KINSHASA (AFP) — The former prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Antoine Gizenga, 84, has been made a "national hero", which is the highest distinction the state can bestow, officials said Tuesday.
President Joseph Kabila admitted Gizenga to the Order of National Heroes in recognition of his "merits and loyal services to the nation," according to a decree sent to AFP on Tuesday.
Gizenga is the first living incumbent of the honour, which has so far been posthumously bestowed on Patrice Lumumba, the country's first prime minister on independence, and on Kabila's late father, president Laurent Desire Kabila. Both those men were assassinated.
The ceremony to decorate Gizenga, intended to take place on Tuesday's 49th anniversary of independence, has been delayed because of the embezzlement of a part of the 30 million Congolese francs (29,000 euros / 41,000 dollars) budgeted to stage it, a source close to financial authorities told AFP.
Under the decree, Gizenga will benefit from "several rights and advantages" including a "monthly payment equivalent to the earnings of a prime minister, a residence, a garage with six vehicles, a guard including 12 members of the national police."
A long-standing opposition leader under the dictatorship of the late Mobutu Sese Seko in the former Zaire, Gizenga became the charismatic leader of the Unified Lumumbist Party (PALU) before being named government chief in December 2006.
He resigned on the grounds of his advanced age in September 2008, to be replaced by the current prime minister, Adolphe Muzito, 52.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.
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