Après nous nous sommes séparées, nos chambres étaient en face l’une de l’autre) après quelques temps son épouse commençait à crier dans la chambre, j’ai entendu beaucoup de bruits. [21], After allowing for the election of a new commandant for the garrison, the ministers debated over who would make a suitable army chief of staff. [38], Mobutu later gave up torture and murder, and switched to a new tactic, buying off political rivals. Zo liet hij in mei 1966 vier politici, waaronder eerste minister-elect Évariste Kimba in het openbaar ophangen (later 'de Pinksterophangingen' genoemd). He became friendly with Patrice Lumumba and joined Lumumba's Mouvement National Congolais (MNC). Mobutu was befriended by televangelist Pat Robertson, who promised to try to get the State Department to lift its ban on the African leader. Factional divisions led to the creation of two governments in 1993, one pro and one anti-Mobutu. [5][6] He presided over a period of widespread human rights violations. As the discussions continued, the cabinet began to divide according to who they preferred to serve as chief of staff. [4] During his reign, he amassed a large personal fortune through economic exploitation and corruption, leading some to call his rule a "kleptocracy". Mobutu was reelected three times under this system, each time by implausibly high margins of 98 percent or more. There she met and married Albéric Gbemani, a cook for a Belgian judge. During the Congo Crisis, Mobutu, serving as Chief of Staff of the Army and supported by Belgium and the United States, deposed the democratically elected government of nationalist Patrice Lumumba in 1960. Accordingly, the US and other Western powers began pressuring Mobutu to democratize the regime. A physically imposing figure, Mobutu dominated school sports. Casting a green ballot was deemed a vote for hope, while a red ballot was deemed a vote for chaos. He ordered the people to change their European names to African ones, and priests were warned that they would face five years' imprisonment if they were caught baptizing a Zairian child with a European name. The revolt spread across the region in the following days. Mobutu featured in the documentary When We Were Kings, which centred around the famed Rumble in the Jungle boxing bout between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali for the 1974 heavyweight championship of the world. Recevez des infos indépendantes sur les sujets d'actualité dans le monde, directement sur votre smartphone ou votre tablette. On the same day Mobutu fled into exile, Laurent-Désiré Kabila became the new president of Congo. During Reagan's presidency, Mobutu visited the White House three times, and criticism of Zaire's human rights record by the US was effectively muted. Robert Block on an unpopular survivor", Concorde supersonique jet / Gallery / Pictures, "Plundering politicians and bribing multinationals undermine international development, says TI", ''Zaire: A Country Study'', "Establishment of a Personalistic Regime", "RDC : La mort prématurée de Manda Mobutu met un point final à l'histoire du "Zaïre, Department of State Background Notes: Congo (Kinshasa) Foreign Relations, ''Zaire: A Country Study'', "Relations with France", "Shaba II: The French and Belgian Intervention in Zaire in 1978", ''Zaire: A Country Study'', "Relations with the United States", "When He Was King: On the trail of Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire's former Kleptocrat-in-Chief", "Zaire's Mobutu Visits America," by Michael Johns, Heritage Foundation Executive Memorandum #239, 29 June 1989, "Togo prods Mobutu to move on _ but to where? [69][70] In November 1972, Mobutu extended diplomatic recognition to the Chinese (as well as East Germany and North Korea). Rep. of the Congo", United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, "AFRICA AND DEMOCRACY Joseph Mobutu, Dictator of the DRC, and His Life-Saving Support from the US", "Anatomy of an Autocracy: Mobutu's 32-Year Reign", "Mobutu grants amnesty to political prisoners in Zaire", BBC: "Timeline: Democratic Republic of Congo", "Swiss banks find only $3.4 million in Mobutu assets", "BBC News | AFRICA | Mobutu's legacy: Show over substance", "Mobutu goes cruising as his country burns: The cook's son is feeding Zaire to the crocodiles. In 1994 moest Mobutu, die aan prostaatkanker leed, hiervoor in Zwitserland worden behandeld. Mobutu kept up his studies by borrowing European newspapers from the Belgian officers and books from wherever he could find them, reading them on sentry duty and whenever he had a spare moment. De CIA schatte zijn vermogen in de jaren 1980 op 4 miljard dollar. Et un mari jaloux. Je me suis inquiétée. Elliot, Jeffrey M., and Mervyn M. Dymally (eds.). "),[35][36] or Mobutu Sese Seko for short. According to the documentary When We Were Kings, promoter Don King promised each fighter five million dollars (U.S.) for the fight. Vous trouverez davantage d'informations dans la déclaration sur la protection des données. [11] Shortly afterward she gave birth to Mobutu. His favourites were the writings of French president Charles de Gaulle, British prime minister Winston Churchill, and Italian Renaissance philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli. However, by 1972, he began to see the Chinese in a different light, as a counterbalance to both the Soviet Union as well as his intimate ties with the United States, Israel, and South Africa. De Congolese soldaten bleken echter niet in staat om de opstandelingen te bevechten. The latter was perceived as calmer and more thoughtful. Around this time, he eschewed his military uniform in favor of what would become his classic image—the tall, imposing man carrying a walking stick while wearing an abacost, thick-framed glasses, and leopard-skin toque. Mobutu also had a cordial relationship with Reagan's successor, George H. W. Bush; he was the first African head of state to visit Bush at the White House. [29][54], Mobutu was the subject of one of the most pervasive personality cults of the twentieth century. [76] In spite of these hindrances, the chilly relationship quickly thawed when both countries found each other supporting the same side during the Angolan Civil War. Zaire was renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo. To gain the revenues of Congolese resources, Mobutu initially nationalized foreign-owned firms and forced European investors out of the country. Revolution was described as a "truly national revolution, essentially pragmatic", which called for "the repudiation of both capitalism and communism". Following riots in Kinshasa by unpaid soldiers, Mobutu brought opposition figures into a coalition government but he still connived to retain control of the security services and important ministries. The ambassador noted, "One name kept coming up. Edmond Leburton, Belgian prime minister between 1973 and 1974, was someone greatly admired by the President. According to Transparency International, Mobutu embezzled over US$5 billion from his country, ranking him as the third-most corrupt leader since 1984 and the most corrupt African leader during the same period. Troisième volet de notre série sur la démocratie : comment les indépendances n'ont pas assouvi les espoirs de démocratie des peuples africains. The two main candidates for the post were Maurice Mpolo and Mobutu. Toen de Koude Oorlog eindigde, verminderde de steun vanuit de westerse wereld en begon zijn toch al verzwakte regime af te brokkelen.[1]. 165-191, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, David F. Schmitz, The United States and Right-Wing Dictatorships, 1965-1989, pp. Mobutu also might be considered as the inspiration behind some of the characters in the works of the poetry of Wole Soyinka, the novel A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul, and Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe. Under his rule, the nation also suffered from uncontrolled inflation, a large debt, and massive currency devaluations. Zo begonnen de avondprogramma's op televisie een tijdlang met een foto van Mobutu, die uit de wolken tevoorschijn kwam. Mobutu bleek al snel een wreed dictator. He was known for extravagances such as shopping trips to Paris via the supersonic and expensive Concorde.[8]. Kasavubu werd vanuit Brussel en Washington bewerkt om Lumumba te ontslaan. Some of them, such as Hugues Leclercq and Colonel Willy Mallants, were interviewed in Thierry Michel's documentary Mobutu, King of Zaire. Two of his sons from his first marriage died during his lifetime, Nyiwa (d. 16 September 1994) and Konga (d. 1992). Mobutu's politiek was er vooral op gericht zichzelf en zijn vertrouwelingen te verrijken en hij bouwde aldus een echte kleptocratie uit. Yaki wore a US$70,000 wedding gown and US$3 million worth of jewels. He held such titles as "Father of the Nation", "Messiah", "Guide of the Revolution", "Helmsman", "Founder", "Savior of the People", and "Supreme Combatant". Het Congolese volk leed honger, maar Mobutu liet voor zichzelf en zijn familie elf paleizen in Zaïre bouwen. The former had shown some influence over the mutinying troops, but Kasa-Vubu and the Bakongo ministers feared that he would enact a coup d'état if he were given power. Dat gebeurde uiteindelijk ook. Protection des données | During the presidency of Charles de Gaulle, relations with the two countries gradually grew stronger and closer. Lumumba wanted to keep both men in his government and wished to avoid upsetting one of their camps of supporters. From eastern Zaire, the rebels, aided by foreign government forces under the leadership of President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Rwandan Minister of Defense Paul Kagame launched an offensive to overthrow Mobutu, joining forces with locals opposed to him under Laurent-Désiré Kabila as they marched west toward Kinshasa. It was later discovered that he was murdered the same day by the secessionist forces of Moise Tshombe, after Mobutu's government turned him over. Mobutu consolideerde meteen zijn macht. He used the slogan "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer still"[39] to describe his tactic of co-opting political opponents through bribery. The word "politician" carried negative connotations, and became almost synonymous with someone who was wicked or corrupt. [2] Voor de leider werden vele liederen geschreven, die gezongen werden wanneer hij een dorp of stad bezocht. He gave Mobutu the office of Secretary of State to the Presidency. However, Parliament twice refused to confirm him. Ayo Kayitani a été la nourrice des enfants Mobutu issus du premier lit du maréchal. Mobutu gaf zichzelf titels als De gids en De maarschalk. The infrastructure virtually collapsed, and many public service workers went months without being paid. As what was then the second most populous French-speaking country in the world (it has subsequently come to have a larger population than France) and the most populous one in sub-Saharan Africa,[63] Zaire was of great strategic interest to France. This was the usual punishment for rebellious students. Mobutu was known for his opulent lifestyle. In 1968 braken er voor het eerst onrusten uit toen de studenten de liberalisering van het regime eisten. De rebellen grepen onder leiding van Laurent-Désiré Kabila de macht in mei 1997. "Un jour j’avais trouvé quelque chose de bizarre sous forme d’un miroir sous son oreiller, j’ai appelé son épouse qui l’a déplacé mais sans me dire de quoi il s’agissait…Mobutu et son épouse n’allaient pas à l’église, Même les dimanches, on restait toujours à la maison et ils ne priaient même pas au palais". Mobutu onderdrukte elke tegenstand tegen zijn regime op meedogenloze wijze. Therefore, he announced, "for five years, there will be no more political party activity in the country. Vanaf 1990 veranderde het internationale klimaat echter. Concerned that the United Nations force sent to help restore order was not helping to crush the secessionists, Lumumba turned to the Soviet Union for assistance. Embassy staff were each assigned a list of delegation members to meet, and discussed their impressions afterward. Upon returning home, both his politics and rhetoric became markedly more radical; it was around this time that Mobutu began criticizing Belgium and the United States (the latter for not doing enough, in Mobutu's opinion, to combat white minority rule in South Africa and Rhodesia), introduced the "obligatory civic work" program called salongo, and initiated "radicalization" (an extension of 1973's "Zairianization" policy). [31] It later emerged that almost 30,500 more votes were cast than the actual number of registered voters.[32][33]. Mobutu verloor stilaan al zijn bondgenoten en zijn regime was ten dode opgeschreven. [4], Als journalist bezocht Mobutu in 1958 voor het eerst België. [60] Alfred Cahen, career diplomat and chef de cabinet of minister Henri Simonet, became a personal friend of Mobutu when he was a student at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. But during the second Shaba invasion, the US played a much more active and decisive role by providing transportation and logistical support to the French and Belgian paratroopers that were deployed to aid Mobutu against the rebels. Relations soured early in Mobutu's rule over disputes involving the substantial Belgian commercial and industrial holdings in the country, but they warmed soon afterwards. Mobutu eventually became Lumumba's personal aide. Door de staatsinkomsten af te romen vergaarde hij miljarden. [72] Mobutu viewed the Soviet presence as advantageous for two reasons: it allowed him to maintain an image of non-alignment, and it provided a convenient scapegoat for problems at home. Mobutu onderdrukte elke tegenstand tegen zijn regime op meedogenloze wijze. Hij zou echter de komende maanden en jaren op militair gebied de handen meer dan vol hebben. Mobutu was notorious for corruption, nepotism, and the embezzlement of between US$4 billion and $15 billion during his reign. De Koude Oorlog liep ten einde en de westerse regeringen hadden behoefte aan andere bondgenoten dan het soort dictators dat ze vanaf de jaren zestig gedoogd hadden als afweer tegen het communisme. Vous souhaitez réagir à l'actualité, donner votre avis sur le programme ou tout simplement dire bonjour ? He was captured by Mobutu's troops in early December, and incarcerated at his headquarters in Thysville. William Close, father of actress Glenn Close, was once a personal physician to Mobutu and wrote a book focusing on his service in Zaire. [10] Mobutu's mother, Marie Madeleine Yemo, was a hotel maid who fled to Lisala to escape the harem of a local village chief. Op 9 augustus volgde Albert Kalonji het voorbeeld van de Katangezen: hij riep de autonome staat Zuid-Kasaï uit. Mobutu Sese Seko (Lisala (Belgisch-Congo), 14 oktober 1930 – Rabat (Marokko), 7 september 1997), geboren als Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was een militair dictator en president van Congo. The rapid decline in the real value of salaries strongly encouraged a culture of corruption and dishonesty among public servants of all kinds. The rebels attacked Zaire again, in greater numbers, in the Shaba II invasion of 1978. Elle a habité la résidence présidentielle. Mobutu ging als kind naar school bij de paters kapucijnen. The priests found him several weeks later. Mobutu gained Zaire and its people considerable publicity in the weeks even before the televised bout, as worldwide attention focused on his country. "Il battait sa femme pendant ses crises de jalousie… un soir, on était tous au salon… il est parti au lit le premier, son épouse et moi sommes restées pour regarder un film. Mobutu, die nog steeds in Brussel verbleef, kon zo van zeer nabij de rondetafelconferentie volgen. Réagissez à l'actualité sur notre page Facebook ! "Villa del Mare" in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin aan de Franse Azurenkust was zijn luxevilla. Mobutu's earliest education took place in the capital Léopoldville (now Kinshasa). By mid-1997, Kabila's forces resumed their advance, and the remains of Mobutu's army offered almost no resistance. In response, the Congolese army, led by Mobutu, reconquered the entire territory through 1965. Het leger probeerde de manifestatie uiteen te slaan en opnieuw kwam het tot zware rellen. De belangrijkste Congolese politici werden in Brussel uitgenodigd om een rondetafelconferentie bij te wonen. In Parijs bezat hij toen een woning met een oppervlakte van 800 vierkante meter aan de Avenue Foch. To set an example, many were hanged before large audiences. had Mobutu een eigen propagandapolitiek. Mobutu was included as an additional promotional card in the card-driven strategy game Twilight Struggle. Om hervormingen voor te stellen riep Mobutu een Nationale Soevereine Conferentie, uit, waarin allerlei groeperingen, waaronder het maatschappelijk middenveld hun mening konden geven. [61] Relations with King Baudouin were mostly cordial, until Mobutu released a bold statement about the Belgian royal family. Op 1 december werd Lumumba, tijdens zijn vluchtpoging vanuit Leopoldstad naar zijn thuisbasis Stanleystad, gearresteerd door de troepen van Mobutu en in januari 1961 door hem uitgeleverd aan zijn 'bloedvijanden' in Katanga waar hij werd vermoord. That same year legislative and presidential elections were held. "[83] In 1993, Mobutu was denied a visa by the US State Department after he sought to visit Washington, D.C. Mobutu also had friends in America outside Washington. He also served as Chairman of the Organisation of African Unity from 1967 to 1968. Decennialang werd Mobutu gesteund door de westerse leiders en door andere Afrikaanse dictators: Idi Amin, Siad Barre en Robert Mugabe.[bron?] Naar het voorbeeld van Roemenië, China en Noord-Korea[bron?] Dit keer bleek de coup definitief. Hij twijfelde bijvoorbeeld nooit om zijn tegenstanders fysiek uit te schakelen. [30] By 1970, nearly all potential threats to his authority had been smashed, and for the most part, law and order was brought to nearly all parts of the country. In 1949 Mobutu stowed away aboard a boat, traveling downriver to Léopoldville, where he met a girl. Mobutu liet de landsnaam in 1971 veranderen in Zaïre. Je me suis mise à pleurer … Je suis allée chercher quelques feuilles d’herbes vertes et de l’huile de palme et je l’ai massée" se souvient Ayo. Et Ayo ajoute : "Il ne mangeait pas beaucoup pour éviter de grossir " En tout cas, l’ancienne nourrice affirme qu’elle n’a jamais vu le maréchal tomber malade, « même pas une petite fièvre ». Mobutu was married twice. [42] Katangan rebels based in Angola invaded Zaire that year, in retaliation for Mobutu's support for anti-MPLA rebels. His contribution to the wedding festivities was a crate of beer, all his army salary could afford. On 16 May 1997, following failed peace talks held in Pointe-Noire on board the South African Navy ship SAS Outeniqua with Kabila and President of South Africa Nelson Mandela (who chaired the talks), Mobutu fled into exile. In 1974, a new constitution consolidated Mobutu's grip on the country. Ayo Kaitani a aujourd’hui 65 ans ! [13], Mobutu found discipline in army life, as well as a father figure in Sergeant Louis Bobozo. Afrique Mobutu, la nourrice de ses enfants se confie. He is buried in an above ground mausoleum at Rabat-Sale-Zemmour-Zaer, in the Christian cemetery known as Cimetiere Europeen. To consolidate his power, he established the Popular Movement of the Revolution as the sole legal political party in 1967, changed the Congo's name to Zaire in 1971, and his own name to Mobutu Sese Seko in 1972. In 1956, he quit the army and became a full-time journalist,[15] writing for the Léopoldville daily L'Avenir. Op 27 augustus namen troepen die onder het bevel stonden van stafchef Mobutu de hoofdstad van Zuid-Kasaï in. Anthony Mockler, 'The New Mercenaries,' Corgi Books, 1985, Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999), Other translations of his name include "the all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake," "the earthy, the peppery, all-powerful warrior who, by his endurance and will to win, goes from contest to contest leaving fire in his wake" and "the man who flies from victory to victory and leaves nothing behind him"<, CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (, Leslie, Winsome J. The name "Mobutu" was selected by an uncle. De tientallen doden werden in een massagraf geworpen en enkele dagen later werden alle studentenverenigingen verboden. En privé aussi, l’homme qui avait régné sans partage sur le Congo, après s’être emparé du pouvoir lors d’un coup d’Etat militaire, le 24 novembre 1965, était colérique. Bij aanvang van de conferentie zat Lumumba nog in de gevangenis in Leopoldstad. This page was last edited on 27 September 2020, at 10:43. In addition to inviting Holden Roberto and his guerrillas to Beijing for training, China provided weapons and money to the rebels. Incidentally, late 1974-early 1975 was when his personality cult reached its peak. The AFDL would have completely overrun the country far sooner if not for the country's decrepit infrastructure. [87], Mobutu went into temporary exile in Togo, until President Gnassingbé Eyadéma insisted that Mobutu leave the country a few days later. [59] Mobutu maintained several personal contacts with prominent Belgians. [17], During the 1960 talks in Brussels on Congolese independence, the US embassy held a reception for the Congolese delegation. Mobutu was willing to fund the ten million dollar purse and host the bout, in order to gain international recognition and legitimacy in the process. After passing a course in accounting, Mobutu began to dabble professionally in journalism. [52], Mobutu led one of the most enduring dictatorships in Africa and amassed a personal fortune estimated to be over US$5 billion by selling his nation's rich natural resources while the people lived in poverty. By 1989, the government was forced to default on international loans from Belgium. When Mobutu's government issued an order in November 1996 forcing Tutsis to leave Zaire on penalty of death, the ethnic Tutsis in Zaire,[85] known as Banyamulenge, were the focal point of a rebellion. For example, in 1970, he expelled four Soviet diplomats for carrying out "subversive activities", and in 1971, twenty Soviet officials were declared persona non grata for allegedly instigating student demonstrations at Lovanium University. Dat deed hij dan ook op 5 september 1960. Tijdens zijn afwezigheid begon de Congolese Burgeroorlog in het oosten van Zaïre. The massive Chinese economic aid that flowed into Zaire gave Mobutu more flexibility in his dealings with Western governments, allowed him to identify as an "anti-capitalist revolutionary", and enabled him to avoid going to the International Monetary Fund for assistance.[7]. Na de arrestatie van Lumumba trok Mobutu zich uit de politiek terug. The bout took place in Kinshasa during Mobutu's rule. Memories of Chinese aid to Mulele and other Maoist rebels in Kwilu province during the ill-fated Simba Rebellion remained fresh in Mobutu's mind. He also built close ties with the governments of Apartheid South Africa, Israel and the Greek military junta. [84], In 2011, Time magazine described him as the "archetypal African dictator".[8]. La RDC célèbrera discrètement ce jeudi le 20e anniversaire de la mort de celui qui a dirigé le pays durant 32 ans d’une main de fer, le maréchal Mobutu Sese Seko, considéré aujourd’hui comme le principal responsable de la crise morale qui sévit toujours dans l’ex-Zaïre. Op 24 november 1965 vond Mobutu dat zijn moment gekomen was en hij pleegde opnieuw een staatsgreep. Ilunga Ilunkamba a déjà été plusieurs fois ministre sous le règne de Mobutu. Hij stond bekend om zijn buitensporig dure feesten en bezat vastgoed in het buitenland. [58] Mobutu's "Zairianisation" policy, which expropriated foreign-held businesses and transferred their ownership to Zairians, added to the strain. Een jaar later, op 4 januari 1969, werd opnieuw een studentenmanifestatie georganiseerd. By 1977, this had precipitated such an economic slump that Mobutu was forced to try to woo foreign investors back. Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (/ m ə ˈ b uː t uː ˈ s ɛ s eɪ ˈ s ɛ k oʊ /; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and later Zaire from 1965 to 1997. [80], Mobutu enjoyed a very warm relationship with the Reagan Administration, through financial donations. Mobutu was the subject of the three-part documentary Mobutu, King of Zaire by Thierry Michel. A popular saying that "the civil servants pretended to work while the state pretended to pay them" expressed this grim reality.[46]. For the presidential election, Mobutu was the only candidate. The constitution stated that the MPR was embodied by the party's president, who was elected every seven years at its national convention. His first wife, Marie-Antoinette Mobutu, died of heart failure on 22 October 1977 in Genolier, Switzerland, at the age of 36. [20] On 8 July the full Council of Ministers convened in an extraordinary session under the chairmanship of President Joseph Kasa-Vubu at Camp Léopold II to address the task of Africanising the garrison. On 1 May 1980, he married his mistress, Bobi Ladawa, on the eve of a visit by Pope John Paul II, thus legitimizing his relationship in the eyes of the Church. Capsule santé est une mini-série composée de courts extraits audios sur des thèmes liés à la santé et à votre bien-être. [49], Mobutu's rule earned a reputation as one of the world's foremost examples of kleptocracy and nepotism. Initially, Mobutu's government was decidedly apolitical, even anti-political. His portraits were hung in many public places, and government officials wore lapel pins bearing his portrait. De westerse regeringen beschouwden Lumumba als gevaarlijk, wisselvallig en procommunistisch. De rebellen beschikten niet over een leger en de inname van de hoofdstad werd een echt bloedbad. Op 5 juli sloeg het leger in Leopoldstad aan het muiten. © 2020 Deutsche Welle | "[18], Following the general election, Lumumba was tasked with creating a government. De conferentie begon in de tweede helft van 1990 en duurde tot in 1992. Lumumba rejected this action but was forced to retire to his residence, where UN peacekeepers prevented Mobutu's soldiers from arresting him. In deze periode brak de onafhankelijkheidsstrijd uit in Congo en de Belgische regering besliste over te gaan tot een snelle onafhankelijkheid. Encouraged by a Belgian government intent on maintaining its access to rich Congolese mines, secessionist violence erupted in the south. In the 1996 documentary of the 1974 Foreman-Ali fight in Zaire, dancers receiving the fighters can be heard chanting "Sese Seko, Sese Seko". Mobutu intended for the union to serve as an instrument of support for government policy, rather than as an independent group.