Antoine Ghonda

Who is Antoine Ghonda?

Antoine Ghonda Mangalibi was the foreign minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from June 30, 2003 until July 23, 2004.

Ghonda grew up in the Bas Congo province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was then known as Zaire. He did university studies in the United States, and earned a B.A. degree in International Relations from Florida International University in 1992. From 1992 to 2000, he worked in his family's businesses, and developed a lucrative career in international trade. He took a keen interest in politics during these years, but did not align himself politically during the late years of the Mobutu Sese Seko presidency, nor during the early part of the presidency of Laurent-Désiré Kabila.

In 2000, however, he plunged into politics, joining the Congolese Liberation Movement, a rebel group led by Jean-Pierre Bemba. In 2003, the Congolese Liberation Movement made peace with the national government led by Joseph Kabila and joined a transitional government in which there were four vice-presidents, including two heading major rebel groups. Bemba became one of the vice-presidents and was given the power to appoint the foreign minister.