Marie-Josée Ifoku Mputa Mpunga (born 6 February 1965, Kinshasa)[1] is a Congolese politician and was the only female candidate in the 2018 Democratic Republic of the Congo presidential election.

She was born in 1965 in Kinshasa and spent her childhood in Belgium and the Netherlands before returning to the DRC and graduating from a high school in the capital.

Ifoku worked in real estate and in the automobile industry for several years.

[2][3] Ifoku began her political career in 2015 as a deputy special commissioner of Tshuapa Province.

Ifoku cites Catherine Samba-Panza as her inspiration for becoming involved in politics.