YouSaid · the spoken record

Bomboko

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS BOMBOKO

lines on the record
115
first
1961-09-24
most recent
1966-09-24
sittings or episodes
2
sources
un-general-debate

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  1. “We all know the events of the last few days: the blood of our Katangese brothers has been shed and the entire Congolese nation is mourning the loss of those who have died so that vile profiteers may live longer. 145. At a time when all peoples of the earth are tending to draw closer to one another with a view to finding a lasting balance, we believe that to make anti-communism the keystone of a political doctrine is to say the least an aberration. The same applies to that doctrine which seeks to impose itself by subversion and corruption, and by those means to annex to itself satellite countries. In our opinion, subversive cells are far more dangerous than military bases; I shall return to this theme when I speak of technical assistance in Africa. There is no reason why Africa should proclaim itself either communist or anti-communist.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  2. “These are the influences which, whatever he may say, determine President Tshombe's rebellious attitude; which impel him, moreover, to defy the United Nations and prevent it from carrying into full effect the Security Council's resolutions, particularly that relating to the withdrawal of military and paramilitary personnel and political advisers.-?/ 144. In the name of my country, and before all present at this Assembly, I call upon all the Powers which are giving direct or indirect aid to the Katangese secession to put an end at once to this criminal adventure. For the situation in Katanga is today more serious and more dangerous than ever.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  3. “It is also proof enough that the reasons for the Katangese rebellion are in reality to be found not in the pretexts put forward by President Tshombe but in the very powerful and highly sinister foreign influences which are constantly being brought to bear on him. 143. These are the influences which the Congolese Government has constantly denounced. These are the influences which have repeatedly been condemned by the Security Council and which the United Nations has been trying to combat and eliminate throughout the fourteen months of its presence in Africa.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  4. “140. Mr. Tshombe has also pleaded the cause of provincial autonomy. That, again, is a pretext which does not hold water, seeing that such autonomy is recognized by the Fundamental Law which at present represents the provisional constitution of the Republic of the Congo. 141. The opportunism of Mr. Tshombe's claims was clearly demonstrated by Mr. Munongo's appeal to the communist countries to help Katanga in its anti-communist struggle. Can anyone still doubt that these claims have been simply fabricated from start to finish to serve as a justification for secession and conceal its real motives? 142. That is proof enough that when President Tshombe defends his policy on the grounds of anti-communism and provincial autonomy he is acting in bad faith.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  5. “Proof of this may be found in the fact that before the slightest danger of any communist encroachment had appeared in the Congo, President Tshombe's party, CONAKAT, had already made the secession of Katanga one of the planks in its platform. And it may be found above all in the fact that today, now that a Government of national reconciliation has been set up at Leopoldville, now that that Government has proclaimed its intention to oppose the policy of blocs and has adopted the principle of non-alignment as the basis of its foreign policy, now that that Government has already given practical proof of its intention to abide by a position of positive neutralism, today, despite all that, President Tshomb6 persists in his contumacy, persists in his illegality and refuses to acknowledge the authority of the sole legal Government of the Congo.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  6. “This unwise attitude nearly brought about a grave split, a year ago, in the United Nations. When one asks oneself what justification provincial President Tshomb6 could have thought he had for pursuing a policy so dangerous for world peace, one finds no reasonable reply. 139. I am very well aware that it is President Tshombe's claim that he wishes to create in the heart of Africa a free State to be as it were a bastion of anti-communism on the African continent. I have no desire to comment here on the wisdom of such a policy, but I wish to emphasize that in justifying his position by his desire to resist communism President Tshombe is not speaking the truth, and that he is using anti-communism as a cloak for his true intentions.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  7. “So long as it lasts, the Katangese secession will continue to maintain in the heart of Africa a hotbed of unrest and perpetual cold war. 136. Provincial President Tshombe's decision on 11 July 1960 to proclaim the independence of Katanga has had the gravest consequences for the future of the Congo, for Africa's struggle against imperialist domination and for world peace and security. 137. In this connexion, it- will never be possible to exaggerate the responsibility of those Belgians who took part in the Elisabethville coup and protected it. The Congolese Government was compelled after that event to call for the military assistance of the United Nations—which was very promptly to be blocked in its efforts by the obstinacy and ill will of provincial President Tshombe. 138.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  8. “133. For more than a year now, the secession of Katanga has been delaying and indeed rendering impossible any complete and final solution of the Congolese problem. 134. The importance, past and present, of this problem is so great that I should like to dwell on it for a few moments. 135. On behalf of my Government, I wish to deal with this matter with the greatest possible impartiality and in a constructive spirit. Too much passion has already been inflamed, and I should be sorry to add to it by making demagogic, or indeed even merely inaccurate, statements. While it could hardly be asserted that the Katangese secession is the sole cause of the Congolese crisis, it is quite indisputably the cause which has made any solution of this crisis virtually impossible, and still does so.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  9. “Eighty years of common history and the mingling of all our peoples have also had the effect of tightening the bonds between us and making us a nation one and indivisible. 130. Recent trends in our road and civil aviation networks and in our system of research establishments and other service, which were set up to meet the needs of the Congo as a complete whole, leave us no alternative, if we are not to reduce the priceless heritage of the Congo to ruins, but to remain one people and one nation. 131. It would be difficult for me to stress the principle of national unity to you any further without referring to the problem which lies at the very root of the Congolese Government's thoughts and concerns —the problem of the great absentee—South Katanga. 132. For more than a year now the Congo has had this thorn deeply embedded in its flesh.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  10. “The Government, which has been approved almost unanimously by the Chambers, is composed of men from all regions of the country, of all the main parties and of all political tendencies—if we except the great absentee, South Katanga. It was selected on the basis of the very principle which inspired our decision to form, at this critical moment in our history, a Government of national unity; for the future of the Congo depends on mutual trust, unity and combined effort. 128. The very nature of our country decrees the solidarity of all its provinces: our water and railway transport system, the distribution of our natural resources and of our various ethnic groups all go to demonstrate that we are members of one another. 129.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  11. “Thus, it has been thanks to the will of the Head of State to restore the unity of State power and to maintain the territorial integrity of the Congo—an endeavour in which he has been backed by Congolese patriots from all regions of the country and assisted by the various conciliation missions appointed by the Secretary-General's representatives—that the reason and the patriotism of the Congolese people have prevailed on nearly all fronts. 126. After a long year of crisis which has left deep marks in our consciousness, it has proved possible to bring about the conditions of understanding and reconciliation necessary to permit the reconvening of Parliament and the formation of a broadly-based Government of national unity. 127.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  12. “It has shaken the economic structure and the finances of the Congo and has led to unemployment of critical proportions. 124. This unhappy period has been marked throughout its duration by incidents which are the more tragic and deplorable in that they have claimed as their victims the flower of our educated youth. Let the. names of those who have died so that free and independent Congo may live be engraved for ever in the memory of future generations and of all peoples who have fought side by side for that same freedom. 125. Throughout this period, many de facto authorities have contended for power over the various regions of the Congo. The authority of the Head of State alone has been recognized as legal by the United Nations.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  13. “On behalf of the Government of the Republic of the Congo, I wish to tender my sincere thanks to all delegations which are giving their support to the Central Government headed by Mr. Cyrille Adoula, with a view to the realization of the national unity which has now become part of Mr. Hammarskjold's legacy. 122. For more than a year now, the Congo has been passing through a time of terrible trials. Political passions have been unleashed, and in many places Congolese have fought and slaughtered one another. The unity of the heritage of 30 June 1960 has been gravely jeopardized by centrifugal forces. Certain outside influences have deliberately inflamed dissension in order to use our country as an ideal theatre of the cold war. 123. This terrible political crisis has endangered the safety of persons and property.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  14. “The eyes of the entire world are fixed on the highly important deliberations taking place at this session, both because of the urgent nature of most of the problems on its agenda and because of the recent and most tragic loss of Mr, Hammarskjold, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to whom I wish to pay a sincere tribute. 120. For us, Mr. Hammarskjold Is a symbol of Congolese national unity, a cause in which he gave his life. He is also the symbol for us of total dedication to the United Nations, and of the need for the Organization's survival. The Government and people of the Congo bow their heads in tribute to this soldier of peace whom we have just lost. The Congolese Government has paid tribute to the man who gave his all to restore peace and freedom to the Congo by declaring 19 September 1961 a day of national mourning. 121.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)

  15. “Today there falls to me the great honour of taking part in the general debate at our Assembly. May I take this opportunity to extend my warm congratulations to Mr. Mongi Slim, a great friend of the Congo, on his unanimous election to the Presidency of the General Assembly at its sixteenth session. 118. His election is eloquent testimony to the great esteem in which the Members of our Organization hold not only Mr. Slim himself but also Tunisia, the stalwart and courageous nation which he represents With distinction. 119.”

    1961-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 16 (1961)