Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Alphonse Okatende Muambi moved to the Netherlands in 1994 where he became a mathematics teacher before embarking on his current career as a writer and journalist. In 2006, he worked as an observer of the first free elections to be held in the Congo since 1960 — an experience that he later recounted in his book, Democratie kun je niet eten [Democracy goes hungry], which was published in 2009. He is also a regular contributor of opinion pieces to a number of newspapers including Trouw.