Sese Seko Mobutu was born
in Lisala, Congo, in 1930. Educated at
a Catholic mission school he served in the Belgian colonial army.
By 1960 he had reached the rank of colonel and was chief of staff
to the Congolese Army.
After parliamentary elections
in May 1960 Patrice
Lumumba became
the new prime minister of the Congo and immediately talked about the
need for social and economic changes in the country. His decision
to adopt a non-aligned foreign policy resulted in the CIA
becoming interested in the developments in the Congo.
The country was governed
from Leopoldville (Kinshasa). In Kantanga, a rich mining province,
was very much under the control of Moise
Tshombe. In July 1960, Tshombe, supported by white mercenaries
and the Belgian mining company Union Minière, declared Katanga
independent. Lumumba appealed to the United Nations
for help and Dag
Hammarskjold agreed
to send in a peace-keeping force to restore order.
The following month Colonel
Mobutu, with the support of the United States
and Belgium,
led a military coup and ousted Patrice
Lumumba from
power. Lumumba was arrested by Mobutu's soldiers and transferred to
Elizabethville, Katanga, where he was murdered on 17th January, 1961.
In
September 1961 fighting erupted between Katanga troops and the noncombatant
forces of the UN. In an effort to secure a cease-fire he arranged
to meet President Moise Tshombe. On
17th September 1961 Dag
Hammarskjold was
killed when his plane crashed close to Ndola airport.
The UN
Security Council passed a resolution demanding an inquiry into
the circumstances of his death. This was rejected by Moise
Tshombe but evidence emerged later that the Belgian government
was behind the events in Katanga.
The fighting continued
and independent regimes were established at different times in Katanga,
Stanleyville and Kasai. For a while Tshombe lived in Europe but returned
to become prime minister of the Congo Republic in July 1964. After
holding corrupt elections he was forced to flee and went to live in
Spain.
General Mobutu staged another
military coup in November 1965. He placed Moise
Tshombe on trial for treason in his absence and was condemned
to death. In July 1967 Tshombe was kidnapped and taken to Algeria.
Moise Tshombe died in prison of a heart-attack on 29th June 1969.
Mobutu decided on a policy
of Africanization and in October 1971 he changed the name of the country
back to Zaire (the name of the country in the 14th century). Three
months later a Nationality Law decreed the abolition of all European
names for persons and places.
Despite this action Mobutu
continued to arrange trading agreements with foreign companies engaged
in exploiting the country's valuable copper deposits. He also received
support from the United States who helped him
develop a one party, anti-Communist, dictatorship.
Two further revolts took
place in 1977 and 1978 and was only put down with the help of the
French
Army. Zaire continued
to suffer from economic problems and in May 1997 rebel forces led
by Laurent Kabila forced him to flee the country.
Sese Seko Mobutu died in
Morocco in 1997.
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
