Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-1997).

By

Mify Matondo

Mobutu was born Joseph Désiré Mobutu on Oct. 14, 1930, at Lisala and he grew up among the Bantu-speaking peoples of the Congo. He attended a secondary school run by Catholic missionaries at Coquilhatville and after being dismissed for bad behavior was drafted into the Force Publique in 1950.

Because he had a good education, Mobutu was trained as a noncommissioned officer and given a desk job as an accountant. He also tried his hand at journalism by writing a few pieces for army papers, and when he left the army in 1956, he became a writer in Léopoldville and later became editor of the magazine Actualités Africaines. He got more training at the official Congo Information Office and then at a Brussels school of journalism.

During that time, Mobutu met Patrice Lumumba and became his representative in Belgium. He also began working as an informer for the Belgian security police. Lumumba brought him back to the Congo in 1960, made him a presidential assistant, and raised him to the rank of colonel in charge of the Congolese army.

Within 2 months of this, Mobutu used his power to get rid of Lumumba. Mobutu also took over the army and decided to turn Lumumba over to the Katanga regime where he was killed. After this Mobutu concentrated on building up the army under his command.

Although civilian rule was officially restored in August 1961 under Premier Cyrille Adoula, Mobutu remained very powerful. His position became weakened when his army failed to control the Congo rebellion in 1963-1965. When Tshombe came back to the Congo as prime minister, Mobutu backed his decision to make use of foreign military support.

On Nov. 25, 1965, the army took power and Mobutu became president. Rather than follow Tshombe's policy of helping Western interests Mobutu said he would look after his country first. He challenged Belgian economic control of the Katanga mining industry. His fight with the Union Minière eventually led to a face-saving compromise, and his attempts to organize a mass party under the name of MPR turned out to be somewhat a disaster, but he was successful in beating back all attempts to get rid of him.

Two of these attempts took the form of a mutiny by Katanga forces and white mercenaries. After this the Mobutu regime gradually changed its course in a conservative direction. This was witnessed by the October 1968 execution of rebel leader Pierre Mulele, who had returned to the Congo following promises of amnesty and had to face growing disaffection and unrest on the part of student circles.

Mobutu tried to strengthen the Congo's influence on the African scene. He was always favorable to the United States and some people accused him of rising to power with CIA help.

In December 1971 he changed his country's name to Zaïre. Like Stalin in the Soviet Union and Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Mobutu kept his power by developing a cult of his own personality. Pictures of him were printed by the thousands and sent to every part of the country. Every word he said was recorded. His was the official voice to speak for Zaire and crowds were made cheer his speeches.

Mobutu beat back threats from outside Zaire in the 1970s that took the form of invasions from Shaba (formerly Katanga) Province by rebels, some of whom were former Thumbed supporters from the independence era; others were refugees from Mobutu's terror. Mobutu almost lost control of the mining districts for a while in 1978 during a second rebel attack, and again was forced to say anti-Communist speeches in order to get help from American President Jimmy Carter, who did not like Mobutu's breaking of human rights.

Mobutu made a mess of his nation's economy almost from the beginning. Once in power, he tried to exploit Zaire's natural mineral riches, but he and his backers lacked the business sense to make it work. Even worse, his decision in 1973 to take over all economic assets owned by foreigners led to a huge drop in national productivity and wealth. Embarrassed by these messes Mobutu returned farms and factories to their original owners, but a fall in the world price of copper caused more problems for the economy.

During the 1980s and the 1990s, Mobutu grew ever more dangerous and corrupt. To stop people complaining he made some half-hearted promises toward free speech but refused to give up power.

The 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the breakdown of order in Burundi that began in 1993 helped cause Mobutu's final downfall. More than one million refugees fled into the Congo’s eastern border regions causing fighting. Out of this another rebellion began led by Laurent Kabila. This rebel movement proved successful and in mid-1997 succeeded in pushing to the outskirts of the capital. kabila became president and changed the name of the country from Zaire to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mobutu who was ill with prostate cancer fled with his family and close supporters to Togo. On September 7, 1997, about four months after he left the Congo, Mobutu died in Morocco. Mobutu education was trained as a noncommissioned officer and given a desk job as an accountant. he also tried his hand at journalism by writing a few pieces for army periodicals, and when he left the force publique in 1956 he became a stringer and then a regular staffer in Leopolville, rising to the post of editor of the weekly Actualites Africaines.For my emay Iused the following Web sites. 1. W.W.W peace.ca/ un 2000 survey contribution.htm 2.http/W.W.W Hartford hwp.com/archives/35/ index Eaca html 3. http/ achivers.cnn. com/ 2000/ world/ Africa/10/08/congo.mobutu.son.ap/index.html