Louis Bobozo

Louis de Gonzague Bobozo
Born	1915
Died	July 1982
Place of birth	Mongala District, Belgian Congo
Place of death	Zaire
Allegiance	Belgian Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo
Service/branch	Force Publique Armée Nationale Congolaise
Years of service	1933–1972
Rank	General
Commands held	Camp Hardy Fourth Congolese Regiment Armée Nationale Congolaise
Battles/wars	World War II Congo Crisis

Louis de Gonzague Bobozo (1915 – July 1982) was a Congolese military officer who served as commander-in-chief of the Armée Nationale Congolaise from 1965 until 1972.

Biography

Louis Bobozo was born in 1915 in the Mongala District, Équateur, Belgian Congo. He voluntarily enlisted in the Force Publique on 28 June 1933. On 1 April 1940 he was promoted to the rank of sergeant. In 1941 he was deployed to Ethiopia to participate in the East African Campaign of World War II, commanding a machine gun platoon during the Siege of Saïo. From 1953–1954 he served as Joseph-Désiré Mobutu's drill instructor in Luluabourg. In 1960 the Congo achieved independence and the Force Publique subsequently mutinied to protest poor conditions. African officers were appointed to replace European personnel to try and alleviate the problem, and Mobutu was made chief-of-staff of the force, renamed the Armée Nationale Congolaise (ANC). Due to the upheaval in the officer corps and his family ties with Mobutu, Bobozo was quickly promoted to colonel put in charge of the garrison of Camp Hardy in Thysville. He briefly acted as interim commander-in-chief of the army in October. In 1963 he was put in charge of a new unit, the fourth groupement (regiment) of South Katanga.

Following Mobutu's coup in November 1965, Bobozo was appointed to be commander-in-chief of the ANC. On 13 November 1970 he suffered a severe stroke and had to hand over his duties to an acting general. He officially retired as commander-in-chief in 1972. He died in July 1982.

References

• Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents. 2. Africana Publishing Company. 1970. https://books.google.com/books?id=BzAEAQAAIAAJ&dq=. 
• (in French) L'Armée nationale congolaise, 1960-1970. Editions Service d'education d'information, Etat-Major Général de l'ANC. 1970. https://books.google.com/books?id=ng4JAQAAMAAJ&dq=. 
• "Congo (Kinshasa)". United States Central Intelligence Agency. 1 December 1970. p. 14. https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79T00975A017700030001-2.pdf. 
• Kisangani, Emizet Francois (2016). Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (4th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442273160. https://books.google.com/books?id=sj9mDQAAQBAJ&dq=. 
• Tripathy, Amulya Kumar (1989). U.S. Foreign Policy: A Study of CIA and External Intervention in Central Africa. Discovery Publishing House. ISBN 9788171410385. https://books.google.com/books?id=VTZ2AAAAMAAJ&q=. 
• Veranneman, Jean-Michel (2014). Belgium in the Second World War (illus. ed.). Barnsley: Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-78337-607-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=MmVtBQAAQBAJ&dq=. 
• de Witte, Ludo (2002). The Assassination of Lumumba (illustrated ed.). Verso. ISBN 978-1-85984-410-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=bTdlU4yGB6YC&dq=. 
• Young, M. Crawford (1965). Politics in Congo: Decolonization and Independence. Princeton: Princeton University Press. OCLC 307971. 
• Young, Crawford; Turner, Thomas Edwin (2013). The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 9780299101138. https://books.google.com/books?id=R5pJxgosjIIC&dq=. 
• "ZAIRE". United States Central Intelligence Agency. 28 July 1972. p. 8. https://archive.org/details/CENTRALINTELLIGENCEBULLETIN79T00975A0224000700024?.