Leopoldville 1907 – British Vice-Consulate Opens

This unusual villa on Ave. de l’Avenir in Ngaliema Commune is the residence of the Director General of Chanic, originally the Chantier Naval Industriel du Congo. The house, which brings to mind the French Quarter in New Orleans or a scene from a Tennessee Williams novel, was acquired for Chanic’s top manager in 1930 shortly after the shipyards was established at the original port of Leopoldville which H.M. Stanley created in 1881 (See Mar. 5, 2011).  The house is a part of my earliest memories of Kinshasa (playing with the neighbors, the wood floors upstairs, the crunch of the gravel driveway) but only recently did I learn that it was originally built as the first British Consulate in Leopoldville.

The residence of the Director General of Chanic

In 1906, the United Kingdom decided to build consular offices in Boma, Leopoldville and Stanleyville (now Kisangani).  As the capital of the then Congo Free State, Boma had a long term diplomatic presence, but now His Majesty’s Government was ready to put down roots. As early as March 1901, Vice-Consul Roger Casement was tasked with finding a site for a consulate at Stanley Pool, upriver from Leopoldville.  In June 1903 Casement spent several weeks in Leopoldville (he was also collecting information on abusive treatment of the Congolese), staying at Dr. Sims’ house (See May 4, 2016).  In fact, a map from this period shows a Consulate site adjacent to the BMS mission in Kinshasa. But, in the final analysis, the site in Leopoldville next to the American Baptist Mission was granted by the Congo Free State government, although the title never transferred.  It is not clear why the decision was made to locate at Leopoldville, but at the time, it was a much more important settlement and the capital of the District of Stanley Pool.

One proposed site for the new Consulate (left of the 2 pink parcels).
In today's Gombe Commune, this is would be the South African Embassy compound

The architect's design for the Leopoldville site (reference to "American Church" is Sims Chapel).

A view from the opposite direction.  The Consulate built in the area labeled "Brousse", American mission at right.

In October 1906, the British Consul requested that the Congo Free State reduce the tariff for shipping the materials to Leopoldville via the Congo Railway from Matadi, but the authorities in Brussels politely declined. In December His Majesty’s Office of Works submitted plans to the Treasury for bungalows costing £4,000 to be built in Leopoldville and Stanleyville. The residence was constructed between 1907-09 according to plans prepared by Robert Neill and Sons of Manchester at a cost of £5,900, including materials shipped from England.  In 1911 the cost of the Consulate was questioned in the House of Commons, to which the respondent explained that Leopoldville was very remote and it was difficult to get adequate labor, in short it was “a very expensive place”.

The architect's design for the Consulate (front elevation).

The upper floor - Consul's residence.

The ground floor - Consulate offices.

The first resident of the Consulate was Jack Proby Armstrong, who served as Vice-Consul in Leopoldville from 1905 to 1911.  This period was the height of the “Red Rubber” campaign in which British and American Protestant missionaries exposed the brutal exploitation of Congolese by the extractive Leopoldian regime.  In September 1909, the Presbyterian African-American missionary, William Sheppard, was summoned before the Court in Leopoldville in a libel suit by the Compagnie du Kasai whose labor practices Sheppard had criticized. Armstrong and the American Consul William Handy, witnessed the trial at which Sheppard was acquitted.  During the trial, Sheppard lodged at Sims’ House at the nearby American Baptist mission.

Side view of the residence today.

During World War I, the Vice-Consul’s steam launch, the “St. George” was sent to Lake Tanganika to join a British flotilla supporting the Belgian campaign against the Germans in East Africa (See Aug. 3, 2014).  After the war Vice-Consulate appears to have gone unfilled for certain periods and in 1923 the building was leased to the colonial government.  In 1930, the building was sold to Chanic, most likely as a Depression economy move, although the following year the Consulate was officially transferred from Boma to Leopoldville, now the capital of the colony. Two parcels were obtained in Kinshasa, one for the Consul’s residence (the actual site of the Embassy and Ambassador’s residence on Ave. Baudouin) and another in the downtown area for a Consular office.

A Twenties-themed whimsical postcard

At some point after Chanic acquired the building it was renovated to its current configuration and appearance.    The wrap-around balconies were enclosed with masonry walls on either side and the front enclosed with French doors and louvered windows matching the original verandah support columns.  A garage, tennis court and swimming pool were added to the compound.

Another view of the northeast side.

The driveway and garage from Ave. de l'Avenir.

A cement elephant, Chanic's logo, in front of the tennis court.

Sources:

• Room for Diplomacy. Catalogue of British Embassy and Consulate buildings, 1800-2010.

          https://roomfordiplomacy.com/congo-democratic-republic/

Kinshasa 2016 – Mwana Mboka Returns

My family first moved to Kinshasa in 1956. Then called Leopoldville, the capital of the Belgian Congo was celebrating its 75th anniversary (See Mar. 5, 2011).  It was home to some 350,000 Congolese and another 20,000 Europeans. The city was about to be divided into 11 Communes (to allow for local elections in 1957), plus a vast Territoire Suburbain, and covered an area stretching from Limete and the Ndjili River in the east to Commune Ngaliema at the level of Ave de l’Ecole in the west.  The city was developing rapidly with high rise apartment buildings popping up in the downtown area and vast, planned residential communities for Congolese under construction by the Office des Cités Africains in Bandalungwa, Matete and Ndjili (See Sept. 30, 2011).  The city now comprises 21 Communes, having absorbed the Territoire Suburbain, and its population in excess of 10 million qualifies it as one of Africa’s seven megacities. It is also the largest Francophone city in the world.

We’ve returned to Kinshasa for a two-year assignment. We have an apartment in one of the high-rise buildings that would have been under construction back in 1956, the heyday of “Tropical Modernism” (See Aug. 15, 2011). These relics of the colonial period are now dwarfed by a number of 25 and 30 story buildings going up all over Gombe Commune.  The real estate boom that began in the late 2000s is making its mark throughout the city, and not just in Gombe.    It is easy to be seduced by the crisp lines, the glass facades, the towering construction cranes and the Dubai-inspired designs. There is definitely pent up demand stemming from the declining years of the Mobutu era and the challenging beginnings of the Kabila regime.  But there remains a huge gap between the lifestyle enjoyed by the Congolese elite and the expatriate community and the majority of Kinois.

Balcony at the apartment - "Tropical Modernism" evident in poured concrete sun shades

Detail view of the stairs in the apartment building

Kinshasa’s architectural heritage is under threat as villas and other structures on large lots are demolished for multi-story towers that occupy the entire parcel with virtually no setback.  While Boulevard du 30 Juin, Boulevard Lumumba, Ave. Liberation and other arteries have been rebuilt to handle large traffic volumes, many side streets which host these major traffic magnets are significantly congested throughout the day.  Many one and two story buildings of the colonial era are falling into disrepair, their shabby facades and rooflines just visible over security walls. Awkward adaptations further degrade their appearance.

Old Art Deco building on the Boulevard

New apartment complex going up behind a colonial era villa

One of my pastimes here has been to guide architectural history tours of the city (See Jan. 11, 2011).  Five years ago, I returned to Kinshasa for the 50th anniversary reunion of the American School of Kinshasa (TASOK).  Before my former classmates arrived, I retraced the route of the Historical and Architectural Heritage Tour I organized for the 2005 reunion and noted a number of changes at that time (See July 3, 2011).  Were I to organize the tour today, several stops would have to be introduced with, “On this site once stood…”,  The Texaf complex on Ave. Mondjiba, the first textile mill in the country, no longer produces its brightly colored cloth and has been converted into a sprawling real estate venture called Immotex, providing office space for NGOs, the UN and some embassy back offices. At Petit Pont at the curve of Ave. Justice, Chez Nicola restaurant, itself successor to the Auberge Petit Pont and its unique outdoor cinema, is now the site of a huge concrete and glass building whose owners are working to complete the street-side entrance and sidewalks so they can obtain the certificate of occupancy. 

Texaf on Ave Mondjiba

Texaf nearly 90 years ago when King Albert visited

Building at site for former Chez Nicola

Petit Pont restaurant (later Chez Nicola) in the early 1950s. Note the same circular flower bed.

Closer to downtown the site of the Union Mission House and the BMS mission is transformed.  UMH is now the Residence Oasis and across the street, stand two new apartment blocs which just last week the complex received a sign proclaiming it as “The Peace”, commemorating BMS’ steamer “The Peace” (See Mar. 5, 2011). The Baptist mission, now the Communauté Baptiste de Fleuve Congo (CBFC) appears to have entered into what is euphemistically called “auto-financement” with a property developer.  One only hopes the church and its faithful will benefit.

Former UMH (CAP) on Ave. Kalemie

"The Peace" apartment complex

Finally, the Gare Centrale, still the Gare Centrale, has gotten a face-lift. Covered with orange tiles and a faux tinted window, it has yet to reopen, but one can buy tickets for weekly express trains to Matadi in the courtyard.  Outside the Gare there used to be a bas-relief commemorating the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the railway in Kinshasa in 1898.  The sculpture was removed in 1971 and an artist has reproduced a Congolese version of the role Congolese played in the construction of the railroad. The original bas-relief has now been added to the collection of colonial statuary on display on the grounds of the National Museum at the base of Mont Ngaliema.

New edition Gare Centrale

Mural commemorating the construction of the railroad from Matadi

The 1948 version of the bas-relief at the Gare, now at the National Museum

The Museum, located at the site of Stanley’s original encampment, would definitely be an addition to the Heritage Tour (See July 5, 2011).  Another development since my last visit is the return of Henry Stanley’s statue to a vertical position.  A “Friends of Stanley” group in UK financed the repair of the statue to attach it to the base from which it was sheered at the ankles in 1971. The collection of Congolese artifacts on display could benefit from improved presentation and better lighting.  In July, the South Korean Government began construction of a new National Museum on the Blvd. Triomphal.

Henry Morton Stanley's statue at the Museum

Stanley's statue in 2010

An innovation in public transport is the small right-hand drive Toyotas and other brands imported from the Gulf States which ply the streets as shared taxis.  Called “ketches” (sneakers) they bring to mind bumper cars (with about as much attention to the rules of the road) and add significantly to the congestion.  On the other hand, the smaller number of passengers per vehicle has allowed the opening up of many new side routes, a boon for Kinshasa commuters. The Transco bus system, yet another attempt to provide public transport in the city, now have fare machines that accept pre-paid cards.

A clutch of  "ketches" threading through traffic 

New Transco buses on Blvd 30 Juin

Another automotive innovation are the food trucks, which seem to do a brisk business in high traffic areas such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Supreme Court and at the Place des Evolués.  Finally, a number of intersections now have robots that regulate traffic.  Designed and built by a Congolese woman engineer and her organization, Women Technology, the machines are powered by solar panels atop their stands and can have cameras installed behind their sunglasses to record traffic violators.

A food truck at Place des Evolués

Robot at Kintambo Magasins with Congo flag as pagne.  Ubiquitous "ketche" with import stickers still on the windshield.

Kinshasa is a city in constant change and evolution. It has always been a remarkable place to live.  I’m looking forward to being a part of it again.

Kinshasa 1974 - Ali, Beta Ye!

To set the stage for this post, and to take you back to 1974, 

click on the Tabu Ley link to "Kaful Mayay" above.
(apologies for the commercial, skip to the music)

The Muhammad Ali – George Foreman World Heavyweight Championship, later dubbed the “Rumble in the Jungle”, was held in Kinshasa October 29, 1974. The match took place in the Stade du 20 Mai (originally Stade Roi Baudouin, now Stade Tata Raphael) and the fight began at 4:00 am on October 30 to accommodate prime time TV in the US.

Originally scheduled for September 24, the fight was postponed until the end of October after George Foreman suffered a cut above his right eye in a training bout with his sparring partner.  As a high school teacher in Shaba (Katanga Province), I initially wondered if I might be able to attend the match and report back from vacation a couple weeks late, but when the event was postponed, I dutifully made my way back to Manono.

Foreman (with bandage), Mobutu and Ali at Stade du 20 Mai

Ali with the "Bouclier de la Revolution" on Mont Ngaliema

Foreman at his training camp at Nsele

The event was a prestige extravaganza for President Mobutu, organized only months after his momentous speech at the UN General Assembly, as another way to put Zaire on the map.  A music festival called “Zaire 74” was held in September, featuring the locally popular James Brown, was well as others less well-known in Zaire, including B.B. King, Miriam Makeba, Bill Withers, Manu Dibango and Celia Cruz.

A Kinois contemplates a billboard announcing the fight

One of Kinshasa's taxi-buses gets on board

Zaireans were solid fans of Ali, and many still referred to him as “Cassius”.  From a technical standpoint, the younger Foreman - the reigning Heavyweight champ - was favored to win, but Ali pursued a strategy forcing Foreman to expend a lot of energy in punches that had little effect.  Finally in the 8^th round, Ali landed a lightning series of blows that sent Foreman to the mat.  Foreman got up, but the referee called the match.  Some observers speculated that the fans would not have accepted a Foreman victory.

The boxing ring takes shape in the Stade

The Stade is full on October 29

Round 8 ... its over

Earlier that year, popular musician Tabu Ley (Rochereau) released a song called “Kaful Mayay” which came to represent the spirit of the match.  Side two of the record included references to “Beta ye” (hit him) and Boma ye (kill him) in Lingala, and Zairean listeners across the country found in the tune a personal connection with the historic match.  In Manono, the week after the fight, bar patrons would break into spirited brawls whenever the song was played.

Contemporary artist's painting