Ekila Liyonda

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.

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

Early life and education

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

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
  1. "Décès à Bruxelles de Mme Ekila Liyonda". Congo Indépendant (in French). 28 June 2006. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  2. "Ultime Hommage à feu l'Ambassadeur Ekila Liyonda (ACP)". Congo Forum (in French). 5 July 2006. 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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