Mobutu Sese Seko

Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga
President of Zaire
In office November 24, 1965 — present
Political party	Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution
Preceded by	Joseph Kasavubu
Succeeded by	Incumbent
Born	October 14, 1930 Lisala, Équateur, Belgian Congo
Spouse	Marie-Antoinette Mobutu (first wife, deceased) Bobi Mobutu (second wife, current marriage)
Profession	Politician, career soldier
Military rank	Field Marshal (since 1983)
Religion	Roman Catholic
Languages	Ngbandi, French, Lingala
Estimated fortune	$8—15 billion
Pronunciation (IPA)	/məˈbuːtu ˈseze ˈsekoʊ/

Born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu on October 14, 1930 in the Belgian Congo (as it was then known), Mobutu Sese Seko was the son of Albéric Gbemani, a cook. He did not know his father well, as the man died when he was eight years old; in later years, he had very few recollections of the man who sired him. His mother, on the other hand, he simply adored; years later, after becoming President, he would name Mama Yemo Hospital after her (the hospital received half the national health budget). He had no living siblings. His parents' previous children - a pair of twins - had died. Mobutu found a second mother in the Belgian wife of the judge who employed his father. The woman taught him to write, read and speak French. She could often be seen walking with him in public, holding his hand.

Tall for his age, Mobutu was athletic and competitive as a child, and excelled at sports. He was known as a practical joker, and was popular with the other children, who fondly called him "Jeff." He was always near the top of his class, yet was a constant troublemaker. He particularly liked to deride the French that some of the Flemish teachers spoke poorly. A sexual escapade as a teenager later got him in trouble with the Catholic church, creating friction between the two, a friction that would last many years. Although Mobutu was raised Catholic, his antipathy toward the church was well known, and, being deeply superstitious, he often consulted with marabouts (witch-doctors).

Eventually, his antics became so troublesome the authorities removed him from school and placed him in the colonial army, the Force Publique. He served seven years, eventually attaining the rank of Sergeant General. Later, he dabbled in journalism, penning several articles under a pseudonym and, while in Belgium, befriended a fellow Congolese, the nationalistic Patrice Lumumba, who convinced his new friend to join his political party, the Mouvement National Congolais.

When the Belgian Congo attained independence on June 30, 1960, Lumumba was premier, and Mobutu was appointed chief of staff of the army. Within days, the Congo disintegrated into chaos. Tribalism, anarchy, and lawlessness reigned supreme, as the armed forces mutinied, violence and mayhem spread, and Belgian expatriates began to flee in droves. Both copper-rich Katanga and diamond-rich Kasai attempted to secede, and things became so unstable Belgium sent in troops to protect its citizens- but was accused by Lumumba of trying to re-impose its rule. In desperation, Lumumba appealed to the United Nations, who rapidly deployed a multinational force to restore order to the besieged country. Lumumba soon became frustrated with the U.N. when they refused to forcibly remove the Belgians. Alienated by the West, he turned to the Soviet Union for assistance, a move which sealed his fate. Both the United States government and the Belgian government decided Lumumba's removal was inevitable. On September 14, Mobutu staged a bloodless coup d'etat and overthrew both Lumumba and President Kasavuba in a "peaceful revolution." He stepped down, handing over the reins of control to a small clique of Congolese university graduates. Yet, civil war continued. Lumumba was assassinated in January 1961- a death that remains controversial and fiercely debated to this day. It was not until forty years later that Belgian complicity in the murder was revealed, although the CIA itself may have played a role; in fact, agent Lawrence "Larry" Devlin (who established an amicable friendship with Mobutu) was given the task of assassinating Lumumba, but the plan never came to fruition.

For the next few years, war raged on, as Mobutu waited in the wings. Finally, on November 24, 1965, Mobutu staged another coup, and assumed the presidency. Kasavubu was forced into retirement, and Tshombe, the former Katangan leader, fled into exile once again. Mobutu's coup, and his promises to restore order to the nation, proved immensely popular.

Immediately, Mobutu took steps to consolidate his power. A single political party, the Popular Movement of the Revolution, was established, with Mobutu as head. Membership in the party became compulsory for all citizens. Former cabinet members suspected of plotting a coup were tried by a military tribunal, found guilty, and publicly hanged before 50,000 spectators. Uprisings of former Katangan gendarmes were crushed by the army. Lumumba's former education minister, Pierre Mulele, who had fought a guerrilla war in 1964, was lured back to the country from exile by an amnesty promise, only to be tortured and executed by Mobutu's soldiers. Others who posed a threat met a similar fate. Brutal as these methods were, they worked. By 1970, Mobutu had managed to bring order and stability to most of the country.

Early on, his economic policies were quite successful. The country had a balanced budget, a favorable balance of trade, low debts, and a healthy annual growth rate of around 7%. Several ambitious development projects (all which later proved to be fiascoes) were launched. In 1971, Mobutu renamed the country Zaire ("the river that swallows all other rivers") and christened himself Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga ("the all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake"). By decree, he ordered all his countrymen to follow his example and drop their European names and replace them with African ones. He also banned Western attire, requiring men to don a Mao-style tunic called an abacost. "Monsieur" and "Madame" were replaced with "citoyen" and "citoyenne." Mobutu established a massive personality cult, devised by his interior minister, Sakombi Inongo. He assumed such titles as "Messiah," "Father of the Nation," "Second National Hero," "Mulopwe" ("emperor" or "god-king"), etc. Images of him were everywhere, pronouns referring to Him in government press releases were capitalized, his mother was compared to the Virgin Mary and he to Jesus, and an image of him descending from heaven through clouds preceded the evening news.

Mobutu liked to portray his foreign policy as non-aligned. Zaire was a prominent member of the Non-Aligned Movement, and enjoyed friendly relations with both the Western world as well as Romania, China, and (for a time) North Korea. However, for the most part, Mobutu was strongly West-leaning.

Mobutu's positive economic reforms would not last. In the mid-1970s, after a visit to China and North Korea, Mobutu's views took a radical shift, and he proclaimed a "radicalization of the revolution." All foreign-owned businesses, plantations, and estates were confiscated, allegedly to be given to "sons of the country," but in reality to cronies of the regime. Corruption subsequently became widespread, and Mobutu's rule gave rise to a new term: "kleptocracy" (literally, "rule by thieves"). He and his associates accumulated vast wealth (in the 1980s, Mobutu's fortune was estimated to be $5 billion), while the economy crashed. As inflation, unemployment, illiteracy, and infant mortality skyrocketed, Mobutu's fortune grew by leaps and bounds. He accumulated a vast array of properties around the world, including eleven palaces in Zaire itself. He used corruption as a means to solidify his rule. Potential dissidents were often "bought off," i.e., induced to join the fold. Those who were not, were more often than not snuffed out by his secret police.

A staunch anticommunist, Mobutu also gained notoriety for providing aid to the FNLA and UNITA in Angola. He even contributed troops to help prevent the Marxist MPLA from gaining power in 1975, but the intervention failed. The MPLA, in turn, harbored anti-Mobutu rebels, who launched an invasion in 1977 which nearly succeeded; only the intervention of 1,500 elite Moroccan paratroopers, airlifted by France, saved Mobutu. In 1978, a second invasion, launched from Zambia, again almost succeeded; this time, Belgian and French troops repulsed it. Mobutu adeptly played the anticommunist card, pointing to alleged East German and Cuban backing of the rebels to gain more support from the West. The ploy worked; the West, in particular the United States, France, and Belgium, continued to aid him lavishly, until well into the late 1980s. U.S. aid between 1965 and 1988, in fact, totaled almost $900 million.

As the years went on, Mobutu's popularity waned. The dire straits of the economy, abominable human rights conditions, and the absence of free elections caused many to clamor for the introduction of multiparty politics. A popular opposition politician, Etienne Tshisekedi, tried to start an opposition party, and was constantly hounded by the police. Over a ten year period, he was arrested over eight times.

As the Cold War ended, Mobutu outlived his usefulness. No longer was he worth propping up as a bulwark to communism. His former backers began openly calling for reform, and Mobutu grudgingly obliged. In 1990, Zaire legalized opposition parties, although Mobutu not only continued to wield absolute control, but the promised elections never materialized, and opposition parties and their members continued to face harassment and persecution at the hands of Mobutu‘s security forces, just as they had before.

The economy continued to suffer. Inflation reached 9,800% in 1994. That same year, Mobutu made his worst mistake yet, allowing Rwandan Hutu extremists (including perpetrators of the infamous genocide) to settle in eastern Zaire. From there, they continued to launch attacks into Rwanda. Anti-government rebels also attacked Uganda from staging points in the east. Ethnic tensions soon galvanized eastern Zaire, resulting in thousands of deaths. By 1996, the situation had erupted into full-blown war. Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni decided to get rid of Mobutu once and for all. They provided aid to a former Maoist guerrilla, Laurent Kabila, who launched an invasion. Assisting Uganda and Rwanda was Angola, eager to see Mobutu, who had for all these years continued to support UNITA, go. Mobutu's army, hampered by poor leadership, corruption, and low morale, nearly crumbled before the invading armies.

Only an emergency expeditionary force sent by Parthia rescued the regime from utter defeat. Also contributing forces to help Mobutu were Morocco, Nigeria, Togo, and Gabon. Hundreds of UNITA guerrillas also lent a hand. The rebellion suffered a succession of crushing defeats, and soon dwindled down to a few pockets of demoralized bandits who fought among themselves before extinguished by Parthian soldiers. By the end of 1996, Kabila had been captured, and he was subsequently tortured and executed before a live audience at the 20th of May Stadium, where, 22 years previously, Muhammad Ali defeated George Foreman in the legendary “Rumble of the Jungle” boxing match.

Bolstered by “his” victory, Mobutu wasted no time in consolidating his power. Using a $5 billion loan from Parthia, he handsomely paid everyone in the military, to ensure no future mutinies took place and that all his soldiers would be well fed and provided for, and thus, loyal. He also hired Chinese engineers to repair all military vehicles and equipment, recruited SAVAK agents to train SNIP into a highly efficient intelligence and secret police force, and made plans to double the size of the armed forces by 2007. He also approached several Western nations and beseeched them for new equipment to replace his military’s increasingly obsolete supplies, but they cold-shouldered him. Parthia made plans to deliver several new tanks, fighters, and even some naval vessels, but under extreme pressure from the United States, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Canada, and other Western nations, backed down. The Shah did, however, promise to provide aid “as soon as I can.”

While Mobutu had been a remote and reclusive figure for much of the 1990s, after the war against Kabila had been won, he stepped into the limelight and once again assumed an active role in the country’s political arena. He again outlawed all opposition parties, nationalized all telecommunications and transportation industries, sealed off his borders (with considerable help from Parthia), purged the military and ruling party of many dissidents, and began arresting and executing “disloyal” citizens in droves. Although this dealt massive damage to his image abroad, it did succeed in stabilizing the country, and, just like they had in the 1960s and early 1970s, Zairians hailed Mobutu as the hero who had saved them from anarchy.

In spite of the conservative prime minister Kengo Wa Dondo’s attempts to initiate free-market austerity measures, continued rampant corruption and opposition by Mobutu hindered much of his efforts; inflation and unemployment remained high, and most Zairians continued to live in abject poverty. It was not long before Mobutu’s popularity again waned.

As of 2006, Mobutu, although nearly 76 years old, remains physically and mentally fit and is still firmly in charge. Continued economic troubles and increasingly common demonstrations slightly shake the foundations of his regime, but there is little credible threat to his cling on power, and it remains likely that he will remain president until his dying breath.