Title: Joseph Kasa-Vubu
Content: elected president of the Alliance des Bakongo (ABAKO). Under his leadership, the group swept the first open municipal Leopoldville elections in 1957 and he was elected mayor of the Dendale district of the city. Kasa-Vubu quickly became known as one of the first Congolese leaders to call for independence. At first, he advocated for independence from Belgium on a 30-year timeline, but he shortened the timetable as the ABAKO movement gained in strength. In his inauguration speech as mayor of Dendale, Kasa-Vubu reiterated his demand for independence, drawing a reprimand from Belgian colonial authorities, which only strengthened his image as

Title: Jean-Pierre Finant
Content: through a tribunal. He was executed there on 13 February 1961. Jean-Pierre Finant Jean-Pierre Finant (22 April 1922 – 13 February 1961) was a Congolese politician who served as the first President of Orientale Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Republic of the Congo) from June until October 1960. Jean-Pierre Finant was born on 22 April 1922 in Bondo, Belgian Congo to an Azande mother and Belgian father. He undertook six years of primary and four years of middle education at the Ecole des Frères Maristes in Buta. After a one year training course at the Ecole

Title: Patrice Lumumba
Content: Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba (; alternatively styled Patrice Hemery Lumumba; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first Prime Minister of the independent Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Republic of the Congo) from June until September 1960. He played a significant role in the transformation of the Congo from a colony of Belgium into an independent republic. Ideologically an African nationalist and Pan-Africanist, he led the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) party from 1958 until his assassination. Shortly after Congolese independence in 1960, a mutiny broke out in

Title: Joseph Kasa-Vubu
Content: a Congolese leader. On 4 January 1959, an ABAKO political gathering organised by Kasa-Vubu erupted into violence, sparking the Léopoldville riots, a pivotal moment in the Congolese struggle for independence. Kasa-Vubu was set to address the crowd on African nationalism, but colonial authorities banned the meeting. They were unable to calm the crowd and thousands of Congolese began rioting. Kasa-Vubu was arrested, along with several other leaders, and imprisoned for inciting the riot. He was released two months later. Upon Congo's independence from Belgium, the ABAKO won a significant number of votes in the new parliament but not an outright

Title: Belgian Congo
Content: the regionalist factions—chief among them ABAKO—and the nationalist parties such as the MNC, doing well. A compromise arrangement was forced through, with Kasa-vubu becoming the first president of the Republic of the Congo, and Lumumba its first head of government. As planned scarcely five months earlier, the hand-over ceremony by the Belgians took place on time on 30 June 1960 at the new residence of the Governor-General of the Belgian Congo in Léopoldville. One week later, a rebellion broke out within the "Force Publique" against its officers, who were still predominantly Belgian. This was a catalyst for disturbances arising all

Question: Who was the first leader of the Belgian Congo?
Answer: Lumumba