His opposition to the governments of Moïse Tshombe and Joseph-Désiré Mobutu led him to first rebel and ultimately flee the Congo.

[2] He was the very first Congolese national to receive a college education in an area other than theology, studying at the Université catholique de Louvain from 1952 to 1956,[3] and earning a degree in economics.

[5] He then spent a year at Harvard University in the United States before subsequently taking a position with the European Economic Community in Brussels.

[7] Kanza was a member of the Union des Interets Sociaux Congolais (UNISCO), a Léopoldville-based cultural society for leaders of elite Congolese associations.

[8] On 30 March 1957, Kanza and two of his brothers founded the weekly publication La Congo in Léopoldville, the first newspaper to be owned and managed by Congolese.

[9] When plans for a Congolese Round Table Conference on the future of the Belgian Congo were announced in late 1959, Kanza took up a position as a liaison between the various participating parties.

[10] Following his father's break with ABAKO leadership during the conference, Kanza helped his family lead a splinter wing of the party.

[16] Meanwhile, Lumumba's absence had created a dilemma surrounding the authority of his delegation at the United Nations, which was led by Kanza.

On 8 November 1960, President Joseph Kasa-Vubu proposed his own delegation, leading to a dispute in the General Assembly.

[22] "Thomas Kanza was one of the best voices to express the continuation of adhering to an inviolate Pan-Africanist commitment and principles to struggle to develop this potential for the broad masses of indigenous people...His life can also be instructive as a benchmark to measure what we are expected to live up to."

[26] Kanza died of a heart attack in London on 25 October 2004, aged 71, while serving as the Congo's ambassador to Sweden.