KOMBO KIBOKO
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Kombo Kiboko (circa 1870-May 20, 1942), was one of three Pende rulers selected to participate in an ill-conceived rotating chiefship the colonial government designed to unify 13 small Pende groups living just west of Tshikapa in Kasai.
A member of the extended clan of Gavunji, Kombo Kiboko had governed the Pende chiefdom of Akwa Samba in Kasai. On February 28, 1939, the district commissioner of Kasai, E. Valleys, appointed Kombo Kiboko together with the Akwa Muvumbi chief Kasangi and the Akwa Kisenzele chief Mangu, to share the duties of chief of the entire sector of the Pende of Kasai, whose chief town was Kitangwa, located 70 km (35 mi) west of Tshikapa.
This sector had been created in 1937 by regrouping all the 13 Pende chiefdoms of Kasai. The rotating triumviate was intended to unify them administratively. This region by rotation was a source of great political tension among the diverse Pende groups of Kasai. Chiefs of the other families not included in the triumviate were openly very hostile to the three designated rulers, for the overlooked chiefs also wanted an opportunity to exercise the functions of chief of the sector.
When Chief Kombo Kiboko died, on May 20, 1942, a vigorous competition for his post ensued. Then the colonial authorities intervened to guarantee order and calm in the sector. Finally, the system of reigning by rotation was abolished, and on October 11, 1944, Mafuta Benjamin was named sole chief of the Pende of Kasai.
SIKITELE GIZE a SUMBULA
