The man who led a failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been identified as a Salt Lake City resident who first came to the United States in 1998 as a political refugee, settled in Utah, raised a family and ran several business.
Christian Malanga, 41, was ‘neutralized’ during the violent uprising that also involved his son, Marcel, 21, who remains captive in the Central African nation. His right-hand man is reportedly Benjamin Zalman-Polun, 36, a cannabis entrepreneur and Maryland resident.
Malanga moved to the United States along with her parents and five siblings, according to the obituary for her father, Joseph. According to his testimony, the family lived in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His mother died when he was five years old.
“He had the drive and determination to take his family from the Congo, Africa, to the United States in hopes of pursuing the American dream,” a section of the obituary reads, while mentioning his devotion to Christianity.
Eight years after arriving in the United States, Malanga returned to his homeland to perform military service, rising to the rank of captain in 2007. During this period, he had at least 235 soldiers under his command.
At Highland High School, Malanga was an Air Force ROTC cadet. His website refers to that company as “the main pillars of his life.”
Marcel Malanga, 21, looked terrified as he was framed before the attempted coup in a video posted on Facebook by his father.
Marcel seems to have had a normal upbringing in the United States. He graduated from Copper Hills High School in the community of West Jordan, Utah, in 2020, where he was also a star football player.
Marcel’s mother is American citizen Britney Sawyer, who posted about her son’s arrest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
After failed attempts to enter politics in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malanga returned to the United States in 2012, but continued to be actively involved in the country’s affairs while in exile. He founded a political party that gained popularity among native Congolese people around the world, the United Congolese Party.
After high school, Malanga said he studied to become a pilot, as well as “computer software training, hardware training, business mentoring and more.”
He also calls himself the “first African American/Black from the state of Utah to register as an automobile dealer.”
Malanga made religious freedom one of its main platforms. In exile, he referred to himself as the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
On his website, Malanga writes that it was his time in the DRC military that turned him against the government, describing corruption and the government’s lack of concern for its own citizens.
It is unclear how Malanga became close to Zalman-Polun. In May 2022, he was reported that they both invested together in a gold business in Mozambique. They mention mining as one of Malanga’s commercial ventures
His son, Marcel, appears to have had a perfectly normal upbringing in the United States. He graduated from Copper Hills High School in the community of West Jordan, Utah, in 2020, where he was also a star football player.
After high school, he went on to play for the Utah Islanders, a team that helps develop players to play college football.
Malanga was married at least twice, one marriage was to fellow Congolese expatriate Lucille Malanga. According to his social media profiles, he is also passionate about the politics of his homeland.
Lucile lives in Miami, Florida. Her Facebook cover image is a photo of Malanga with a caption that reads “President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
‘Evidently Malanga has been used by someone. “There are many people unhappy with the president inside the Congo and ambitious powers outside the Congo who want to remove him, and much of it is related to resource ambitions, including gold,” a former representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo told the United Nations. the Washington Post.
Christian Malanga’s last known US address in Salt Lake City is shown here
Marcel Malanga lived nearby in Provo, Utah.
Christian Malanga was also married to this woman, Congolese expatriate Lucille Managala.
Malanga moved to the U.S. along with his parents and five siblings, according to his father, Joseph, shown here with his wife Chantal’s obituary.
A Facebook post from Malanga’s daughter Christine mourning her father
On his personal website, Malanga calls himself “President of New Zaire.” The DRC was formerly called Zaire. His profile on that page says that he is currently married to Lucile and that he is the father of eight children.
His son, Marcel, however, comes from a relationship Malanga had with an American woman named Britney Sawyer.
On Facebook, he wrote about the events in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
‘All the hate in the world! He is so sickly. This was an innocent child who followed his father. I’m so tired of all the videos being posted and sent to me. God will take care of you! Ab**** karmas!’
Meanwhile, another of Malanga’s daughters, Christine, mourned her father’s death in a Facebook post.
“They say there is a reason, they say time heals, neither time nor reasons will change how my heart hurts knowing I have to tell people my father is dead,” he wrote.
“I thought I’d have more time before I had to say that too. I can’t just text you to see how your day was or ask you to buy my car or call you to tell you everything that’s going on.” It’s crazy to me.
‘And what shocks me the most is that I can’t even tell you how much I loved you or even talk about everything we had to talk about, yet I still had so many questions to ask you. I’ll love you dad forever.’
Shots were fired in the capital, Kinshasa, around 4 a.m., a Reuters journalist said. According to spokesman Sylvain Ekenge, armed men attacked the presidency in the city center.
Another attack took place at the nearby home of Vital Kamerhe, a member of parliament who is set to become president, Kamerhe’s spokesman, Michel Moto Muhima, and the Japanese ambassador said in posts on X.
Moto Muhima said two guards and an attacker were killed in that incident. Ekenge also said one attacker was killed there.
A projectile fired from Kinshasa hit the city of Brazzaville, in the neighboring Republic of Congo, wounding several people, the government of that country said in a statement, adding that one person had been hospitalized.
He said Malanga first attempted and aborted a coup in 2017 and that one of the U.S. citizens arrested was Malanga’s son.
A Facebook page that appeared to belong to Malanga posted a livestreamed video of what appeared to be the attack.
‘We, the militants, are tired. We can’t go on with Tshisekedi and Kamerhe, they have done too many stupid things in this country,” Malanga said in Lingala in the video.
US Ambassador Lucy Tamlyn said in a social media post that she was “very concerned” about reports that US citizens had allegedly been involved in the events.
“Rest assured that we will cooperate with the DRC authorities to the fullest extent as they investigate these criminal acts and hold accountable any U.S. citizens involved in criminal acts,” he said.
The US embassy had earlier issued a security alert warning of “ongoing activities by DRC security elements” and reports of gunfire in the area.
The United Nations stabilization mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo said its head, Bintou Keita, condemned the incidents in the strongest terms and offered her support to Congolese authorities in a post on X.
Tshisekedi was re-elected for a second term as president in December but has yet to name a government, six weeks after naming a prime minister.
Kamerhe was a candidate for speaker of parliament in an election scheduled for Saturday but delayed by Tshisekedi.