Kamina

Kamina is the capital city of Haut-Lomami Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For other uses, see Kamina (disambiguation).

Kamina
Provincial Capital and city
Ville de Kamina
Government troops in Kamina, 2015
Kamina Location in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Coordinates: 8°44′19″S 24°59′26″E
Country	DR Congo
Province	Haut-Lomami
Communes	Dimayi, Kamina, Sobongo
Government [1]
• Mayor	Julie Mukandila Kayembe
Elevation	1,100 m (3,600 ft)
Population  (2012)
• Total	156,761
Time zone	UTC+2 (Central Africa Time)
National language	Swahili
Climate	Aw

Transport

Kamina is known as an important railway node; three lines of the DRC railways run from Kamina toward the north, west, and south-east. It has two airports, one civil (Kamina Airport)[2] and one military (Kamina Base Airport).[3]

Military

The Belgian Armed Forces established a large military base in Kamina after the Second World War. The large base complex consisted of Base 1, an air base used for flying training, and Base 2, a paratroop training facility. From September 1953 to 1960, the Advanced Pilots' School of the Belgian Air Force operated some 60 North American Harvards from the base.[4]

When the Congo gained independence in June 1960, Belgium initially retained control of Kamina, under agreement with the Congolese government, but in October 1960 control of the base was taken over by the United Nations.[5][6] The base was never under Katangese control, although Katangese troops occupied the nearby town of Kaminaville.

In early 1964, the UN handed over Kamina to the Congolese Armed Forces. It is now a 'brassage' centre for the slowly forming Army of the Military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Brassage is the process whereby fighters of the former DRC warring factions are brought together into new combined units.

See also

• University of Kamina
• Railway stations in DRCongo

References

1. Mbuyamba, Junior (9 February 2019). "Haut-lomami: La jeunesse prévoit de manifester contre la candidature de Jackson Kalenga au poste de gouverneur". ALAUNE-RDC.NET (in French). Retrieved 29 August 2019.
2. FZSB-Airport Great Circle Mapper
3. FZSA-Airport Great Circle Mapper
4. EPA a Kamina
5. "Quit Congo Again Belgians Told" Montreal Gazette 1 September 1960
6. "500 Troops at Kamina Surrender" Daytona Beach Morning Journal 19 September 1961

Further reading

• J. Temmerman, 'Le Congo: Reduit National Belge,' in Recueil d'etudes <<Congo 1955-1960>>, Academie royale des Sciences d'Outre-Mer (Bruxelles) pp. 413–422 (1992)