Aimé Boji Sangara elected president of DRC National Assembly

The DRC’s National Assembly has a new president: Aimé Boji Sangara.

Sangara was elected by Assembly vote on Thursday evening. He faced no challengers and won the support of 413 of the 423 deputies present.

He replaces his mentor Vital Kamerhe who resigned in September ahead of a vote to remove him.

Originally from South Kivu in eastern DRC, 57-year-old Sangara has spent almost 20 years in politics. He represented Walungu Territory from 2006 to 2019 and was reelected in 2023. He has a master's degree in development economics from the University of Oxford. He’s held a number of ministerial posts including Minister of Foreign Trade, Minister of Budget and, most recently, Minister of Industry.

A member of the Union for the Congolese Nation, his multiple government appointments have raised questions about where his loyalties lie: with his own party or with President Felix Tshisakedi and the ruling coalition, the Sacred Union of the Nation.