Christian Malanga

Christian Malanga Musumari (2 January 1983 – 19 May 2024) was a Congolese-American-French politician, businessman, and military officer. He was leader of the United Congolese Party (UCP), a national political party he formed in the United States after his experiences in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's widely disputed parliamentary elections in 2011. In 2017, he established the New Zaire Government in Exile and proclaimed himself its president. Malanga attempted to overthrow the government of the DR Congo on 19 May 2024. The attempt failed with Malanga being shot and killed and many other assailants, including his son Marcel, arrested. Malanga went to primary school at Saint Paul's Methodist Primary School in Swaziland.

In 1998, Malanga moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States as a political refugee with asylum status. Malanga joined the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program by the United States Armed Forces.

Personal life Malanga had one son with Brittany Sawyer, Marcel. Malanga was convicted in 2001 of assault with a firearm and was given a 30-day jail sentence and three years of probation. He also faced charges of domestic violence and disturbing the peace which were dismissed. Legal records also showed that he had been involved in a custody and child support dispute.

Early career In Utah, Malanga owned several small businesses until 2006, when he cofounded the DRC non-profit organization Africa Helpline Society. He worked directly with children at the on-site orphanage and with the organization's global outreach initiatives. During this period he also established an organization called Friends of America.

Political career 2011 parliamentary elections

In 2011 Malanga attended a general assembly meeting of all political opposition leaders to select a candidate to challenge the then President Joseph Kabila. When the general assembly proved to be indecisive, Malanga decided to run in the parliamentary election as an independent opposition candidate. He was detained two days before the parliamentary elections by government security forces and held for more than two weeks. Upon his release he was offered a position as National Youth President. He declined the position.

Malanga reported the situation to the U.S. Embassy and then returned to the USA where he lived with his family. He continued to raise awareness in Washington DC and throughout the US regarding the issues facing the Congo.

United Congolese Party

Malanga returned to the United States in 2012. He founded his own political party, the US-registered United Congolese Party (UCP).

Archbishop Aimè Mandio Akuma (left), Sister Therese (center), and Christian Malanga (right), April 2017. Malanga claimed that on 29 April 2017 at the basilica Santo Spirito in Sassia in Rome he received the rank of knight of the order of Saints Peter and Paul directly from Pope Francis himself and that he had the support of the Catholic Church in Congo.

On 17 May 2017, Malanga created an alternative government, the New Zaire Government in Exile, in Brussels, Belgium. He declared himself to be the President of New Zaire. In addition to Malanga, three other gunmen and two policemen were killed in the fighting. Due to the ability of the plotters to easily smuggle arms and ammunition into the DRC, as well as their ease at accessing important government buildings, the Lutte pour le changement assessed that Congolese intelligence was either involved in the coup attempt, or utterly inept. A number of foreign individuals, including at least three American citizens, and one French citizen, were involved in the coup alongside members of the New Zaire Government in Exile. During the coup, Malanga uploaded a video to his personal Facebook account inside the Palace of the Nation saying "Felix, you’re out. We are coming for you."