Dictator of the Month: July 2006Dictator of the Month: July 2006
| Mobutu
Sese Seko
Take me to the picture gallery Fact Sheet Name: Mobutu Sese Seko
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Biography
Born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu on October 14, 1930 in the Belgian Congo (as it was then known), Mobutu 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 fluently. 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 he was deeply superstitious, often consulting 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 mutinued, 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 Mouvement Populaire de la 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. Mobutu'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 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 1974, 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," induced to join the fold. Those who were met, were 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, the abominable human rights condition, 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 still wielded absolute control, and subsequent elections were regarded nothing more than political theater, shams to appease the international community. 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, crumbled before the invading armies. Though Mobutu pledged that he would resist the rebel onslaught, in May 1997, as the rebels advanced on Kinshasa, he fled into exile. He died in Morocco four months later of prostate cancer. This original article was submitted to www.dictatorofthemonth.com . Written by Josh Latimer and published with the author's written permission. Sources: In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz by Michela Wrong
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