“big man syndrome”

1. “big man syndrome” Mobutu SeseSeko and Zaire

2. Mobutu SeseSeko • PICTURE

3. Congo • MAP

4. Background • Forced to enlist in the Belgian Congolese army as a student • Became a journalist and met young Congolese intellectuals challenging colonial rule • Secretary for anti-colonial leader Patrice Lumumba

5. Independence • June 30, 1960 • Coalition government headed by Lumumba as Prime Minister and President Joseph Kasa-Vubu

6. Congo Crisis • Army mutinied against remaining Belgian officers • Belgian government supported rebel movements Results: • Mobutu appointed Chief of Staff of the Congolese Army • Lumumba turned to the Soviet Union for assistance which led to division between Lumumba and the President with Mobutu in the middle

7. Rise to Power • September 14, 1960 • Mobutu took control in a CIA-sponsored coup • Ousted Lumumba and accused him of pro-communist sympathies • Kasa-Vubu remained president • Mobutu: • Remained General of the army • Solidified support from the U.S. by condemning communism • November 24, 1965 • Bloodless coup during another struggle between Kasa-Vubu and new Prime Minister • “It has taken the politicians five years to ruin the country, therefore for five years there will be no more political party activity in the country.” • State of emergency proclaimed and Mobutu assumed absolute power

8. Mobutu’s Politics Popular Movement of the Revolution (MPR) • All citizens required to be a member • Slogan: “neither left nor right” (and later “nor even center”) • Trade unions centralized and used as a political apparatus to support Mobutu’s policies • Set up several military forces whose sole purpose was his own protection

9. Political Opponents • Torture • Political opponent lured out of exile on the assumption that he would be granted amnesty • He was brutally tortured and killed • Execution • Four cabinet members executed in front of 50,000 spectators • Patronage • “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer” • “Musical chairs” in the government • Arrest and torture dissidents and then pardon them and reward them with high office

10. Mobutu’s Economics • “Zairianization” – nationalize industry, force Europeans out • Backfired – late 1970s tries to woo European investors back into the country • 1984 – personal wealth estimated at $5 billion USD • Owned fleet of Mercedes-Benz vehicles and numerous palaces • Meanwhile, the nation’s infrastructure collapsed • “Civil servants pretended to work while the government pretended to pay them.” • Kleptocracy

11. Mobutu’s Society • 1971 – renamed country the Republic of Zaire • Africans ordered to change their European names • Priests faced five years in prison if they baptized an African with a European name • Western attire and ties were banned; men forced to wear a Mao-style tunic • ”)

12. Mobutu SeseSekoNkukuNgbenduWaZaBanga • “The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake.”

13. Mobutu’s Foreign Policy • Capitalized on Cold War tensions • Three largest donors: Belgium, France and the U.S. • 1970s – solidified ties with China and was heavily influenced by Mao Zedong • Relations with the U.S. cooled but they found common ground again during the Angolan Civil War

14. U.S. Relationship • Warm relationship with President Ronald Reagan • “[Mobutu is] a voice of good sense and goodwill.” • End of Cold War • U.S. and other Western powers pressured him to democratize his regime • 1993 – denied a visa by the State Department

15. Fall from Power • 1990 – Mobutu reinstated other political parties and allowed elections • Coalition government formed in 1993 • Austerity measures and free-market reforms put in place • First Congo War • Mobutu overthrown by group supported by Rwanda, Burundi, and Ugandan governments • Zaire renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo • Mobutu died in exile of prostate cancer on September 7, 1997