JEANNE MABUNDA ELECTED AS FIRST FEMALE HEAD OF DR CONGO’S NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, have elected Jeanine Mabunda as head of the national assembly on Wednesday.

She was unopposed after her main opponent, Henri Thomas Lokondo, was disqualified. The main opposition boycotted the process citing political manoeuvering.

The new speaker is a member of the Common Forum for Congo, FCC coalition, which is led by former president Joseph Kabila. She also has the backing of president Tshisekedi’s CACH coalition.

She becomes the first woman to occupy the top legislative seat. She is the sixth substantive speaker and takes over from Aubin Minaku who acted as speaker between 2012 to 2019.

Mabunda has served in other leadership roles, she was Minister of Industry and advisor in the fight against sexual violence and the recruitment of child soldiers under Kabila’s presidency. She is also leader of the women’s league in Kabila’s party, the PPRD.

All 500 lawmakers gathered very early on Wednesday morning to elect the president of the National Assembly. Jeanine Mabunda, who formerly chaired the Industry Promotion Fund (FPI), takes the role and she will be deputized by the ruling UDPS’s Jean-Marc Kabund.