Kamina
Kamina
Provincial Capital and city in Haut-Lomami, DR Congo
Kamina is the capital city of Haut-Lomami Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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Kamina | |
|---|---|
Provincial Capital and city | |
| Ville de Kamina | |
.jpg) 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 | |
| • Mayor | Miky Umba[1][2] |
| Elevation | 1,100 m (3,600 ft) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Total | 156,761 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (Central Africa Time) |
| National language | Swahili |
| Climate | Aw |
Kamina is known as an important railway node; three lines of the DRC railways run from Kamina toward the north, west, and south-east. The main railway line, the operating sections of the Cape to Cairo Railway, links the city with Tenke and Lubumbashi to the south and Kabalo and Kindu to the northeast. It has two airports, one civil (Kamina Airport)[3] and one military (Kamina Base Airport).[4] It lies along National Road 1 (N1) and Regional Road 630 (R630).[5]
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.[6]
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.[7][8] 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.
In 2019, the Governor of Haut-Lomami inaugurated the "Stade Joseph Kabila Kabange", a modern sports arena. The stadium was started in 2008, with 2 Million US dollars of funding from Katanga Province. After work on the stadium halted for nearly a decade, the Governor announced that the stadium was completed as a gift from then-President Joseph Kabila to the population of Haut-Lomami.[9]
- "Territoriale-RDC : Liste de nouveaux maires et leurs adjoints nommés dans 32 villes". Congo Inter (in French). 26 November 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- "Haut Lomami : inspection de 4 sites touristiques à Kamina" (in French). Agence congolaise de presse (ACP). 1 April 2023.
- FZSB-Airport Great Circle Mapper
- FZSA-Airport Great Circle Mapper
- "ARRÊTÉ DÉPARTEMENTAL 79/BCE/TPAT/60/004/79 portant fixation des listes des routes constituant le réseau des routes nationales et régionales dans la République du Zaïre" (PDF) (PDF) (in French). 28 February 1979. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- "Quit Congo Again Belgians Told" Montreal Gazette 1 September 1960
- "500 Troops at Kamina Surrender" Daytona Beach Morning Journal 19 September 1961
- "Kamina : inauguration du stade Joseph Kabila Kabange". digitalcongo.net (in French). 28 January 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- 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)
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