Association du Personnel Indigene de la Colonie
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The Association du Personnel Indigene de la Colonie (APIC) (Association of Native Personnel of the Colony), later the Alliance des Patriotes Indépendants du Congo, was a Congolese labour union.
APIC was created in 1946 following the passing of legislation allowing its organisation by colonial authorities after growing demands from labouring Congolese during World War II.[1] Heavy colonial restrictions on labour organising and political activity were in place until 1957. As a result, APIC's influence was weak outside of Léopoldville.[2]
In 1959, APIC began lobbying for hiring of Africans in supervisory roles in the colonial administration.[3]
Following the determination of a date for independence, APIC began advocating for the full Africanisation of the administration.[4][5] It also pushed for the Africanisation of the police and army.[6] In preparing for the granting of sovereignty, the colonial administration began to craft a series of exams for Congolese civil servants to pass to be considered for promotion, but the project was abandoned due to intense opposition form APIC.[7] APIC did not openly involve itself in the Congolese elections but successfully pushed for Lumumba and the MNC to embrace some of its hardline stances on Africanisation.[8]
Multiple APIC leaders assumed ministerial roles in Lumumba's government, in his ministers' cabinets, and in provincial governments.[9]
In April 1961, APIC joined with two other labour unions in forming a federation, the Confédération des Syndicats Libres du Congo.[10][11]
References
- ↑ Mbili 1986, pp. 272–273.
- ↑ Young 1965, p. 291.
- ↑ Vanderstraeten 1985, pp. 99, 101.
- ↑ Vanderstraeten 1985, pp. 103–104.
- ↑ Young 1965, pp. 313–314.
- ↑ Vanderstraeten 1985, p. 105.
- ↑ Vanderstraeten 1985, pp. 107–108.
- ↑ Vanderstraeten 1985, pp. 105–106.
- ↑ Vanderstraeten 1985, pp. 138, 513.
- ↑ MacGaffey 1962, p. 479.
- ↑ Mbili 1986, pp. 274–275.
Works cited
- Mbili, Mbili Kwa (June 1986). "Esquisse du syndicalisme au Zaïre : d'hier à aujourd'hui". Africa: Rivista trimestrale di studi e documentazione dell'Istituto italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (in French). 41 (2): 271–280. JSTOR 40759962.
- MacGaffey, Wyatt, ed. (1962). Area Handbook for the Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville). Washington D.C.: American University Foreign Areas Studies Division. OCLC 1347356.
- Vanderstraeten, Louis-François (1985). De la Force publique à l'Armée nationale congolaise: histoire d'une mutinerie, juillet 1960 [From the Public Force to the Congolese National Army: story of a mutiny, July 1960] (PDF) (in French) (reprint ed.). Brussels: Académie Royale de Belgique.
- Young, M. Crawford (1965). Politics in the Congo: Decolonization and Independence. Princeton: Princeton University Press. OCLC 307971.