Mwilambwe was born in
Kinshasa,
Zaire during the dictatorship of
Mobutu, one of seven children. His father worked for
Unicef and Mwilambwe lived in various countries as a youth with stays in
Senegal,
Ivory Coast, and the
Republic of the Congo. He was re-elected to a full four-year term on the City Council in 2013 and 2017. In 2021, he ran for mayor against Mike Straza, Jackie Gunderson, and write-in candidate Misty Metroz. He was sworn in on May 1, 2021 (In 2019, Bloomington was 73.0% white, 10.2% Black, 8.0% Asian, 6.1% Latino, and 2.2% multi-racial). Top items on his agenda include an emphasis on infrastructure, improving financial efficiency, and facilitating an atmosphere where people can debate in a civil manner. In October 2022, he merged the operations of the
Grossinger Motors Arena and the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts to help stem continuing losses. In April 2023, he testified before the Illinois House Cities and Villages Committee to restore the state income tax revenue sharing program with local municipalities (known as the Local Government Distributive Fund) to the prior level of 10.0% from the current 6.16%. In May 2023, Mwilambwe was named by Governor
J. B. Pritzker to serve on the Illinois Workforce Innovation Board. Mwilambwe announced in April 2024 he was running for re-election. He was challenged by former Illinois State Representative
Dan Brady.
and incumbent city councilman Alderman Cody Hendricks. He lost re-election, placing behind both Brady and Hendricks, with 19% to Brady's 48% and Hendrick's 33%. ==Personal life==