Kongo People - Bakongo Nationalism

Bakongo Nationalism

The idea of a Bakongo unity, actually developed in the early twentieth century, primarily through the publication of newspapers in various dialects of the language. In 1910 Kavuna Kafwandani (Kavuna Simon) published an article in the Swedish mission society's Kikongo language newspaper Misanü Miayenge (Words of Peace) calling for all speakers of the Kikongo language to recognize their identity. Bakongo activists quickly turned to recognition of the linguistic and cultural unity of the region and created their own versions of the past and its institutions. Political activism, particularly in the Belgian Congo, led eventually to the formation so ethnic parties. The Bakongo political party in the Belgian Congo Abako played an important part in national independence in 1960.

In Angola, the Portuguese government recognized a king of Kongo informally, and in fact worked more and more through the royal family in the 1940s and 50s. Factions that opposed the collaboration of the king and particularly Queen Isabel after 1958 formed the UPA (União das Povos de Angola) party, which eventually led a revolutionary movement in 1961. This movement coalesced with others, from Luanda and other parts of the country to form the anti-Portuguese liberation war which terminated in 1975 with the departure of Portugal. UPA reorganzied itself as the Frente para la Liberação de Angola (FNLA) and continued the interests of the Bakongo in the civil war which followed independence. Many Bakongo fought with FNLA against MPLA the governing party, at times in alliance with UNITA, another party with roots in the south.

One of the principal goals and tenets of Bakongo nationalism has been the restoration of the Kingdom of Kongo, which is often held to have extended through the entire Kikongo speaking world,and indeed to include non-Kikongo speaking people to the south, east and north of the old kingdom, and to include those people whose ancestors were never a part of the Kingdom of Kongo. As the Bakongo live in three or more countries these ideas are often held to be dangerous by authorities in all the countries. This fear has played a significant role in the suppression of Kongo nationalist leaders or groups, such as Bundu dia Kongo, which have taken the intellectual ideas and attempted to put them in action, or have been perceived as attempting to create a separate region conforming to the borders of Kongo.