ABSTRACT
Thomas Kanza, a less significant member of the Simba leadership, was born in 1933 and graduated from Louvain University in Belgium in 1956. He became the first Congolese to obtain a degree from a Belgian university, even though the Belgians had ruled Congo for seventy-two years. The American embassy and CIA Station in Kinshasa had asked for military support to assist the feeble efforts of the ANC against the Simbas. It was not until late 1963, early 1964 that the Simba rebellion became anti-American as the Simba leadership became convinced that American aid permitted the Kinshasa government to resist. In addition to scaring Simbas, Makasi's initial job was also to help stabilize the shaky Congolese government. Mulele's arrival in Kwilu, coupled with the imminent start of the eastern revolts, marked the starting point of the Simba rebellion. Around April 1964, the Simba rebellion was growing stronger, and the CIA and COMISH military advisors decided that Cosme had been right.
