Isaac Kalonji Mutambayi was a Congolese Protestant minister and statesman who served as the President of the Senate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1962 until 1965. He was one of the few politicians to serve the country continuously from its independence in 1960 until its democratisation in the 1990s.

The Force Publique was the military of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo from 1877 to 1960. It was established after Belgian Army officers travelled to the Free State to found an armed force in the colony on Leopold II of Belgium's orders. The Force Publique was heavily involved in atrocities in the Congo Free State, and also saw action in the Congo–Arab War, World War I and World War II. It was renamed to the Congolese National Army in July 1960 after Congo gained independence from Belgian colonial rule.