Augustin Matata Ponyo


Augustin Matata Ponyo Mapon is a Congolese political figure who was Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from April 2012 to November 2016. Previously he served as Minister of Finance from February 2010 to April 2012; as Prime Minister, he retained responsibility for the finance portfolio.

Career

On 12 February 2012, while serving as Finance Minister, Ponyo was seriously injured in a plane crash near the town of Bukavu in which two passengers and both crew members were killed.
On 18 April 2012 he was appointed as Prime Minister by President Joseph Kabila.
He visited Beni after the massacre there, and was booed by hundreds of people. Violent protests then broke out which resulted in the deaths of three people.
He resigned as Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 14 November 2016, as part of an African Union-backed national dialogue framework agreement which specifies an opposition leader takes the position of Prime Minister.