra, Portugal)
ABAKO
Alliance des Bakongo (Alliance of Bakongo)
AFDL
Alliance des Forces D mocratiques pour la Lib ration du Congo (Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo)
AHM
Arquivo Historico Militar (Historical Military Archives Lisbon, Portugal)
ANC
Arm e Nationale Congolaise (Congolese National Army)
ANTT
Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (National Archives Torre do Tombo, Lisbon, Portugal)
APARECO
Alliance des Patriotes pour la Refondation du Congo (Patriots Alliance for re-founding the Congo)
ASLN
Arm e Secr te de Lib ration Nationale (Secret Army for National Liberation)
ATCAR
Association des Tshokwe du Congo de l Angola et de la Rhod sie du Nord (Assocation of Chokwe from Congo, Angola and North Rhodesia)
BAA
Belgian Army Archives
BCK
Compagnie du Chemin de fer du Bas-Congo au Katanga (Bas Congo and Katanga Railway Company)
BSAC
British South Africa Company
BTK
Bourse du Travail du Katanga (Katanga Labor Exchange)
BTM/Mistebel
Belgian Technical Mission to Katanga/Mission Technique Belge au Katanga
CAD
Centre des Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes (Nantes Diplomatic Archives Centre)
CAF
Central African Federation
CCCI
Compagnie du Congo pour le Commerce et l Industrie (Congo Company for Trade and Industry)
CCPA <