Mobutu Sese Seko

Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa za Banga (October 14, 1930 – September 7, 1997), known commonly as Mobutu Sese Seko, born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) for 32 years (1965 – 1997). He rose to power after a coup d'état.

Early years

Mobutu was born in Lisala, Belgian Congo. He joined the Force Publique (FP), the Belgian Congolese army in 1949. He left in 1956 and joined Mouvement National Congolais (MNC). Following the granting of independence on June 30, 1960, he joined the new government as Secretary of the State for Defense. The new government was a coalition between Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and President Joseph Kasavubu, both of whom soon started to struggle for overall power - both attempting to dismiss the other from government with Kasavubu ultimately proving successful. On September 14, 1960 a coup d'état overthrew Lumumba in support of the President. Colonel Mobutu was a key figure in the coup and was significantly rewarded for this work.

Military coup

In 1965, now Lieutenant-General Mobutu seized power from President Kasavubu, following another power struggle between Kasavubu and his prime minister Moise Tshombe. The CIA and the Belgians were actively working in the country to support Mobutu and get rid of Lumumba because they felt Mobutu would be a better ally in the Cold War. It is also argued that the Western support for Mobutu was also related to his allowing businesses to export the many natural resources of Zaire without worrying about environmental, labor, or other regulations that protect against corruption and abuse. Mobutu declared himself president for five years. He quickly centralized power, put down an attempted coup in October 1967 and was elected president in 1970. Embarking on a campaign of anti-European, pro-African cultural awareness, Mobutu renamed the country the Republic of Zaire in October 1971. Africans were ordered to drop their Christian names for African ones, and priests were warned that they would face 5 years' imprisonment if they were caught baptizing a Zairean child with a Christian name. Western attire and ties were banned, and men were forced to wear a Mao-style tunic known as an abacost.

One Man rule

Early in his rule, Mobutu consolidated power by publicly executing political rivals, secessionists, coup plotters, and other threats to his rule. To set an example, many were hanged before large audiences, including former Prime Minister Evariste Kimba, who with three other politicians died on a Kinshasa gallows in June 1966. A rebel leader, Pierre Mulele, was lured back to the country on the assumption that he would be amnestied, but was tortured and killed by Mobutu's forces. While Mulele was still alive, his eyes were gouged out, his genitals were ripped off, and his limbs were amputated one by one. Mobutu later moved away from murder, and switched to a new tactic, that of buying off political rivals rather than killing them. He used his slogan "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer still," to describe his tactic of neutralizing opponents through bribery. This was done to lure exiled opponents back to Zaire, to limit their capacity to damage his and the country's reputation.

Initially he nationalized foreign-owned firms and forced European investors out of the country. In many cases he handed the management of these firms to relatives and close associates who stole the companies's assets. This precipitated such an economic slump that Mobutu was forced by 1977 to try to woo foreign investors back. Also in 1977 he needed foreign aid to help repulse an attack on Katanga by Katangan rebels based in Angola. France airlifted into the country 1,500 elite Moroccan paratroopers, who defeated the rebels. However, a year later, the rebels attacked again, in greater numbers. As Mobutu's army stood on the brink of defeat, Belgium and France deployed troops (provided logistical support by the United States), and again the rebels were defeated. Also rallying to Mobutu's aid were the Chinese, determined above all to thwart Soviet advances on the African continent.

Despite this, he was re-elected in 1977, but no other candidates stood. He worked hard on little but to increase his personal fortune, which in 1984 was estimated to amount to nearly US $5 billion, most of it in Swiss banks. This was almost equivalent to the country's foreign debt at the time, and by 1989 the government was forced to default on international loans from Belgium. He owned a fleet of Mercedes-Benz vehicles that he used to travel between his numerous palaces, while many of his people starved. Infrastructure virtually collapsed, and many public service workers went months without being paid. Most money was siphoned off to Mobutu, his family, and top political and military leaders. Only the Special Presidential Division - on whom his physical safety depended - was paid adequately or regularly. A popular saying that the civil servants pretended to work while the state pretended to pay them expressed this grim reality.

Another feature of Mobutu's economic mismanagement, directly linked to the way he and his friends siphoned off so much of the country's wealth, was rampant inflation. The rapid decline in the real value of salaries strongly encouraged a culture of corruption and dishonesty among public servants of all kinds.

Mobutu's rule earned a reputation as one of the world's foremost examples of kleptocracy and nepotism. He was also the subject of a massive personality cult, devised by his Minister of Information, Dominique Sakombi Inongo. The evening news on television was preceded by an image of him descending through clouds from the heavens, portraits of him adorned many public places, government officials wore lapels bearing his portrait, and he held such titles as "Father of the Nation," "Savior of the People," and "Supreme Combatant."

However, during the Cold War this did not prevent western countries like the United States or international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund from providing economic support for his regime through multiple loans, due to Mobutu's pro-Western, anti-communist stance. It was a widely held belief that it was either "Mobutu or chaos"; that is, that without Mobutu, Zaire would become politically unstable and prone to civil war, ethnic violence, or worse. Zaire's strategic location in the center of the continent and vast mineral wealth were also cited as reasons to support Mobutu.

Foreign Policy

Mobutu's foreign policy was generally pro-Western and anti-communist. Relations with the Soviets were tense, although he did allow them to build an embassy in 1968. Mobutu staunchly backed most American foreign policy decisions and supported the anti-communist guerrilla groups FNLA and later UNITA in Angola. However, he did enjoy cordial relations with some communist countries, notably Romania (whose president was a personal friend of his), as well as China (which supported him as a bulwark against the Soviet Union) and North Korea (although his relations with the latter soured after it recognized Angola's Marxist government). Zaire was a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, and President Mobutu officially described his country's foreign policy as non-aligned, even though he tended to favor the West for the most part. In Africa, Mobutu enjoyed a warm relationship with Morocco, but had hostile relations with Libya and Zambia.

After the end of the Cold War, the United States began to think differently of Mobutu. In 1993, Mobutu was denied a visa by the U.S. State Department after he sought to visit Washington, D.C.. Shortly after this, Mobutu was befriended by televangelist Pat Robertson, who would try to get the State Department to lift its ban on the African leader.

Art and Literature

Mobutu was the subject of the three-part documentary "Mobutu: King of Zaire" by Thierry Michel. Mobutu was also featured in the film Lumumba which detailed the pre-coup and coup years from the perspective of Lumumba.

Mobutu also might be considered as the influence to some of the characters in the works of writers such as Wole Soyinka in his poetry, V.S. Naipaul in A Bend in the River or Chinua Achebe in Anthills of the Savannah.

Coalition government

In May 1990, due to economic problems and domestic unrest, Mobutu agreed to end the ban on other political parties and appointed a transitional government that would lead to promised elections, but he retained substantial powers. However, following riots in Kinshasa by unpaid soldiers, Mobutu brought opposition figures into a coalition government, but he still connived to retain control of the security services and important ministries. Factional divisions led to the creation of two governments in 1993, one pro and one anti-Mobutu. The anti-Mobutu government was headed by Laurent Monsengwo and Étienne Tshisekedi of the UDPS. The economic situation was still dreadful, and in 1994 the two groups joined as the High Council of Republic - Parliament of Transition (HCR-PT). Mobutu appointed Kengo Wa Dondo, an advocate of austerity and free-market reforms, as prime minister. Mobutu was becoming increasingly physically frail and during one of his absences for medical treatment in Europe, Tutsis captured much of eastern Zaire.

Overthrow

Mobutu was overthrown in the First Congo War by Ugandan supported Kabila. Tutsis had long opposed Mobutu due to his open support for Rwandan Hutu extremists responsible for the Rwandan genocide in 1994. When his government issued an order in November 1996 forcing Tutsis to leave Zaire on penalty of death, they erupted in rebellion. From eastern Zaire, with the support of presidents, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, they launched an offensive to overthrow Mobutu, joining forces with locals opposed to him as they marched west toward Kinshasa. Ailing with cancer, Mobutu was unable to coordinate the resistance, which crumbled in front of the march, the army being more used to suppressing civilians than defending the large country. On May 16, 1997, following failed peace talks, the Tutsi rebels and other anti-Mobutu groups as the Alliance des Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation du Congo-Zaire (AFDL) captured Kinshasa. Zaire was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mobutu went into temporary exile in Togo but lived mostly in Morocco. Laurent-Désiré Kabila became the new president in the same day.

Death

Mobutu died on September 7, 1997 in exile in Rabat, Morocco, from prostate cancer which had been developing since 1962. He is buried in Rabat, in the Christian cemetery known as "Pax."

Legacy

Mobutu's legacy remains the subject of debate among Zaireans. Some condemn him as a cruel, kleptocratic tyrant. Others credit him with keeping the country relatively stable and peaceful throughout most of his rule and for providing Zaireans with a sense of national identity and pride. In a country with over 200 tribes, Mobutu was able to maintain order and avert civil war, although at high cost. Whether well or ill, his legacy can still be felt in Congo today.

Family

Mobutu was married twice. His first wife, Marie-Antoinette Mobutu, died October 22 1977. On May 1 1980 he married his mistress, Bobi Ladawa on the eve of a visit by Pope John-Paul II, thus legitimizing his relationship in the eyes of the Church. Four of his sons from his first marriage died: Niwa, Konga, Kongulu, and Manda. A son from his second marriage, Francois Joseph Nzanga Ngbangawe Mobutu, announced his candidacy for the 2006 Democratic Republic of the Congo elections. A daughter, Yakpwa (nicknamed Yaki), was briefly married to a Belgian man named Pierre Janssens, who later wrote a book which described Mobutu's lifestyle in great detail.

Reference, external links

Sandbrook, Richard (1985). The Politics of Africa's Economic Stagnation. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-31961-7.
Wrong, Michela. In The Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz. Perennial. ISBN 0-06-093443-3
CNN article on recovery of Mobutu fortune
Note on his name
When he was King, interview with Mobutu
Mobutu's legacy, show over substance
Hope and retribution in Zaire, Allan Little, From our own Correspondent, BBC News, 24 May, 1997.
^* Commentary on Mobutu's relationship with American preacher Pat Robertson.
^* Article on Mobutu
IMDB.com Lumumba (2000) - Film about the rise of the independent Congo/Zaire.

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