Jean Bamanisa Saïdi

Jean Bamanisa Saïdi (born 7 April 1964) is a Congolese businessman and politician who was governor of the former Orientale Province from 2013 to 2015. As of 2020 he was governor of Ituri Province.

Jean Bamanisa Saïdi
Saïdi in 2013
Governor of Orientale Province
In office
February 2013 – October 2015
Preceded byIsmaël Arama Ndiama (acting)
Succeeded by(province dissolved)
Governor of Ituri Province
Assumed office
21 May 2019
Preceded byPacifique Keta Upar (acting)
Personal details
Born (1964-04-07) 7 April 1964
Kisangani
NationalityCongolese
OccupationBusinessman, politician

Early years

Jean Bamanisa is the son of Alex Barlovatz, a doctor from Yugoslavia, and Violette Nyakato, who came from the Ituri region. Barlovatz moved to Kisangani in the 1930s, where he had a successful general medical practice. Bamanisa was born in 1964 in Kisangani. He went to university in Kisangani, then moved to Kinshasa. He established a building maintenance company named BAJE in 1987, and later created a subsidiary named PETRO BAJE that distributes petroleum products. He married Caroline Bemba, sister of the opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba.[1]

Political career

In the early 2000s Bamanisa entered politics. He was elected a member of the national assembly for Kisangani in 2006. He was friendly with President Joseph Kabila despite his ties by marriage to the opposition leader. In the 2012 election for governor of Orientale Province he won by 48 votes to 45. In 2013 his Barnet Group concluded a $230m agreement with the South African company PPC Ltd. to build a cement factory in Orientale.[1]

Bamanisa became governor of Ituri Province on 21 May 2019.[2] On 20 November 2019 the provincial deputies voted out Bamanisa Saidi and his government with a motion of no confidence, accusing him of mismanagement of the province and lack of respect to the deputies.[3] On 7 February 2020 he was rehabilitated by the Constitutional Court.[4] On 30 May 2020 he called for international troops to help restore peace. Over 300 people had been killed by fighters of the CODECO (Cooperative for the Development of Congo) militia group in the province in the last three months. MONUSCO, The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC, was no longer intervening, but only acting as observers.[5]

Notes
    1. Mthembu-Salter 2014.
    2. Congo (Kinshasa) Provinces.
    3. Ituri : Le Gouverneur Jean Bamanisa déchu.
    4. Matendo 2020.
    5. Quenum & Sandner 2020.

    Sources
    • "Ituri : Le Gouverneur Jean Bamanisa déchu par les députés provinciaux", jambordc.info, retrieved 2020-08-05
    • "Congo (Kinshasa) Provinces", Rulers.org, retrieved 2020-08-05
    • Matendo, Paul (10 February 2020), "Jean Bamanisa après sa réhabilitation : « Nous ne sommes pas dans une gestion conflictuelle »", Radio Okapi, retrieved 2020-08-05
    • Mthembu-Salter, Gregory (20 November 2014), "DRC: Jean Bamanisa Saïdi, Kisangani's loved governor", The Africa Report, Kisangani, retrieved 2020-08-05
    • Quenum, Frejus; Sandner, Philipp (30 May 2020), "DR Congo: Ituri governor appeals for help to stop 'ongoing genocide'", Deutsche Welle, retrieved 2020-08-05
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