Jason Sendwe

Sendwe was born in 1917 in Mwanya, Kabongo Territory, Belgian Congo, to a Baluba family.

He was educated in Methodist schools and nursing institutions.

Unable to become a doctor due to a lack of medical schools in the Congo, he found work as a minister, teacher, and nurse.

Jason Sendwe was born in 1917 in Mwanya, Kabongo Territory, Belgian Congo to a Baluba family.

The Luba were a large ethnic group indigenous to the Katanga and Kasaï regions of the Congo.

Sendwe was a childhood friend of Moïse Tshombe.

He received six years of primary schooling from Methodists in Kabongo and four years of secondary education at the Kanene Methodist Mission in Kamina.

For five years he took nursing courses in Stanleyville and at the École officielle pour Infirmiers à Élisabethville.

He completed his studies at the École des Assistants Indigènes de Léopoldville, graduating as a nurse.

His aspirations to become a doctor were curtailed by the lack of medical schools in the Congo.

He worked as a minister and teacher at the Kanene Methodist Mission, and in 1942 entered the service of the colonial administration as a clerk.

Sendwe later became a nurse and then a medical assistant, working in Élisabethville, Mutshatsha, Kongolo and Kabongo.

He was a founding member and treasurer of the Amitiés Belgo-Congolaises cultural organisation, treasurer of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, councillor of the Association Saint-Luc, councillor of the Foyer social Léopold III, and served on the council of the Church of Christ in the Congo.

Sendwe married and had eight children.

He became involved in several cultural organisations, and in 1957 founded BALUBAKAT to fight for the interests of the Baluba.

He espoused nationalism and believed that the Congo should remain a united country after Belgian rule.

In 1957 Sendwe founded and became president of the Association Générale des Baluba du Katanga (BALUBAKAT), with the stated aim of encouraging unity among the Baluba of the Katanga Province.

According to journalist Évariste Kimba, he was able amass much of their support through his "dynamism" and frequent interactions with the population.

Three tenants underlined his political philosophy: protection of the Baluba, achievement of Congolese independence, and the primacy of conciliation in settling disputes.

In 1958 Sendwe attended the Brussels Expo, working as a medical assistant at the African Personnel Reception Center.

Afterwards he joined the short-lived Mouvement pour le Progres National Congolais, a party formed by attendees of the exposition.

On 5 February 1959 Sendwe brought BALUBAKAT into Tshombe's Confédération des associations tribales du Katanga (CONAKAT) party on the condition that it be able to maintain a significant amount of autonomy.

He initially shared the xenophobic stances of CONAKAT, but soon grew concerned that its hostility toward immigrants would extend to incoming Baluba.

In May 1960, shortly before the country's independence, he was elected to the newly constituted Chamber of Deputies.

Sendwe sought to obtain control over the government of Katanga Province, but lost a power struggle against his rival, Moïse Tshombe, and the Confédération des associations tribales du Katanga (CONAKAT) party.

Regardless, Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba nominated him for the office of State Commissioner for Katanga.

In early July 1960 Tshombe announced the secession of an independent State of Katanga.

Sendwe opposed the breakaway state and rejected Tshombe's entreaties for him to join the rebel government, rupturing relations between the two men.

Invested with the responsibilities of State Commissioner by the Senate, Sendwe unsuccessfully attempted to restore central government control over Katanga.

He served as Second Deputy Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Republic of the Congo) from August 1961 until January 1963, and as President of the Province of North Katanga from September 1963 until his death, with a brief interruption.

After a period of turmoil he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in August 1961 with the hope that he could use his political influence to win the central government support in Katanga.

Four months later he was made Commissioner-General Extraordinaire for the province, nominally giving him complete authority over the area.

Sendwe's political prospects were severely damaged in December 1962 when the Senate censured him and forced his subsequent resignation from the deputy premiership.

In early 1963, he increasingly focused his activities in Katanga, as the province acceded to central authority and Tshombe fled into exile.

The territory was divided into new political units against Sendwe's wishes.

Despite his dissatisfaction, he assumed office as President of North Katanga in September.

Jason Sendwe (1917 – 19 June 1964) was a Congolese politician and a leader of the Association Générale des Baluba du Katanga (BALUBAKAT) party.

In January 1964 he lost his position as president of BALUBAKAT.

In June Simba rebels overthrew his government and killed him, though it is unclear who held ultimate responsibility for his death.

Sendwe's demise greatly demoralised the Baluba, and his reputation drifted into obscurity.