| Intro | Congolese politician (1930-1999) | ||
| Was | Politician | ||
| From | Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||
| Type | Politics | ||
| Gender | male | ||
| Birth | 2 September 1930 | ||
| Death |
31 March 1999, Boston (aged 68 years) |
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| Family |
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Marcel Lihau (29 September 1930 – 9 April 1999) was a Congolese politician and law professor who served as the President of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Congo and was involved in the creation of a functional constitution for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Early life and education
Marcel Lihau was born on 29 September 1930 in Lisala, Belgian Congo. Circumventing regular colonial restrictions on education of Congolese, sociologist Willy De Craemer actively prepared Lihau for the Jury Central exam for admission to the University of Lovanium. For tutoring Lihau in Latin, Greek, and Flemish, De Craemer was blacklisted by the Governor General of the Congo. Regardless, Lihau passed the exam with an exceptionally high score and was enrolled in the university to study Roman philology. In reality, he took courses related to law (then not offered to Congolese students) with the help of De Craemer and Jesuit educators. In 1962 the restrictions were loosened and Lihau became a PhD law student. By January 1963 he had earned his degree with distinction, being the very first Congolese to study law at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium.
Career
In 1960 the Congo achieved independence, becoming the Republic of the Congo. However, a general mutiny in the army and the secession of several provinces created a domestic crisis. President Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba reached an impasse in September, creating a political deadlock. In response, Colonel Joseph-Desiré Mobutu launched a coup and replaced the parliamentary system with a “College of Commissioners”. Lihau, as an educated student, was appointed to be commissioner general of justice. He then served as the Secretary General of Justice under Prime Minister Joseph Ileo’s brief government. In January 1963, Lihau was hired to be professor and dean of the faculty of law at the University of Lovanium.
In 1964 President Kasa-Vubu asked Lihau to assist Ileo in drafting a new constitution. Completed as the “Luluabourg Constitution”, it failed to pass in a vote by Parliament in July. In 1965 another period of government paralysis led Colonel Mobutu to seize total control of the country. He requested that Lihau draft a new constitution, which was adopted on 24 June 1967.
In 1968 Lihau was named president of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Congo. In 1971 he joined the executive committee of Mobutu’s party, Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution (MPR). Three years later he was made a commissioner of its political bureau. However, in June 1975 he refused to support Mobutu’s violations of the constitution. Lihau was subsequently dismissed from the Supreme Court, removed from his teaching position, and placed under house arrest. In 1982 he and 13 members of Parliament founded the Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS) as an opposition party to Mobutu, of which Lihau subsequently became president. In retaliation, Mobutu incarcerated him, suspended his rights, confiscated his personal property, and eventually banished him to the village of Yamake, Équateur Province.
By 1985 Lihau’s health had deteriorated and he was granted political asylum in the United States, moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts. He subsequently became a professor of constitutional law at Harvard University. Using his professional background, in 1989 he founded a political conference with the goal of democratizing the Congo.
Personal life
Lihau married Sophie Kanza on 26 December 1964. They had six daughters. Due to his political activities and flight from persecution they spent most of their later lives separated.
He died on 9 April 1999, just seven days after the death of his wife. He was buried in Gombe, Kinshasa.