Editing Kinshasa (section)

== Government and politics ==
[[File:Kinshasa, tour de l'échangeur de Limete - 20090705.jpg|thumb|upright|Statue of Lumumba, and behind it the [[Limete Tower]]]]
The head of Kinshasa ''ville-province'' has the title of [[List of Governors of Kinshasa|Gouverneur]]. {{ill|Daniel Bumba|fr}} has been governor since 21 June 2024.<ref>{{cite news |title=Kinshasa : Daniel Bumba a pris officiellement les commandes de la ville |url=https://actualite.cd/2024/06/21/kinshasa-daniel-bumba-pris-officiellement-les-commandes-de-la-ville |access-date=21 June 2024 |work=Actualite.cd |date=21 June 2024 |language=fr}}</ref> Each commune has its own [[Burgomaster|Bourgmestre]].<ref name=Flouriot2013 />

Although political power in the DRC is fragmented, Kinshasa as the national capital represents the official center of sovereignty, and thus of access to international organizations and financing, and of political powers such as the right to issue [[Democratic Republic of the Congo passport|passports]].<ref name=Trapido2016 /> Kinshasa is also the [[primate city]] of the DRC with a population several times larger than the next-largest city, [[Lubumbashi]].<ref>Pain (1984), p. 56.</ref><ref name=ChirisaEtAl2017 />

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known by its French acronym [[MONUSCO]] (formerly MONUC) has its headquarters in Kinshasa. In 2016, the UN placed more peacekeepers on active duty in Kinshasa in response to the unrest directed against Kabila, at that time.<ref>"[https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/UN-beefs-up-peacekeeping-force-in-DR-Congo-capital/2558-3422076-f1xlb8/index.html UN beefs up peacekeeping force in DR Congo capital] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013105417/https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/UN-beefs-up-peacekeeping-force-in-DR-Congo-capital/2558-3422076-f1xlb8/index.html |date=13 October 2017 }}", ''East African'' / AFP, 19 October 2016.</ref> Critics, including recently{{when|date=January 2018}} the [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations|US ambassador to the UN]],<ref>"[https://www.voanews.com/a/us-ambassador-nikki-haley-says-united-nation-aiding-corrupt-congo-government/3786736.html US Ambassador: UN Aiding 'Corrupt' Government in Congo] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531213125/http://www.voanews.com/a/us-ambassador-nikki-haley-says-united-nation-aiding-corrupt-congo-government/3786736.html |date=31 May 2017 }}", ''VOA News'', 29 March 2017.</ref> have accused the peacekeeping mission of supporting a corrupt government.<ref>Terry M. Mays, ''Historical Dictionary of Multinational Peacekeeping'', Third Edition; Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2011; p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=pVR1vPCXObsC&pg=PA330 330].</ref><ref>"[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/3773629.stm UN troops open fire in Kinshasa] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110000905/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/3773629.stm |date=10 January 2018 }}", ''BBC'', 3 June 2004.</ref>

Other non-governmental organizations play significant roles in local [[governance]].<ref>Inge Wagemakers, Oracle Makangu Diki, & Tom De Herdt, "[http://www.ua.ac.be/objs/00280289.pdf Lutte Foncière dans la Ville: Gouvernance de la terre agricole urbaine à Kinshasa] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918104109/http://www.ua.ac.be/objs/00280289.pdf |date=18 September 2017 }}"; ''L’Afrique des grands lacs: Annuaire 2009–2010''.</ref> Since 2016, the Belgian development agency (''Coopération technique belge''; CTB) has sponsored the ''Programme d'Appui aux Initiatives de Développement Communautaire'' (Paideco), a 6-million-euro program aimed at economic development. It began work in [[Kimbanseke]], a hill commune with population verging on one million.<ref>Inge Wagemakers & Jean-Nicholas BCH, "[http://www.cairn.info/revue-politique-africaine-2013-1-page-113.htm Les Défis de l’Intervention: Programme d'aide internationale et dynamiques de gouvernance locale dans le Kinshasa périurbain] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518200011/https://www.cairn.info/revue-politique-africaine-2013-1-page-113.htm |date=18 May 2018 }}"; ''[[Politique africaine]]'' 2013/1 no. 129; [[doi:10.3917/polaf.129.0113]].</ref>