President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has sent a Congratulatory Message to her colleague, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), His Excellency Mr. Joseph Kabila, on that country’s 57th Independence Anniversary on June 30, 2017.

June 30 is celebrated annually to commemorate the day the Democratic Republic of Congo gained its independence from Belgium in 1960. Belgium annexed the Congo on October 18, 1908, setting its administration there for almost half a century. In May 1960, Patrice Lumumba, a leader of the Mouvement National Congolais, won the parliamentary elections and became the first Prime Minister of the DR Congo.

The country gained independence from Belgium, taking name the Republic of the Congo. In 1971 it was renamed the Republic of Zaire. The name was changed again in 1997, when the country adopted its present-day name.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, President Sirleaf, on behalf of the Government and people of Liberia and in her own name, extended warmest congratulations and best wishes to President Kabila, and through him the Government and people of the Democratic Republic of Congo on the occasion of its 57^th Independence Anniversary.

The Liberian president said, “As we further strengthen the bond of friendship and ongoing bilateral ties subsisting between our two countries, it is our fervent prayers that the Almighty God will endow Your Excellency with abundant wisdom and strength as you lead your people.”