The man who led a failed coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been identified as a Salt Lake City resident who first came to the U.S. as a political refugee in 1998, settled in Utah, started a family and started several businesses ran.
Christian Malanga, 41, was ‘neutralized’ during the violent uprising that also involved his son Marcel, 21, who remains imprisoned in the Central African country. His right-hand man is reportedly Maryland resident and cannabis entrepreneur Benjamin Zalman-Polun, 36.
The pair and their group of about twenty men are said to have tried to enter the government complex. The group flew the flag of the DRC’s former strongman, Mobutu Sese Seko.
Malanga moved to the U.S. with his parents and his five siblings, according to the obituary of his father, Joseph. According to his tribute, the family lived in one of the poorest parts of the DRC’s capital, Kinshasa. His mother died when he was five.
“He had the drive and determination to bring his family from Congo, Africa to the U.S. in hopes of pursuing the American Dream,” part of the obituary reads, while also mentioning his commitment to Christianity.
Marcel Malanga pictured here with his father during his childhood in Salt Lake City, Utah
Marcel Malanga pictured with his mother, Britney Sawyer
Marcel seems to have had a completely average upbringing in the US. He graduated in 2020 from Copper Hills High School in the community of West Jordan, Utah, where he was also a star football player
Marcel regularly kept his followers on social media informed of his exploits
Marcel followed in his father’s footsteps and was an aspiring entrepreneur
Marcel Malanga, 21, looked terrified as he was pictured in a video his father posted on Facebook before the coup attempt
Eight years after arriving in the US, 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. On his website, that undertaking is called ‘the most important fundamental building blocks of his life’.
After failed attempts to enter politics in the DRC, Malanga returned to the US in 2012 but remained active in the country’s affairs during his exile. He founded a political party that became popular worldwide among Congolese residents, the United Congolese Party.
After high school, Malanga said he studied to become a pilot, but also to pursue “computer software training, hardware training, business mentorship and more.”
He also calls himself the “first African/Black American in the state of Utah to register as a car dealer.”
Malanga made religious freedom one of his main platforms. In exile he called himself the president of the DRC.
On his website, Malanga writes that it was his time in the DRC army that turned him against the government, describing corruption and the government’s lack of concern for its own citizens.
It is not clear how Malanga became close to Zalman-Polun. In May 2022 the time had come reported that the couple had jointly invested in a gold company in Mozambique. Mining is listed as one of Malanga’s business ventures.
The pair also worked together in an electronic cigarette company.
His son, Marcel, seems to have had a completely average upbringing in the US. He graduated in 2020 from Copper Hills High School in the community of West Jordan, Utah, where he was also a star football player.
After high school, he went on to play for the Utah Islanders, a team that helps players develop in college football.
Malanga was married at least twice, one marriage was to fellow Congolese ex-patriate Lucille Malanga. According to her social media profiles, she is also passionate about politics in her home country.
Lucile lives in Miami, Florida. Her Facebook cover image is a photo of Malanga with the caption “President of the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
‘It is clear that Malanga has been used by someone. There are many people dissatisfied with the president in Congo and ambitious powers outside Congo wanting to remove him – and a lot of it is linked to resource ambitions, including gold,” a former DRC representative to the United Nations told me. the Washington Post.
Christian Malanga’s last known address in the US, in Salt Lake City, is shown here
Marcel Malanga lived nearby in Provo, Utah
Christian Malanga was also married to this woman, Congolese expat Lucille Managala
Malanga moved to the US with his parents and five siblings, according to his father, Joseph, pictured 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 the “President of New Zaire.” The DRC was previously called Zaire. His profile on that page states that he is currently married to Lucile and is the father of eight children.
However, his son, Marcel, comes from a relationship Malanga had with an American woman named Britney Sawyer.
She wrote on Facebook about the developments in the DRC.
‘All the hate in the world! It’s so sick. This was an innocent boy who followed his father. I’m so tired of all the videos being posted everywhere and sent to me. God will take care of you folks! Karma’s ab****!’
Meanwhile, another Malanga child, daughter Christine, mourned her father in a Facebook post.
“They say there’s a reason why they say time heals, neither time nor reason will change how I feel like it hurts my heart to know that I have to tell people that my father is dead,” she wrote.
“I thought it would take longer before I had to say that too, just know that I can’t just text you to see how your day went or ask you to buy me my car or call you to to tell you about everything that’s going on I just think it’s so crazy.’
“And what touches the most, I can’t even tell you how much I loved you, or even talk about everything we talked about, still I had so many questions to ask you. I love you forever, dad.”
Gunfire rang out in the capital Kinshasa around 4 a.m., a Reuters reporter 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 lawmaker tipped to become speaker, Kamerhe’s spokesman, Michel Moto Muhima, and the Japanese ambassador said in messages on X.
Moto Muhima said two security guards and an attacker were killed in that incident. Ekenge also said one attacker was killed there.
A shell fired from Kinshasa struck the city of Brazzaville in neighboring Republic of Congo, wounding several people, that country’s government 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 arrested US citizens was Malanga’s son.
A Facebook page appearing to belong to Malanga posted a live-streamed video of what appeared to be the attack.
‘We, the militants, are tired. We cannot continue 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” by reports that US citizens were involved in the events.
“We can be assured that we will cooperate fully with the authorities of the DRC in investigating these criminal acts and holding every American citizen involved in criminal acts accountable,” she said.
The US Embassy had previously issued a security alert for “continued activities by security elements from the DRC” and reports of gunfire in the area.
The United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC said its chief, Bintou Keita, condemned the incidents in the strongest terms and offered her support to Congolese authorities in a post on
Tshisekedi was re-elected for a second term as president in December, but has yet to appoint a government six weeks after appointing a prime minister.
Kamerhe was a candidate for the parliamentary presidency in the elections that were scheduled for Saturday, but were postponed by Tshisekedi.
