Justin Kokolo

Justin Kokolo-Longo
Born	1913 Mayombe, Belgian Congo
Died	21 November 1960 Léopoldville, Republic of the Congo
Allegiance	Congo DR Congo
Service / branch	Force Publique Armée Nationale Congolaise
Years of service	1936–1960
Rank	Colonel
Commands	Camp Leopold II
Battles / wars	Congo Crisis
Memorials	Camp Kokolo

Justin Kokolo-Longo (1913 – 21 November 1960) was a Congolese military officer who briefly served as deputy chief of staff of the Armée Nationale Congolaise.

Biography

Justin Kokolo was born into a Bakongo family in 1913 in Mayombe, Belgian Congo. He voluntarily enlisted in the Force Publique in 1936, quickly reaching the ranks of corporal and sergeant. He was one of four Congolese soldiers in the entire army to achieve the rank of adjutant before the independence of the Congo. Kokolo maintained close connections with President Joseph Kasa-Vubu, a fellow Mukongo, who sought his protection from undisciplined troops. On 8 July 1960 Kokolo, as the most senior of the adjutants, was appointed by the Congolese government to be commander of the Camp Léopold II garrison. He soon thereafter achieved the rank of colonel and became deputy chief of staff of the army—renamed the Armée Nationale Congolaise. On 11 July Kokolo was dispatched from Léopoldville to Élisabethville, Katanga to oversee the "Africanisation" of the garrison's officers. However, that evening the provincial government seceded from the Congo and Kokolo was immediately expelled from its territory upon his arrival. From there he flew to Luluabourg to report on the situation to the president and prime minister.

On 21 November Kokolo attempted to force his way into the Ghanaian embassy in Léopoldville to carry out an extradition order against the chargé d'affaires. United Nations peacekeepers on guard resisted, and in the ensuing conflict Kokolo and three of his men were killed. Once news of his death broke, soldiers rioted throughout the city. Kokolo was accorded a grand funeral along with his men, which garnered in upwards of 100,000 mourners throughout the capital. Camp Léopold II was renamed in his honor.

References

• O'Ballance, Edgar (1999). The Congo-Zaire Experience, 1960-98 (illustrated ed.). Springer. ISBN 9780230286481.
• Gilis, Charles André (1964). Kasa-Vubu: au coeur du drame congolais (in French). Brussels: Éditions Europe-Afrique; distributeur exclusif: Office international de librarie.
• Hoskyns, Catherine (1965). The Congo Since Independence: January 1960 – December 1961. London: Oxford University Press.
• Kanza, Thomas R. (1994). The Rise and Fall of Patrice Lumumba: Conflict in the Congo (expanded ed.). Rochester, Vermont: Schenkman Books, Inc. ISBN 0-87073-901-8.
• Mobutu, Joseph-Désiré (1970). Recueil des discours et harangues prononcés par le président de la république: son Exellence le Lieutenant-Général Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, Août 1960-Août 1970 (in French) (2 ed.). Service d'Education et d'Information de l'Armée Nationale Congolaise. OCLC 63565130.
• Willame, Jean-Claude (1972). Patrimonialism and Political Change in the Congo. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804707930.