Étienne Tshisekedi
Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba (b. December 14, 1932) is a veteran Zairian politician and long-time activist with a long history of opposing the oppressive government of Mobutu Sese Seko and advocating democratic change through peaceful, law-abiding means. He is a co-founder of the illegal opposition party Union for Democracy and Social Progress (French: Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social or "UDPS" for short), a broad coalition of Zairians from all ideologies and all walks of life, united in their determination to bring about transition to a multiparty democracy respectful toward human rights and accountable to both voters and the law. He has been leader of the UDPS for most of its existence.
Born in Kananga (formerly known as Luluabourg), Kasaï-Occidental, Tshisekedi obtained a diploma in 1961 at the Lovanium University School of Law in Kinshasa (then called Léopoldville). From the mid-1960s until the end of the 1970s, he was a member of the ruling party, and occupied various ministerial posts in Mobutu's government. Later, he became increasingly disillusioned with the corruption and repression of the government and, as part of the "Group of Fifteen," he and fourteen other parliamentarians published a scathing fifty-one page indictment of Mobutu's rule, outlining numerous governmental abuses.
The indictment read, in part:
"We know how allergic you are to candor and truth...For fifteen years now we have obeyed you. What have we done, during this time, to be useful and agreeable to you? We have sung, danced, animated, in short, we have been subjected to all sorts of humiliation, all forms of subjugation which even foreign colonization never made us suffer... After fifteen years of the power you have exercised alone, we find ourselves divided into two absolutely distinct camps. On one side, a few scandalously rich persons. On the other, the mass of people suffering the darkest misery."
For this, Tshisekedi and his colleagues were arrested and "rusticated," or banished to their home villages.
On February 15, 1982, he and other dissidents illegally founded an opposition party (at the time, Zaire was a one-party state): the UDPS. They were accused of plotting to overthrow the government, tried by the State Security Court, and sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment, but were released after a year. Constantly harassed and hounded by the security forces - he was arrested ten times in eight years - he nevertheless continued his attacks on the government, denouncing Mobutu as a "Zairian Caligula." Describing the regime's corruption, he wryly remarked, "Mobutu truly has a malady. He is a kleptomaniac. Zaire is ruled by an uncontrolled thief. It is a kleptocracy." However, by 1988, repression had taken its toll, and, growing weary of the struggle, Tshisekedi decided to call it quits in exchange for his freedom, remarking sourly, "Always arrested, exiled, banished. It's not fun."
In 1990, when Mobutu announced the proclamation of the Third Republic and the advent of "democracy," more than 200 opposition parties sprung into existence. Several of these, including the previously-banned UDPS, united into an anti-Mobutu coalition known as the Union Sacrée de l'Opposition Radicale, which was headed by Tshisekedi.
The promised Sovereign National Conference finally assembled in August 1991, only to be interrupted by a massive orgy of looting and violence by members of the FAZ, protesting over their low pay. Kinshasa and Lubumbashi suffered substantial damage, and France and Belgium deployed paratroopers to protect the lives of the 20,000 expatriates present.
Under strong pressure from the West, Mobutu reluctantly appointed Tshisekedi as prime minister on September 29, 1991. His tenure lasted barely one month. Six days after being sworn in, Tshisekedi tried to deny Mobutu access to the central bank; in response, Mobutu attempted to dismiss Tshisekedi, and instructed his troops to lock Tshisekedi and his ministers out of their offices. Said Mobutu: "The chief is the chief. He is the eagle who flies high and cannot be touched by the spit of the toad." This decision sparked widespread riots and demonstrations, and led to further international condemnation and cuts in foreign aid. To replace Tshisekedi, Mobutu appointed a new transitional coalition government, led by Nguza Karl-i-Bond.
Throughout 1992, the trial of strength between Mobutu and the Sovereign National Conference continued. Mobutu resorted to numerous tactics to undermine the conference, such as stoking up ethnic tension in Tshisekedi's home province and resorting to brutal crackdowns on dissent.
In August of that year, the conference adopted a new provisional constitution, established a new legislative body called the High Council of the Republic (HCR), and elected Tshisekedi as prime minister. Mobutu, however, refused to recognize it, and ordered it to shut down, to no avail.
In January 1993, HCR declared Mobutu guilty of treason and threatened to impeach him, unless he recognized the legitimacy of the transitional government. Mobutu refused to do so. A general strike was carried out by the opposition to pressure his compliance. In the ensuing disturbances, five people were killed and many others were injured. Much of the violence was deliberately instigated by Mobutu, to promote ethnic violence and anarchy in order to both undermine the opposition and discredit the pro-democracy movement. Later that month, another looting spree by Zairian troops broke out, this time over Mobutu's introduction of a new currency denomination of 5 million Zaires. Tshisekedi declared the new currency null and void and encouraged merchants not to accept it; few did, and riots once again wracked the capital, killing hundreds of people, including the French ambassador to Zaire.
In the aftermath of the violence, Mobutu appointed a rival government, led by Faustin Birindwa, which did not receive international recognition. Zaire had, in effect, two parallel governments, and political development remained at an impasse. Finally, after three years of obstruction and maneuver, Mobutu revived the old constitution and reconvened the old parliament in March 1993. In 1994, the rival governments joined together to form the High Council of the Republic-Parliament of Transition (HCR-PT), and Kengo Wa Dondo was appointed prime minister by Mobutu.
From 1993 to 1996, the economy continued to deteriorate at an alarming rate, as chaos and lawlessness gripped the country, all the while Tshisekedi maintained his immense popularity and remained intransigent in his opposition to Mobutu. In the aftermath of the failed rebellion of Laurent Kabila, Mobutu once again made Zaire a one-party state, and Tshisekedi and the opposition launched a general strike which brought the country to a standstill; only after receiving credible death threats directed at himself and his family did Tshisekedi recant. With several of his supporters, he relocated to neighboring Congo, where they remained active in exile.
Mobutu, however, exasperated by Tshisekedi's continued influence - dozens of pro-Tshisekedi demonstrations broke out between 1996 and the present year - made numerous attempts on Tshisekedi's life, reportedly with the complicity of SAVAK.
At times called the "Mandela of Zaire," Tshisekedi remains very popular at home, to the frustration and fury of the Mobutu regime. His current country of residence is unknown.
Recently, after being interviewed by PINA, Tshisekedi was sentenced to death in absentia by the government, on the fictitious grounds of plotting the President's overthrow and "physical elimination."
