page_title: Léon Kengo wa Dondo
section_title: President of the Senate of Congo
hierarchical_section_title: Léon Kengo wa Dondo / Career / President of the Senate of Congo
caption_attribution_description: English: Charles Mwando Nsimba addressing the Senate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo with Léon Kengo presiding. Mario-Philippe Losembe is on the far right. Edouard Mokolo wa Pombo is just to the left of Kengo.
context_page_description: Léon Kengo wa Dondo is a Congolese politician who served as the "first state commissioner" several times under Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaïre. He was one of the most powerful figures in the regime and was a strong advocate of economic globalization and free-market economics. He served as President of the Senate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2007 to 2019.
context_section_description: Following his return to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kengo backed Jean-Pierre Bemba in the 2006 presidential election; Bemba was defeated by President Joseph Kabila in the second round of the election. Kengo was then elected as a Senator from Équateur province in January 2007. On 11 May 2007, Kengo was somewhat unexpectedly elected as President of the Senate, defeating Léonard She Okitundu, the candidate of the majority coalition, the Alliance of the Presidential Majority. Kengo, who was an independent candidate, took 55 votes against 49 for Okitundu. On 21 January 2015 during the 2015 Congolese protests he met with American, Belgian, British and French diplomats who urged him to either suspend debate and voting on the election modifying law or to remove its controversial provisions. He served as Senate president until 5 April 2019.
caption: Charles Mwando Nsimba addressing the Senate with Kengo presiding
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