View source for Mobutu Sese Seko

{{Short description|President of DR Congo and Zaire from 1965 to 1997}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Mobutu Sese Seko
| image               = Mobutu (cropped).jpg
| caption             = Mobutu in 1983
| office              = [[President of Zaire]]
| term_start          = 27 October 1971
| term_end            = 16 May 1997
| predecessor         = ''Himself''<br>{{small|(as President of the DRC)}}
| successor           = [[Laurent-Désiré Kabila]]<br>{{small|(as President of the DRC)}}
| order1              = 2nd
| office1             = President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
| term_start1         = 24 November 1965
| term_end1           = 27 October 1971
| predecessor1        = [[Joseph Kasa-Vubu]]
| successor1          = ''Himself''<br>{{small|(as President of Zaire)}}
| order2              = 5th
| office2             = Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity
| term_start2         = 11 September 1967
| term_end2           = 14 September 1968
| predecessor2        = [[Haile Selassie]]
| successor2          = [[Houari Boumédiène]]
| birth_name          = Joseph-Désiré Mobutu
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1930|10|14}}
| birth_place         = [[Lisala]], [[Équateur (former province)|Équateur]], Belgian Congo
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1997|09|07|1930|10|14}}
| death_place         = [[Rabat]], Morocco
| nationality         = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| party               = [[Popular Movement of the Revolution]]
| spouse              = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Marie-Antoinette Mobutu|Marie-Antoinette Gbiatibwa Gogbe Yetene]]|1955|1977|end=her death}}
* {{marriage|[[Bobi Ladawa Mobutu|Bobi Ladawa]]|1980}}
}}
| children            = 16, including [[Nzanga Mobutu|Nzanga]]
| branch              = {{plainlist|
* {{Flagicon|Belgian Congo}} [[Force Publique]]
* {{Flagicon|COD|1964}} [[Armée Nationale Congolaise|Congolese National Army]]
* {{flagicon|Zaire}} [[Forces Armées Zaïroises|Zairian Armed Forces]]
}}
| rank                = {{plainlist|
* [[Marshal]] (Army)
* [[Admiral]] (Navy)
* [[Commander in chief]] (Military)
}}
| battles             = {{plainlist|
* [[Congo Crisis]] 
*[[Katanga insurgency]]
* [[Shaba invasions]] 
* [[First Congo War]]
}}
| allegiance          = {{Flagicon|Belgian Congo}} [[Belgian Congo]] (1949–1960)<br />{{Flagicon|COD|1964}} [[Congo-Léopoldville]] (1960–1971)<br />{{Flag|Zaire}}<br>(1971–1997)
| serviceyears        = 1949–1997
}}
{{Mobutu}}
'''Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa za Banga'''{{Efn|The name translates as "the warrior who goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his path", "the warrior who leaves a trail of fire in his path", or "the warrior who knows no defeat because of his endurance and inflexible will and is all powerful, leaving fire in his wake as he goes from conquest to conquest".}} ({{IPAc-en|m|ə|ˈ|b|uː|t|uː|_|ˈ|s|ɛ|s|eɪ|_|ˈ|s|ɛ|k|oʊ|audio=En-us-Mobutu Sese Seko from Zaire pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg}} {{respell|mə|BOO|too|_|SESS|ay|_|SEK|oh}}; born '''Joseph-Désiré Mobutu'''; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), often shortened to '''Mobutu Sese Seko''' or '''Mobutu''' and also known by his initials '''MSS''', was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the first and only [[president of Zaire]] from 1971 to 1997. Previously, Mobutu served as the second [[president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]], from 1965 to 1971. He also served as the fifth [[chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity]] from 1967 to 1968. During the [[Congo Crisis]] in 1960, Mobutu, then serving as Chief of Staff of the Congolese Army, deposed the nation's democratically elected government of [[Patrice Lumumba]] with the support of the U.S. and Belgium. Mobutu installed a government that arranged for Lumumba's execution in 1961, and continued to lead the country's armed forces until he took power directly in a second coup in 1965.

To consolidate his power, he established the [[Popular Movement of the Revolution]] as the [[One-party state|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. Mobutu protected his rule through an intensely [[Autocracy|autocratic]] regime and came to preside over a period of widespread human rights violations. He attempted to purge the country of all [[Colonization of the Congo|colonial cultural influence]] through his program of "[[Authenticité (Zaire)|national authenticity]]".<ref>Vieira, Daviel Lazure: Precolonial Imaginaries and Colonial Legacies in Mobutu's "Authentic" Zaire in: Exploitation and Misrule in Colonial and Postcolonial Africa, (edited by) Kalu, Kenneth and Falola, Toyin, pp. 165–191, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019</ref><ref>David F. Schmitz, The United States and Right-Wing Dictatorships, 1965–1989, pp. 9–36, 2006, Cambridge University Press</ref> Mobutu was the object of a pervasive [[cult of personality]].<ref name="infoplease.com">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Mobutu Sese Seko|url=http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/mobutu-sese-seko.html|encyclopedia=The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia|publisher=Columbia University Press|access-date=30 April 2013|year=2012|archive-date=8 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508081852/http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/mobutu-sese-seko.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Mobutu claimed that his political ideology was "neither left nor right, nor even centre",{{Sfn|Young|Turner|p=210|1985|loc=}} but was primarily recognized for his opposition to [[communism]] within the {{lang|fr|[[Françafrique]]}} region and received strong support (military, diplomatic and economic) from the United States, France, and Belgium given the fact. He also built close ties with the governments of [[apartheid]] [[South Africa]], [[Israel]], and the [[Greek junta]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kleptocracy and Anti-Communism: When Mobutu Ruled Zaire – Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training |url=https://adst.org/2016/09/kleptocracy-and-anti-communism-when-mobutu-ruled-zaire/ |access-date=22 January 2025 |website=adst.org}}</ref>

Mobutu was notorious for corruption and nepotism: estimates of his personal wealth range from $50 million to $5 billion,<ref name="washingtonpost.com">Washington Post, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/10/03/mobutu-a-rich-man-in-poor-standing/49e66628-3149-47b8-827f-159dff8ac1cd/ "Mobutu: A Rich man In Poor Standing".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925132512/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1991/10/03/mobutu-a-rich-man-in-poor-standing/49e66628-3149-47b8-827f-159dff8ac1cd/ |date=25 September 2022 }} 2 October 1991.</ref><ref>The New York Times, [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/29/world/mobutu-s-village-basks-in-his-glory.html/ "Mobutu’s village basks in his glory".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320235638/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/29/world/mobutu-s-village-basks-in-his-glory.html |date=20 March 2024 }} 29 September 1988.</ref> amassed through economic exploitation and corruption as president.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 January 2020 |title=Revealing the Ultimate 2020 List: The 10 Most Corrupt Politicians in the World - The Sina Times |url=https://www.sinatimes.com/2020/01/03/revealing-the-ultimate-2020-list-the-10-most-corrupt-politicians-in-the-world/ |access-date=3 January 2024 |language=en-US |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103131453/https://www.sinatimes.com/2020/01/03/revealing-the-ultimate-2020-list-the-10-most-corrupt-politicians-in-the-world/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> His rule has been called a [[kleptocracy]]<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://economics.mit.edu/files/4462 |title=Kleptocracy and Divide-and-Rule: A Model of Personal Rule |author1=Acemoglu, Daron |author2=Robinson, James A. |author3=Verdier, Thierry |name-list-style=amp |journal=Journal of the European Economic Association |date=April–May 2004 |volume=2 |issue=2–3 |pages=162–192 |doi=10.1162/154247604323067916 |doi-broken-date=4 August 2025 |citeseerx=10.1.1.687.1751 |s2cid=7846928 |access-date=26 October 2013 |archive-date=29 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229032121/http://economics.mit.edu/files/4462 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1120825.stm | title=DR Congo's troubled history | author=Pearce, Justin | publisher=BBC | date=16 January 2001 | access-date=26 October 2013 | archive-date=29 October 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029215023/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1120825.stm | url-status=live }}</ref> for allowing this personal fortune even as the [[economy of Zaire]] suffered from uncontrolled inflation, a large debt, and massive currency [[devaluation]]s. Mobutu was further known for extravagances such as shopping trips to Paris via the supersonic [[Concorde]] aircraft.<ref name="Time">{{cite news|last=Tharoor|first=Ishaan|title=Mobutu Sese Seko|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2097426_2097427_2097458,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022191650/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2097426_2097427_2097458,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 October 2011|work=Top 15 Toppled Dictators|publisher=Time Magazine|access-date=30 April 2013|date=20 October 2011}}</ref>

By 1990, economic deterioration and unrest forced Mobutu Sese Seko into a coalition with political opponents and to allow a multiparty system. Although he used his troops to thwart change, his antics did not last long. In May 1997, rebel forces led by [[Laurent-Désiré Kabila]] overran the country and forced him into exile. Already suffering from advanced [[prostate cancer]], he died three months later in Morocco.

==Biography==
===Early years and education===
Mobutu, a member of the [[Ngbandi people|Ngbandi]] ethnic group,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=country&category=&publisher=&type=CHRON&coi=COD&rid=&docid=469f38813&skip=0 |title= Chronology for Ngbandi in the Dem. Rep. of the Congo |publisher= [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]] |date= 15 May 2013 |access-date= 15 May 2013 |archive-date= 15 July 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180715010934/http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=country&category=&publisher=&type=CHRON&coi=COD&rid=&docid=469f38813&skip=0 |url-status= live }}</ref> was born in 1930 in [[Lisala]], [[Belgian Congo]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://sites.davidson.edu/cis485/?p=3164 |title = AFRICA AND DEMOCRACY Joseph Mobutu, Dictator of the DRC, and His Life-Saving Support from the US |author = Akrasih, Shirley |publisher = [[Davidson College]] |date = 28 February 2012 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140303231049/http://sites.davidson.edu/cis485/?p=3164 |archive-date = 3 March 2014 |df = dmy-all }}</ref> Mobutu's mother, Marie Madeleine Yemo, was a hotel maid who fled to Lisala to escape the [[harem]] of a local village chief. There she met and married Albéric Gbemani, a cook for a Belgian judge.<ref>
{{cite book
| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=k9n9aUHXtW4C&pg=PA198
| title = The Troubled Heart of Africa: A History of the Congo
| author = Robert Edgerton
| publisher = Macmillan
| isbn = 978-0312304867
| year = 2002
}}
</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kenyon|2018|p=7}}</ref> Shortly afterward she gave birth to Mobutu. The name "Mobutu" was selected by an uncle.

Gbemani died when Mobutu was eight.<ref>[[Michela Wrong|Wrong, Michela]] (2009) ''In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo''. HarperCollins. {{ISBN|0061863610}}. pp. 70–72</ref> Thereafter, he was raised by an uncle and a grandfather.<!-- from French wikipedia -->

The Belgian judge's wife took a liking to Mobutu and taught him to speak, read, and write fluently in [[French language|French]],<ref>{{harvnb|Kenyon|2018|p=8}}</ref> the official language of the colony. His widowed mother Yemo relied on the help of relatives to support her four children, and the family moved often. Mobutu's earliest education took place in the capital [[Kinshasa|Léopoldville]] (now Kinshasa). His mother eventually sent him to an uncle in [[Mbandaka|Coquilhatville]] (present-day Mbandaka), where he attended the Christian Brothers School, a Catholic-mission boarding school. He excelled in academic subjects and ran the class newspaper. He was also known for his pranks and impish sense of humor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bailey |first=Thomas |title=Mobutu Sese Seko: The Rise and Fall of Congo's Infamous Dictator |url=https://www.thecollector.com/mobutu-congo-great-dictator/ |access-date=13 April 2025 |website=TheCollector |date=9 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref>

A classmate recalled that when the Belgian priests, whose first language was Dutch, made an error in French, Mobutu would leap to his feet in class and point out the mistake. In 1949 Mobutu stowed away aboard a boat, traveling downriver to Léopoldville, where he met a girl. The priests found him several weeks later. At the end of the school year, in lieu of being sent to prison, he was ordered to serve seven years in the colonial army, the [[Force Publique]] (FP). This was a usual punishment for rebellious students.<ref>Wrong, pp. 72–74</ref>

===Army service===
Mobutu found discipline in army life, as well as a father figure in Sergeant [[Louis Bobozo]]. 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. His favorites were the writings of French president [[Charles de Gaulle]], British prime minister [[Winston Churchill]], and Italian Renaissance philosopher [[Niccolò Machiavelli]]. After passing a course in accounting, Mobutu began to dabble professionally in journalism. Still angry after his clashes with the school priests, he did not marry in a church. His contribution to the wedding festivities was a crate of beer, all his army salary could afford.<ref>Wrong, pp. 74–75</ref>

=== Early political involvement ===
As a soldier, Mobutu wrote in pseudonym on contemporary politics for ''Actualités Africaines'' (African News), a magazine set up by a Belgian colonial. In 1956, he quit the army and became a full-time journalist,<ref>Wrong, p. 75</ref> writing for the Léopoldville daily ''[[L'Avenir (Congolese newspaper)|L'Avenir]]''.{{Sfn|Young|Turner|p=175|1985}}

Two years later, he went to Belgium to cover the [[Expo '58|1958 World Exposition]] and stayed to receive training in journalism. By this time, Mobutu had met many of the young Congolese intellectuals who were challenging colonial rule. He became friendly with [[Patrice Lumumba]] and joined Lumumba's [[Mouvement National Congolais|Congolese National Movement]] (MNC). Mobutu eventually became Lumumba's personal aide. Several contemporaries indicate that Belgian intelligence had recruited Mobutu to be an informer to the government.<ref>Wrong, pp. 76</ref>

During the 1960 talks in Brussels on Congolese independence, the US embassy held a reception for the Congolese delegation. Embassy staff were each assigned a list of delegation members to meet, and discussed their impressions afterward. The ambassador noted, "One name kept coming up. But it wasn't on anyone's list because he wasn't an official delegation member, he was Lumumba's secretary. But everyone agreed that this was an extremely intelligent man, very young, perhaps immature, but a man with great potential."<ref>Wrong, p. 67</ref>

Following the general election, Lumumba was tasked with creating a government. He gave Mobutu the office of Secretary of State to the Presidency. Mobutu held much influence in the final determination of the rest of the government.{{sfn|Kanza|1994|p=113}} He lost private access to Lumumba following independence, as the new prime minister grew busy and surrounded by aides and colleagues, leading the two to drift apart.{{sfn|Reid|2023|p=124}}

===Congo Crisis===
{{main|Congo Crisis}}
[[File:Colonel Mobutu.jpg|thumb|Colonel Mobutu in 1960]]
[[File:Mobutu Sese Seko visit to Israel (997009327452605171).jpg|thumb|alt=Mobutu in a 1963 visit to Israel, where he participated in a shortened IDF paratrooper course|Mobutu in a 1963 visit to Israel, where he participated in a shortened [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] paratrooper course]]
On 5 July 1960, soldiers of the [[Force Publique]] stationed at Camp Léopold II in Léopoldville, dissatisfied with their all-white leadership and working conditions, [[1960 Force Publique mutinies|mutinied]]. The revolt spread across the region in the following days. Mobutu assisted other officials in negotiating with the mutineers to secure the release of the officers and their families.{{sfn|Hoskyns|1965|pp=88–89}} 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.{{sfn|Kanza|1994|p=191}}

The ministers debated over who would make a suitable army chief of staff. The two main candidates for the post were Minister of Youth and Sports [[Maurice Mpolo]] and Mobutu. 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. The latter was perceived as calmer and more thoughtful.{{sfn|Kanza|1994|p=192}} Lumumba saw Mpolo as courageous, but favored Mobutu's prudence. As the discussions continued, the cabinet began to divide according to who they preferred to serve as chief of staff. Lumumba wanted to keep both men in his government and wished to avoid upsetting one of their camps of supporters.{{sfn|Kanza|1994|p=192}} In the end Mobutu was given the role and awarded the rank of colonel.{{sfn|Kanza|1994|p=193}} The following day government delegations left the capital to oversee the Africanisation of the army; Mobutu was sent to [[Équateur (former province)|Équateur]].{{sfn|Hoskyns|1965|pp=92, 94}} While he was there Mpolo acted as ANC Chief of Staff.{{sfn|Hoskyns|1965|p=136}}{{sfn|Reid|2023|p=176}} Mobutu was affronted by this development, and upon his return to the capital he confronted Lumumba in a cabinet meeting, saying, "Either I was unworthy, and you have to dismiss me, or I faithfully accomplished my mission and so I keep my rank and functions."{{sfn|Reid|2023|p=176}}

The British diplomat [[Brian Urquhart]] serving with the United Nations wrote: "When I first met Mobutu in July 1960, he was Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba's chief military assistant and had just promoted himself from sergeant to lieutenant-colonel. By comparison with his boss, Mobutu was a pillar of pragmatism and common sense. It was to him that we appealed when our people were arrested by Lumumba's hashish-stimulated guards. It was he who would bring up, in a disarmingly casual way, Lumumba's most outrageous requests – that the UN should, for example, meet the pay roll of the potentially mutinous Congolese army. In those early days, Mobutu seemed a comparatively sensible young man, one who might even, at least now and then, have the best interests of his newly independent country at heart."<ref name="Urquhart">{{cite web |last1=Urquhart |first1=Brian |title=Character Sketches: Mobutu and Tshombe -Two Congolese Rogues |url=https://news.un.org/en/spotlight/character-sketches-joseph-mobutu-moise-tshombe-brian-urquhart |website=United Nations |date=13 February 2019 |access-date=24 April 2022 |archive-date=7 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707012527/https://news.un.org/en/spotlight/character-sketches-joseph-mobutu-moise-tshombe-brian-urquhart |url-status=live }}</ref>

Encouraged by a Belgian government intent on maintaining its access to rich Congolese mines, secessionist violence erupted in the south. Concerned that the [[United Nations Operation in the Congo|United Nations force]] sent to help restore order was not helping to crush the secessionists, Lumumba turned to the [[Soviet Union]] for assistance. He received massive military aid and about a thousand Soviet technical advisers within six weeks. As this was during the [[Cold War]], the US government feared that the Soviet activity was a maneuver to spread communist influence in Central Africa. Kasa-Vubu was encouraged by the US and Belgium to dismiss Lumumba, which he did on 5 September. An outraged Lumumba declared Kasa-Vubu deposed. Parliament refused to recognise the dismissals and urged reconciliation, but no agreement was reached.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beyer |first=Greg |title=Patrice Lumumba: Hero & Martyr of the Congo |url=https://www.thecollector.com/patrice-lumumba-congo/ |access-date=15 April 2025 |website=TheCollector |date=20 June 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Marcussen |first=Rebecca |date=31 January 2025 |title=A not so secret assassination attempt: Lumumba and the history of the Republic of Congo |url=https://www.debatmagazine.nl/a-not-so-secret-assassination-attempt-lumumba-and-the-history-of-the-republic-of-congo/5315/ |access-date=15 April 2025 |website=DEBAT |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Patrice Émery Lumumba: First Prime Minister of the Congo |url=https://www.blackhistoryheroes.com/2011/02/patrice-lumumba-first-prime-minister-of.html?m=1 |access-date=15 April 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu each ordered Mobutu to arrest the other. As Army Chief of Staff, Mobutu came under great pressure from multiple sources. The embassies of Western nations, which helped pay the soldiers' salaries, as well as Kasa-Vubu and Mobutu's subordinates, all favored getting rid of the Soviet presence. On 14 September Mobutu launched a bloodless coup, declaring both Kasa-Vubu and Lumumba to be "neutralised" and establishing a new government of university graduates, the [[College of Commissioners-General]]. Lumumba rejected this action but was forced to retire to his residence, where UN peacekeepers prevented Mobutu's soldiers from arresting him. Urquhart recalled that on the day of the coup, Mobutu showed up unannounced at the UN headquarters in Léopoldville and refused to leave, until the radio announced the coup, leading Mobutu to say over and over again "''C'est moi!''" ("This is me!").<ref name="Urquhart"/> Recognizing that Mobutu had only gone to the UN headquarters in case the coup should fail, Urquhart ordered him out.<ref name="Urquhart"/>

Losing confidence that the international community would support his reinstatement, Lumumba fled in late November to join his supporters in [[Kisangani|Stanleyville]] to establish a [[Free Republic of the Congo|new government]]. He was captured by Mobutu's troops in early December, and incarcerated at his headquarters in [[Mbanza-Ngungu|Thysville]]. However, Mobutu still considered him a threat, and transferred him to the rebelling [[State of Katanga]] on 17 January 1961. Lumumba disappeared from public view. It was later discovered that he was executed the same day by the secessionist forces of [[Moise Tshombe]], after Mobutu's government turned him over.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schmidt|first1=Elizabeth|title=Foreign Intervention in Africa|publisher=Cambridge UP|pages=62–65}}</ref>

[[File:Mobutu and Kasa-Vubu in 1961.jpg|thumb|Colonel Joseph-Desiré Mobutu (left) with President Joseph Kasa-Vubu, 1961|left]]
On 23 January 1961, Kasa-Vubu promoted Mobutu to major-general. Historian De Witte argues that this was a political action, "aimed to strengthen the army, the president's sole support, and Mobutu's position within the army".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Fl2lvKa_GEC|title=The Assassination of Lumumba|last1=De Witte|first1=Ludo|last2=Wright|first2=Ann|publisher=[[Verso Books]]|year=2002|isbn=978-1-85984-410-6|page=127|author-link=Ludo De Witte|access-date=27 September 2020|archive-date=11 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111164936/https://books.google.com/books?id=2Fl2lvKa_GEC|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1964, [[Pierre Mulele]] led partisans in another rebellion. They quickly occupied two-thirds of the Congo. In response, the Congolese army, led by Mobutu, reconquered the entire territory through 1965.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mobutu's Ascension to Power – Innovative Research Methods |url=https://innovativeresearchmethods.org/mobutus-ascension-to-power/ |access-date=15 April 2025 |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Second ''coup'' and consolidation of power===
{{See also|Second Mobutu coup d'état}}
Prime Minister Moise Tshombe's [[Congolese National Convention]] had won a large majority in the [[1965 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election|March 1965 elections]], but Kasa-Vubu appointed an anti-Tshombe leader, [[Évariste Kimba]], as prime minister-designate. However, Parliament twice refused to confirm him. With the government in near-paralysis, Mobutu seized power in a bloodless coup on 24 November. He had turned 35 a month earlier.<ref name=cs1>{{csref|country=zaire|author=Lemarchand, René |section=Mobutu's Second Coming}}</ref>

Under the auspices of a [[state of exception]] (''regime d'exception''), Mobutu assumed sweeping—almost absolute—powers for five years.<ref name=cs2>{{csref|country=zaire|author=Turner, Thomas |section=The Party-State as a System of Rule}}</ref> In his first speech upon taking power, Mobutu told a large crowd at Léopoldville's main stadium that, since politicians had brought the Congo to ruin in five years, it would take him at least that long to set things right again, and therefore there would be no more political party activity for five years.<ref name=Anatomy/> On 30 November 1965 Parliament approved a measure which turned over most legislative powers to Mobutu and his cabinet, though it retained the right to review his decrees. In early March 1966 he opened a new session of Parliament by declaring that he was revoking their right of review, and two weeks later his government permanently suspended the body and assumed all of its remaining functions.<ref>{{cite news| title = Parliament Stripped of All Power by Mobutu: Congo Chief Expected to Decree Budget Ratification and Reduce Provinces to 14| newspaper = The Los Angeles Times| agency = Associated Press| page = 18| date = 23 March 1966}}</ref>

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Katoenen overhemd met portret van Mobutu TMnr 5829-1.jpg|thumb|A Congolese cotton shirt embellished with a portrait of Mobutu from the collection of the [[Tropenmuseum]] in Amsterdam]]
Initially, Mobutu's government presented itself as apolitical or even anti-political. The word "politician" carried negative connotations, and became almost synonymous with someone who was wicked or corrupt. In 1966 the Corps of Volunteers of the Republic was established, a vanguard movement designed to mobilize popular support behind Mobutu, who was proclaimed the nation's "Second National Hero" after Lumumba. Despite the role he played in Lumumba's ousting, Mobutu worked to present himself as a successor to Lumumba's legacy. One of his key tenets early in his rule was "authentic Congolese nationalism". In 1966, Mobutu started renaming cities that had European names with more "authentic" African names, and in this way Léopoldville became Kinshasa, Stanleyville became Kisangani and Élisabethville became [[Lubumbashi]].{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=10}}

1967 marked the debut of the [[Popular Movement of the Revolution]] (MPR), which until 1990 was the nation's only legal political party. Among the themes advanced by the MPR in its doctrine, the Manifesto of N'Sele, were nationalism, revolution, and "authenticity". Revolution was described as a "truly national revolution, essentially pragmatic", which called for "the repudiation of both capitalism and communism". One of the MPR's slogans was "Neither left nor right", to which would be added "nor even center" in later years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nelson Mandela is not a Blacks Sellout |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/nelson-mandela-is-not-a-blacks-sellout-20120719 |access-date=15 April 2025 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref>

That same year, all trade unions were consolidated into a single union, the [[National Union of Congolese Workers|National Union of Zairian Workers]], and brought under government control. Mobutu intended for the union to serve as an instrument of support for government policy, rather than as an independent group. Independent trade unions were illegal until 1991.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Kasuka |first=Bridgette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ragu4v8r--4C |title=Prominent African Leaders Since Independence |date=8 February 2012 |publisher=Bankole Kamara Taylor |isbn=978-1-4700-4358-2 |pages=171 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Mobutu swearing in, 1970.jpg|thumb|Mobutu sworn in as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the 1970 election]]
Facing many challenges early in his rule, Mobutu converted much opposition into submission through patronage; those he could not co-opt, he dealt with forcefully. In 1966, four cabinet members were arrested on charges of complicity in an attempted coup, tried by a military tribunal, and publicly executed in an open-air spectacle witnessed by over 50,000 people. Uprisings by former Katangan gendarmeries were crushed, as were the [[Stanleyville mutinies]] of 1967 led by white mercenaries.<ref>Anthony Mockler, 'The New Mercenaries,' Corgi Books, 1985, {{ISBN|0-552-12558-X}}.</ref> 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. That year marked the pinnacle of Mobutu's legitimacy and power.<ref name=":1" />

In 1970 King [[Baudouin of Belgium]] made a highly successful state visit to [[Kinshasa]]. That same year [[1970 Democratic Republic of the Congo presidential election|presidential]] and [[1970 Democratic Republic of the Congo parliamentary election|legislative]] elections were held. Although the constitution allowed for the existence of two parties, the MPR was the only party allowed to nominate candidates. For the presidential election, Mobutu was the only candidate. Voting was not secret; voters chose a green paper if they supported Mobutu's candidacy, and a red paper if they opposed his candidacy. Casting a green ballot was deemed a vote for hope, while a red ballot was deemed a vote for chaos. Under the circumstances, the result was inevitable–according to official figures, Mobutu was confirmed in office with near-unanimous support, garnering 10,131,669 votes to only 157 "no" votes.<ref>Callaghy, Thomas M. ''The State-Society Struggle: Zaire in Comparative Perspective'', p. 164</ref> It later emerged that almost 30,500 more votes were cast than the actual number of registered voters.<ref name="EISA">{{Cite web |title=EISA DRC: Elections under the Second Republic |url=https://eisa.org.za/wep/drcsecondrepublic.htm |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20190729022744/https://eisa.org.za/wep/drcsecondrepublic.htm |archive-date=29 July 2019 |access-date=28 June 2025 |website=www.eisa.org.za}}</ref><ref>Nohlen, D, Krennerich, M & Thibaut, B (1999) ''Elections in Africa: A data handbook'', p294 {{ISBN|0-19-829645-2}}</ref> The legislative elections were held in a similar fashion. Voters were presented with a single list from the MPR; according to official figures, an implausible 98.33% of voters voted in favor of the MPR list.<ref name=":1" />

As he consolidated power, Mobutu set up several military forces whose sole purpose was to protect him. These included the [[Special Presidential Division]], [[Civil Guard (Zaire)|Civil Guard]] and Service for Action, and Military Intelligence (SNIP).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kasuka |first=Bridgette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ragu4v8r--4C |title=Prominent African Leaders Since Independence |date=8 February 2012 |publisher=Bankole Kamara Taylor |isbn=978-1-4700-4358-2 |pages=172 |language=en}}</ref>

===Authenticity campaign===
{{main|Authenticité (Zaire)}}
[[File:Flag of Zaire (1971–1997).svg|left|Flag of Zaire|thumb]]

Embarking on a campaign of pro-Africa cultural awareness, called ''[[authenticité (Zaire)|authenticité]]'', Mobutu began renaming cities that reflected the colonial past, starting on 1 June 1966: Léopoldville became Kinshasa, Elisabethville became Lubumbashi, and Stanleyville became Kisangani. In October 1971, he renamed the country as the [[Republic of Zaire]].{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=10}}<ref>{{harvnb|Kenyon|2018|p=36}}</ref> 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 [[Baptism|baptizing]] a Zairian child with a European name.{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=10}} Western attire and ties were banned, and men were forced to wear a [[Mao suit|Mao-style tunic]] known as an ''[[abacost]]'' (shorthand for ''à bas le costume'', or "down with the suit").<ref>Shaw 2005, 63.</ref> Christmas was moved from December to June because it was more of an "authentic" date.{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=10}}

In 1972, in accordance with his own decree of a year earlier, Mobutu renamed himself ''Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga'' (meaning "The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake.").<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=w1V1AAAAMAAJ&q=%22The+warrior+who+knows+no+defeat+because+of+his+endurance+and+inflexible+will+and+is+all+powerful,+leaving+fire+in+his+wake+as+he+goes+from+conquest+to+conquest%22 ''Zaire: Continuity and Political Change in an Oppressive State''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301190243/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=w1V1AAAAMAAJ&q=%22The+warrior+who+knows+no+defeat+because+of+his+endurance+and+inflexible+will+and+is+all+powerful,+leaving+fire+in+his+wake+as+he+goes+from+conquest+to+conquest%22&dq=%22The+warrior+who+knows+no+defeat+because+of+his+endurance+and+inflexible+will+and+is+all+powerful,+leaving+fire+in+his+wake+as+he+goes+from+conquest+to+conquest%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjv-7qpzOvWAhUCWBoKHcHeBaYQ6AEISzAG |date=1 March 2023 }}, Winsome J. Leslie, Westview Press, 1993, page 60</ref><ref>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"<http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/N04.html#Sese {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040807050253/http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/N04.html#Sese |date=7 August 2004 }}> and "the all-powerful warrior who goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake". (Wrong, p. 4)</ref> 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 a leopard-skin [[toque]] made in Paris.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nordlinger |first=Jay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u3ULDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22toque+%22+Mobutu&pg=PT182 |title=Children of Monsters: An Inquiry into the Sons and Daughters of Dictators |date=10 January 2017 |publisher=Encounter Books |isbn=978-1-59403-900-3 |language=en}}</ref>{{Sfn|Edgerton|2002|p=209}}

In 1974, a [[Constitution of Zaire|new constitution]] consolidated Mobutu's grip on the country. It defined the MPR as the "single institution" in the country. It was officially defined as "the nation politically organized"—in essence, the state was a transmission belt for the party. All citizens automatically became members of the MPR from birth. The constitution stated that the MPR was embodied by the party's president, who was elected every seven years at its national convention. At the same time, the party president was automatically nominated as the sole candidate for a seven-year term as president of the republic; he was confirmed in office by a referendum. The document codified the emergency powers Mobutu had exercised since 1965; it vested Mobutu with "plenitude of power exercise", effectively concentrating all governing power in his hands. Mobutu was reelected three times under this system, each time by implausibly high margins of 98 percent or more. A single list of MPR candidates was returned to the legislature every five years with equally implausible margins; official figures gave the MPR list unanimous or near-unanimous support. At one of those elections, in [[1975 Zairean parliamentary election|1975]], formal voting was dispensed with altogether. Instead, the election took place by [[Acclamation|acclaim]]; candidates were presented at public locations around the country where they would be applauded into parliament.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EISA DRC: Elections under the Second Republic |url=http://www.eisa.org.za:80/WEP/drcsecondrepublic.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028235007/http://www.eisa.org.za:80/WEP/drcsecondrepublic.htm |archive-date=2008-10-28 |access-date=2025-07-02 |website=www.eisa.org.za |language=en}}</ref>

==One-man rule==
[[File:Prince Bernhard and Mobutu Sese Seko 1973.jpg|thumb|270px|Mobutu Sese Seko with the Dutch [[Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld|Prince Bernhard]] in 1973]]
Early in his rule, Mobutu consolidated power by publicly executing political rivals, secessionists, coup plotters, and other threats to his rule. To set an example, many were [[hanging|hanged]] before large audiences. Such victims included former Prime Minister [[Évariste Kimba]], who, with three cabinet members—Jérôme Anany (Defense Minister), Emmanuel Bamba (Finance Minister), and Alexandre Mahamba (Minister of Mines and Energy)—was tried in May 1966, and sent to the gallows on 30 May, before an audience of 50,000 spectators. The men were executed on charges of being in contact with Colonel Alphonse Bangala and Major Pierre Efomi, for the purpose of planning a coup. Mobutu explained the executions as follows: "One had to strike through a spectacular example, and create the conditions of regime discipline. When a chief takes a decision, he decides – period."<ref>Young and Turner, p. 57</ref>

In 1968, [[Pierre Mulele]], Lumumba's Minister of Education and a rebel leader during the 1964 [[Simba rebellion]], was lured out of exile in [[Brazzaville]] on the belief that he would receive amnesty. Instead, he was tortured and killed by Mobutu's forces. While Mulele was still alive, his eyes were gouged out, his genitals were ripped off, and his limbs were amputated one by one.<ref>Wrong, Michela (2002). ''In The Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo''. Perennial. {{ISBN|0-06-093443-3}}. p. 90</ref>

Mobutu later switched to a new tactic, buying off political rivals. He used the slogan "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer still"<ref>[https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2006-09-15-voa8/323431.html Influential Africans: Mobutu Sese Seko], [[Voice of America]], 31 October 2009</ref> to describe his tactic of co-opting political opponents through bribery. A favorite Mobutu tactic was to play "musical chairs", rotating members of his government, switching the cabinet roster constantly to ensure that no one would pose a threat to his rule. Between November 1965 and April 1997, Mobutu reshuffled his cabinet 60 times.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=356}} The frequent cabinet reshuffles as intended encouraged insecurity in his ministers, who knew that the mercurial Mobutu would reshuffle his cabinet with no regard for efficiency and competence on the part of his ministers.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=356}} The frequency that men entered and left the cabinet also encouraged gross corruption because ministers never knew how long they might be in office, thus encouraging them to steal as much as possible while they were in the cabinet.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=356}} Another tactic was to arrest and sometimes torture dissident members of the government, only to later pardon them and reward them with high office.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=356}} The Congolese historian Emizet F. Kisangani wrote: "Most public officials knew that regardless of their inefficiency and degree of corruption,  they could reenter the government. To hold a government position required neither a sense of management nor a good conscience. On most occasions, effectiveness and a good conscience were major obstacles to political advancement. Mobutu demanded absolute personal allegiance in return for the opportunity to accumulate wealth".{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=356}} As early as 1970, it was estimated that Mobutu had stolen 60% of the national budget that year, marking him as one of the most corrupt leaders in Africa and the world.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=356}} Kisangani wrote that Mobutu created a system of [[institutional corruption]] that greatly debased public morality by rewarding venality and greed.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=355–356}}

In 1972, Mobutu tried unsuccessfully to have himself named [[president for life]].<ref>Young and Turner, p. 211</ref> In June 1983, he raised himself to the rank of [[Marshal]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/05/19/Mobutu-grants-amnesty-to-political-prisoners-in-Zaire/5205422164800/|title=Mobutu grants amnesty to political prisoners in Zaire|website=UPI|access-date=3 August 2018|archive-date=3 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803194447/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/05/19/Mobutu-grants-amnesty-to-political-prisoners-in-Zaire/5205422164800/|url-status=live}}</ref> the order was signed by General Likulia Bolongo. [[Victor Nendaka Bika]], in his capacity as Vice-President of the Bureau of the Central Committee, second authority in the land, addressed a speech filled with praise for President Mobutu.

[[File:Mobutu in 1978.jpg|thumb|Mobutu Sese Seko in army fatigues, 1978]]

To gain the revenues of Congolese resources, Mobutu initially [[nationalization|nationalized]] foreign-owned firms and forced European investors out of the country. But in many cases he handed the management of these firms to relatives and close associates, who quickly exercised their own corruption and stole the companies' assets. In 1973–1974, Mobutu launched his "Zairianization" campaign, nationalising foreign owned businesses that were handed over to Zairians.{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=10}} In October 1973, the Arab [[1973 oil crisis|oil shock]] ended the "long summer" of prosperity in the West that had begun in 1945, and sent the world economy into its sharpest contraction since the Great Depression. One consequence of the oil shock and the resulting global recession was that the price of copper dropped by 50% over the course of 1974, which proved to be a disaster for Zaire as copper was its most important export.{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=10}} The American historian Thomas Odom wrote because of the collapse in copper prices Zaire went from "prosperity to bankruptcy almost overnight" in 1974.{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=10}} The economic collapse forced Zaire to turn towards the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help it manage its debts which could no longer be serviced.{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=10}} Seeking an alternative source of support as the auditors for the IMF discovered major corruption within the Zairian finances, Mobutu visited China in 1974 and returned wearing a Mao jacket and the new title of ''Citoyen Mobutu'' ("Citizen Mobutu").{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=11}} Influenced by the Cultural Revolution, Mobutu shifted to the left and announced his intention to "radicalize the Zairian revolution".{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=11}} The businesses that Mobutu had just handed over to Zairians were in turn nationalized and placed under state control.{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=11}} At the same time, Mobutu imposed a 50% salary cut to state employees, which led a failed coup attempt against him in June 1975.{{sfn|Odom|1993|p=11}}
[[File:Idi Amin and Mobutu.jpeg|thumb|President of [[Uganda]] [[Idi Amin]] visits Zaire and meets Mobutu during the [[Shaba I]] conflict in 1977]]

By 1977, Mobutu's nationalizations had precipitated such an economic slump that Mobutu was forced to try to woo foreign investors back.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13286306 BBC: "Timeline: Democratic Republic of Congo"] . BBC News (11 March 2014). Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref> Katangan rebels based in [[Angola]] invaded Zaire that year, in retaliation for Mobutu's support for anti-[[MPLA]] rebels. France airlifted 1,500 Moroccan paratroopers into the country and repulsed the rebels, ending [[Shaba I]]. The rebels attacked Zaire again, in greater numbers, in the [[Shaba II]] invasion of 1978. The governments of Belgium and France deployed troops with logistical support from the United States and defeated the rebels again. The poor performance of the Zairian Army during both Shaba invasions, which humiliated Mobutu by forcing him to ask for foreign troops, did not lead to military reforms.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=424}} However, Mobutu reduced the size of the Army from 51,000 troops in 1978 down to 23,000 troops in 1980.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=424}} By 1980, it was estimated that about 90% of the Zairian Army were Ngbandi as Mobutu did not trust the other peoples of Zaire to serve in the Army.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=424}} The most loyal and best of Mobutu's units were his bodyguards, the [[Israel]]i-trained [[Special Presidential Division]] (''Division Spéciale Présidentielle'') that was made up exclusively of Ngbandi and was always commanded by one of Mobutu's relatives.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=425}}

Mobutu was re-elected in single-candidate elections in [[1977 Zairean presidential election|1977]] and [[1984 Zairean presidential election|1984]]. He spent most of his time increasing his personal fortune, which in 1988 was estimated to amount to no less than US$50&nbsp;million.<ref>The New York Times, [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/29/world/mobutu-s-village-basks-in-his-glory.html/ "Mobutu’s village basks in his glory".] 29 September 1988.</ref> He held most of it out of the country in [[Swiss banking|Swiss banks]] (however, a comparatively small $3.4&nbsp;million was declared found in Swiss banks after he was ousted.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9706/03/mobutu/ "Swiss banks find only $3.4 million in Mobutu assets"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031220182037/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9706/03/mobutu/ |date=20 December 2003 }}. CNN. 3 June 1997.</ref>). This was almost equivalent to the amount of the country's foreign debt at the time. In a speech that he delivered on 20 May 1976 in a football stadium in Kinshasa that was filled with some 70,000 people, Mobutu openly accepted petty corruption, stating: "If you want to steal, steal a little in a nice way, but if you steal too much to become rich overnight, you will be caught".{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=355}}  By 1989, the government was forced to default on international loans from Belgium.

Mobutu owned a fleet of [[Mercedes-Benz]] vehicles that he used to travel between his numerous palaces, while the nation's roads deteriorated and many of his people starved. The infrastructure virtually collapsed, and many public service workers went months without being paid. Most of the money was siphoned off to Mobutu, his family, and top political and military leaders. Only the Special Presidential Division – on whom his physical safety depended – was paid adequately or regularly. A popular saying that "the civil servants pretended to work while the state pretended to pay them" expressed this grim reality.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/903324.stm|title=BBC News {{!}} AFRICA {{!}} Mobutu's legacy: Show over substance|website=BBC News|access-date=7 July 2018|archive-date=8 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708004121/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/903324.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''[[Forces Armées Zaïroises]]'' (FAZ) suffered from low morale made worse by irregular salaries, dismal living conditions, shortages of supplies and a venal officer corps.{{sfn|Young|Turner|1985|p=259}} The soldiers of the FAZ behaved very much like a brutal occupying force who supported themselves by robbing the civilian population of Zaire.{{sfn|Young|Turner|1985|p=259}} A recurring feature of Mobutu's rule were the seemingly endless number of roadblocks put by the FAZ who extorted money from the drivers of any passing automobile or lorries.{{sfn|Young|Turner|1985|p=259}}

Another feature of Mobutu's economic mismanagement, directly linked to the way he and his friends siphoned off so much of the country's wealth, was rampant inflation. The rapid decline in the real value of salaries strongly encouraged a culture of corruption and dishonesty among public servants of all kinds.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kasuka |first=Bridgette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ragu4v8r--4C&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA175&dq=%22Another+feature+of+Mobutu's+economic+mismanagement,+directly+linked+to+the+way+he+and+his+friends+siphoned+off+so+much+of+the+country's+wealth,+was+rampant+inflation.+The+rapid+decline+in+the+real+value+of+salaries+strongly+encouraged+a+culture+of+corruption+and+dishonesty+among+public+servants+of+all+kinds.%22&hl=en&source=newbks_fb#v=onepage&q=%22Another%20feature%20of%20Mobutu's%20economic%20mismanagement,%20directly%20linked%20to%20the%20way%20he%20and%20his%20friends%20siphoned%20off%20so%20much%20of%20the%20country's%20wealth,%20was%20rampant%20inflation.%20The%20rapid%20decline%20in%20the%20real%20value%20of%20salaries%20strongly%20encouraged%20a%20culture%20of%20corruption%20and%20dishonesty%20among%20public%20servants%20of%20all%20kinds.%22&f=false |title=Prominent African Leaders Since Independence |date=2012-02-08 |publisher=Bankole Kamara Taylor |isbn=978-1-4700-4358-2 |pages=175 |language=en}}</ref>

Mobutu was known for his opulent lifestyle. He cruised on the Congo on his yacht ''Kamanyola''. In [[Gbadolite]], he erected a palace, the "[[Palace of Versailles|Versailles]] of the jungle".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/mobutu-goes-cruising-as-his-country-burns-the-cooks-son-is-feeding-zaire-to-the-crocodiles-robert-block-on-an-unpopular-survivor-1472846.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220515/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/mobutu-goes-cruising-as-his-country-burns-the-cooks-son-is-feeding-zaire-to-the-crocodiles-robert-block-on-an-unpopular-survivor-1472846.html |archive-date=15 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |author=Robert Block |title=Mobutu goes cruising as his country burns: The cook's son is feeding Zaire to the crocodiles. Robert Block on an unpopular survivor |newspaper=The Independent |date=14 February 1993 |access-date=28 March 2015}}</ref> For shopping trips to Paris, he would charter a [[Concorde]] from [[Air France]]; he had the [[Gbadolite Airport]] constructed with a runway long enough to accommodate the Concorde's extended take-off and landing requirements.<ref>Shaw 2005, 47, 58.</ref> In 1989, Mobutu chartered Concorde aircraft F-BTSD for a 26 June – 5 July trip to give a speech at the [[United Nations Headquarters|United Nations in New York City]], then again on 16 July for [[French Revolution|French bicentennial]] celebrations in Paris (where he was a guest of President [[François Mitterrand]]), and on 19 September for a flight from Paris to Gbadolite, and another nonstop flight from Gbadolite to [[Marseille]] with the youth choir of Zaire.<ref>[http://www.concorde-jet.com/e_photos.php?ref=club_concorde2136 Concorde supersonique jet / Gallery / Pictures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703131449/http://www.concorde-jet.com/e_photos.php?ref=club_concorde2136 |date=3 July 2009 }}. Concorde-jet.com (30 September 1989). Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref> Mobutu owned a villa on the [[French Riviera]], Villa del Mere.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Hochschild |first=Adam |date=16 March 1997 |title=IT TAKES A VILLA |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/03/24/it-takes-a-villa |access-date=25 April 2025 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

Mobutu's rule earned a reputation as one of the world's foremost examples of [[kleptocracy]] and [[nepotism]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Plundering politicians and bribing multinationals undermine international development, says TI|url=http://www.transparency.org/content/download/4450/26759/file/GCR_2004_press_release_FINAL.pdf|publisher=Transparency International|access-date=5 July 2012|date=25 March 2004|archive-date=3 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100903053140/http://www.transparency.org/content/download/4450/26759/file/GCR_2004_press_release_FINAL.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>  Close relatives and fellow members of the Ngbandi tribe were awarded high positions in the military and government, and he groomed his eldest son, Nyiwa, to succeed him as president;<ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0146) "Zaire: A Country Study", "Establishment of a Personalistic Regime"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121205035514/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0146) |date=5 December 2012 }}. Lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref> however, Nyiwa died from [[AIDS]] in 1994.<ref name=r1>{{cite web |url=http://www.lefaso.net/article.php3?id_article=5300 |title=RDC : La mort prématurée de Manda Mobutu met un point final à l'histoire du "Zaïre" |access-date=1 November 2005 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051101160935/http://www.lefaso.net/article.php3?id_article=5300 |archive-date=1 November 2005 }}. ''Le Faso''. 24 December 2004</ref>

Mobutu led one of the most enduring autocracies in Africa and amassed a personal fortune estimated to be over US$50&nbsp;million by selling his nation's rich natural resources while the people lived in poverty.<ref>The New York Times, [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/29/world/mobutu-s-village-basks-in-his-glory.html/ "Mobutu’s village basks in his glory".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711184112/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/29/world/mobutu-s-village-basks-in-his-glory.html/ |date=11 July 2024 }} 29 September 1988.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mobutu dies in exile in Morocco|url=http://articles.cnn.com/1997-09-07/world/9709_07_mobutu.wrap_1_joseph-desire-mobutu-zaires-mobutu-sese-seko-after?_s=PM:WORLD|publisher=CNN World|access-date=5 July 2012|date=7 September 1997|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120520151428/http://articles.cnn.com/1997-09-07/world/9709_07_mobutu.wrap_1_joseph-desire-mobutu-zaires-mobutu-sese-seko-after?_s=PM:WORLD|archive-date=20 May 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> While in office, he formed a [[totalitarian regime]] responsible for numerous [[human rights violations]], attempted to purge the country of all Belgian cultural influences, and maintained an [[anti-communist]] stance to gain positive international support.<ref name=Anatomy>{{cite web|last=French|first=Howard W.|title=Anatomy of an Autocracy: Mobutu's 32-Year Reign|url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/051797zaire-mobutu.html|publisher=The New York Times on the Web|access-date=5 July 2012|date=17 May 1997|archive-date=20 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220192853/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/051797zaire-mobutu.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Collins|first=Carole J.L.|title=Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo|url=http://www.fpif.org/reports/zairedemocratic_republic_of_the_congo|publisher=Institute for Policy Studies|access-date=5 July 2012|date=1 July 1997|archive-date=27 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227022055/http://www.fpif.org/reports/zairedemocratic_republic_of_the_congo|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Mobutucoin.jpg|thumb|250px|10 Makuta coin depicting Mobutu Sese Seko]]

Mobutu was the subject of one of the most pervasive [[personality cult]]s of the twentieth century.  The evening newscast opened with an image of him descending through clouds like a god.  His portraits were hung in many public places, and government officials wore lapel pins bearing his portrait.  He held such titles as "Father of the Nation", "Messiah", "Guide of the Revolution", "Helmsman", "Founder", "Savior of the People", and "Supreme Combatant".  In the [[When We Were Kings|1996 documentary]] of the [[The Rumble in the Jungle|1974 Foreman–Ali fight]] in Zaire, dancers receiving the fighters can be heard chanting "Sese Seko, Sese Seko".  At one point, in early 1975, the media were forbidden to refer to anyone other than Mobutu by name; others were referred to only by the positions they held.<ref>Young and Turner, p. 169</ref><ref name=Edgerton>Edgerton, Robert. ''The Troubled Heart of Africa: A History of the Congo''. [[St. Martin's Press]]. {{ISBN|0-312-30486-2}}</ref>

Mobutu successfully capitalized on [[Cold War]] tensions among European nations and the United States.  He gained significant support from the West and its international organizations such as the [[International Monetary Fund]].<ref>[https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2823.htm#foreign Department of State Background Notes: Congo (Kinshasa) Foreign Relations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180609064336/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2823.htm#foreign |date=9 June 2018 }}. State.gov. Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref>

===Space program===
In the late 1970s, the West Germany company [[OTRAG]] was developing a program to send peaceful satellites into space at lower costs, but a 1954 amendment to the [[Treaty of Brussels]] prevented them from developing and launching missiles in Germany.<ref name=":SpaceProgram">{{cite web|last=Kovalchik|first=Kara|title=A Brief History of the Congolese Space Program|date=13 March 2011|website=[[Mental Floss]]|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/27244/brief-history-congolese-space-program|access-date=7 January 2024|archive-date=11 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711184113/https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/27244/brief-history-congolese-space-program|url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, they paid Mobutu $130 million to develop their program in Zaire.<ref name=":Kenyon46">{{harvnb|Kenyon|2018|p=46}}</ref> In a 1978 agreement with OTRAG, Mobutu gave the company a 25-year rented plot of land in Zaire.<ref name=":SpaceProgram"/> The first rocket, [[OTRAG (rocket)|OTRAG-1]], was launched on 18 May 1977,<ref name=":SpaceProgram"/> while Mobutu watched from a distance.<ref name=":Kenyon46"/> The rocket took off successfully, but shortly afterwards fell and crashed back down to the ground.<ref name=":SpaceProgram"/><ref name=":Kenyon46"/>

By 6 June 1978, two more rockets had been launched and crashed in Zaire. Nevertheless, Mobutu continued to promote the program, stating that 200 Zairians were employed by the project and the country would receive royalties from future rocket sales.<ref>{{cite web|title=Launching of Rocket In Zaire Fails|date=6 June 1978|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/06/archives/launching-of-rocket-in-zaire-fails.html|access-date=7 January 2024|archive-date=11 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240711184116/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/06/archives/launching-of-rocket-in-zaire-fails.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Two years after the launch of the first rocket, the Soviet Union alleged that former Nazi scientists were involved with OTRAG, and became convinced that the company was secretly gathering military intelligence. Mobutu succumbed to Soviet pressure, ended the program, and cut ties with OTRAG.<ref name=":SpaceProgram"/>

===Foreign policy===
{{Main|Foreign policy of the Mobutu Sese Seko administration}}

====Relations with Belgium====
Relations between Zaire and Belgium wavered between close ties and open hostility during the Mobutu years. More often than not, Belgian decision-makers responded indifferently when Mobutu acted against the interests of Belgium, partly explained by the highly divided Belgian political class.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hendrickx |first=Colin |date=2019 |title=Belgium and Mobutu's Zaire: Analysis of an Eventful Era |url=https://www.journalbelgianhistory.be/en/system/files/article_pdf/BTNG_Artikel_Colin_Hendrinck_2019_1.pdf |journal=[[Journal of Belgian History]] |volume=XLIX |issue=1 |pages=102–103 |access-date=14 November 2020 |archive-date=6 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206031120/https://www.journalbelgianhistory.be/en/system/files/article_pdf/BTNG_Artikel_Colin_Hendrinck_2019_1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 and his family were received as personal guests of the Belgian monarch in 1968, and a convention for scientific and technical cooperation was signed that same year. During [[King Baudouin]]'s highly successful visit to [[Kinshasa]] in 1970, a treaty of friendship and cooperation between the two countries was signed. However, Mobutu tore up the treaty in 1974 in protest at Belgium's refusal to ban an anti-Mobutu book written by left-wing lawyer Jules Chomé.<ref>Young and Turner, p. 172</ref> Mobutu's "[[Authenticité (Zaire)|Zairianisation]]" policy, which expropriated foreign-held businesses and transferred their ownership to Zairians, added to the strain.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Matti|first=Stephanie|title=Resources and Rent Seeking in the Democratic Republic of Congo|journal=Third World Quarterly|volume= 31 |issue=3 |pages=401–413 |doi=10.1080/01436597.2010.488471 |year=2010 |s2cid=154599459}}</ref> Mobutu maintained several personal contacts with prominent Belgians. [[Edmond Leburton]], Belgian prime minister between 1973 and 1974, was someone greatly admired by the President.<ref>[[Gauthier de Villers|de Villers, Gauthier]] (1995) ''De Mobutu à Mobutu: trente ans de relations Belgique-Zaïre''. De Boeck Université. {{ISSN|1370-0715}}. p. 49</ref> 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]].<ref>Lanotte, Olivier et al. (2000) ''La Belgique et l'Afrique Centrale : De 1960 à nos jours ''. Éditions Complexe. {{ISBN|2-87027-831-4}}. p. 133</ref> Relations with King Baudouin were mostly cordial, until Mobutu released a bold statement about the [[Monarchy of Belgium|Belgian royal family]]. Prime Minister [[Wilfried Martens]] recalled in his memoirs that the palace gates closed completely after Mobutu published a handwritten letter of the King.<ref>[[Wilfried Martens|Martens, Wilfried]] (2006) ''De memoires: luctor et emergo''. Lannoo. {{ISBN|9789020965209}}. p.513</ref> Because of that, Mobutu was one of only two heads of state who did not receive an invitation to the funeral of Baudouin, the other being [[Saddam Hussein]] of [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]]. Next to friendly ties with Belgians residing in Belgium, Mobutu had a number of Belgian advisors at his disposal. Some of them, such as Hugues Leclercq and [[Colonel]] Willy Mallants, were interviewed in [[Thierry Michel]]'s documentary ''[[Mobutu, King of Zaire]]''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

====Relations with France====
As 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]],<ref name="autogenerated1">[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0171) "Zaire: A Country Study", "Relations with France"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121213121808/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0171) |date=13 December 2012 }}. Lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref> Zaire was of great strategic interest to France.<ref>Meredith, Martin (2005). ''The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair''. PublicAffairs. {{ISBN|1-58648-246-7}}. p. 525</ref> During the [[Congo Crisis#The First Republic|First Republic]] era, France tended to side with the conservative and federalist forces, as opposed to unitarists such as Lumumba.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Shortly after the [[Katanga Province|Katangan]] secession was successfully crushed, Zaire (then called the Republic of the Congo) signed a treaty of technical and cultural cooperation with France. During the [[Presidency of Charles de Gaulle|presidency]] of [[Charles de Gaulle]], diplomatic relations between the two countries gradually grew stronger and closer due to their many shared geopolitical interests. In 1971, Finance Minister [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]] paid a visit to Zaire; later, after becoming France's president, he would develop a close personal relationship with President Mobutu, and under his leadership, France became one of the Mobutu regime's closest and most important foreign allies.<ref name="GaiaLott2019ColdWarHistory">{{cite journal |last1=Lott |first1=Gaia |date=27 February 2019 |title=East-West and West-West competition in the Great Lakes Region, 1975–85 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14682745.2018.1559830?journalCode=fcwh20 |journal=[[Cold War History (journal)|Cold War History]] |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=511–528 |doi=10.1080/14682745.2018.1559830 |s2cid=159433054 |access-date=18 February 2023 |archive-date=18 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218231532/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14682745.2018.1559830?journalCode=fcwh20 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> During the Shaba invasions, France sided firmly with Mobutu: during the [[Shaba I|first Shaba invasion]], France airlifted 1,500 Moroccan troops to Zaire, and the rebels were repulsed;<ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0186) "Zaire: A Country Study", "Shaba I"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110002219/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+zr0186%29 |date=10 January 2009 }}. Lcweb2.loc.gov (8 March 1977). Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref> a year later, during the [[Shaba II|second Shaba invasion]], France itself (along with Belgium) would send [[French Foreign Legion]] paratroopers ([[2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment]]) to aid Mobutu.<ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0187) "Zaire: A Country Study", "Shaba II"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121212055917/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0187) |date=12 December 2012 }}. Lcweb2.loc.gov. Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref><ref>[http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/odom2/odom2.asp "Shaba II: The French and Belgian Intervention in Zaire in 1978"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609181927/http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/resources/csi/odom2/odom2.asp |date=9 June 2007 }} by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas P. Odom</ref><ref>[[:fr:Sauvetage de Kolwezi|''Sauvetage de Kolwezi'']]{{circular reference|date=March 2025}}</ref>

====Relations with the People's Republic of China====
Initially, Zaire's relationship with the People's Republic of China was no better than its relationship with the Soviet Union. Memories of Chinese aid to Mulele and other Maoist rebels in Kwilu province during the ill-fated [[Simba Rebellion]] remained fresh on Mobutu's mind. He also opposed seating the PRC at the United Nations. 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.<ref name="callagy">Callagy, Thomas M. (1983) ''South Africa in Southern Africa: The Intensifying Vortex of Violence''. Praeger. {{ISBN|0030603064}}</ref><ref>Leslie, Winsome J. (1993) "Zaire in the International Arena" in ''Zaire: Continuity and Political Change in an Oppressive State''. [[Westview Press]]. {{ISBN|0-86531-298-2}}</ref> In November 1972, Mobutu extended diplomatic recognition to the Chinese (as well as [[East Germany]] and [[North Korea]]). The following year, Mobutu paid a visit to Beijing, where he met with chairman [[Mao Zedong]] and received promises of $100&nbsp;million in technical aid.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sutter |first=Robert G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6nrPFbQfygC&dq=Mobutu+China&pg=PA271 |title=Historical Dictionary of Chinese Foreign Policy |date=5 May 2011 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |isbn=978-0-8108-7084-0 |pages=271 |language=en}}</ref> In 1983, Chinese Prime Minister [[Zhao Ziyang]] announced on a trip to Zaire that the money would not have to be repaid.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ap |date=5 January 1983 |title=AROUND THE WORLD; China's Premier Cancels $100 Million Zaire Debt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/05/world/around-the-world-china-s-premier-cancels-100-million-zaire-debt.html |access-date=24 June 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1974, Mobutu made a surprise visit to both China and North Korea, during the time he was originally scheduled to visit the Soviet Union. Upon returning home, both his politics and rhetoric became markedly more radical;<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zaire: A Country Study, "Relations with the Communist World" |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0173) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041108212100/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0173) |archive-date=8 November 2004}}</ref> 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). Mobutu even borrowed a title – the Helmsman – from Mao. Incidentally, late 1974 to early 1975 was when his personality cult reached its peak.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Kasuka |first=Bridgette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ragu4v8r--4C&dq=Mobutu+m%C3%A3o+OR+helmsman&pg=PA182 |title=Prominent African Leaders Since Independence |date=8 February 2012 |publisher=Bankole Kamara Taylor |isbn=978-1-4700-4358-2 |pages=182 |language=en}}</ref>

China and Zaire shared a common goal in central Africa, namely doing everything in their power to halt Soviet gains in the area. Accordingly, both Zaire and China covertly funneled aid to the [[National Liberation Front of Angola]] (and later, the [[UNITA|National Union for the Total Independence of Angola]]) in order to prevent their former allies, the [[MPLA|People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola]], who were supported and augmented by [[Military of Cuba|Cuban forces]], from coming to power. The Cubans, who exercised considerable influence in Africa in support of leftist and anti-imperialist forces, were heavily sponsored by the Soviet Union during the period. In addition to inviting [[Holden Roberto]], the leader of the National Liberation Front of Angola, and his guerrillas to Beijing for training, China provided weapons and money to the rebels. Zaire itself launched an ill-fated, pre-emptive invasion of Angola in a bid to install a pro-Kinshasa government, but was repulsed by Cuban troops. The expedition was a fiasco with far-reaching repercussions, most notably the Shaba I and Shaba II invasions, both of which China opposed. China sent military aid to Zaire during both invasions, and accused the Soviet Union and Cuba (who were alleged to have supported the Shaban rebels, although this was and remains speculation) of working to de-stabilize central Africa.<ref name=":0" />

====Relations with the Soviet Union====
Mobutu's relationship with the Soviet Union was frosty and tense. A staunch anti-communist, he was not anxious to recognize the Soviets; the USSR had supported—though mostly in words—both Patrice Lumumba, Mobutu's democratically elected predecessor, and the Simba rebellion. However, to project a non-aligned image, he did renew ties in 1967; the first Soviet ambassador arrived and presented his credentials in 1968.<ref name="Kasuka 2012 p. 180">{{cite book |last=Kasuka |first=B. |title=Prominent African Leaders Since Independence |publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4700-4358-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ragu4v8r--4C&pg=PA180 |access-date=17 February 2018 |page=180 |archive-date=1 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301190243/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ragu4v8r--4C&pg=PA180 |url-status=live }}</ref> Mobutu did, however, join the United States in condemning the [[Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia]] that year.<ref name="Schatzberg1991">{{cite book|author=Michael G. Schatzberg|title=Mobutu or chaos?: the United States and Zaire, 1960–1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GjR2AAAAMAAJ|year=1991|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-8191-8130-5|page=64|access-date=17 February 2018|archive-date=1 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301190244/https://books.google.com/books?id=GjR2AAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> 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. 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]].<ref name="Kisangani2016">{{cite book |author=Emizet Francois Kisangani |title=Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sj9mDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA538 |date=18 November 2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-1-4422-7316-0 |pages=538– |access-date=17 February 2018 |archive-date=1 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301190249/https://books.google.com/books?id=sj9mDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA538 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Moscow]] was the only major world capital Mobutu never visited, although he did accept an invitation to do so in 1974. For reasons unknown, he cancelled the visit at the last minute, and toured the People's Republic of China and North Korea instead.<ref name="Kasuka2012.2">{{cite book|author=Bridgette Kasuka|title=Prominent African Leaders Since Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ragu4v8r--4C&pg=PA181|date=8 February 2012|publisher=Bankole Kamara Taylor|isbn=978-1-4700-4358-2|pages=181–|access-date=17 February 2018|archive-date=1 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301190248/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ragu4v8r--4C&pg=PA181|url-status=live}}</ref>

Relations cooled further in 1975, when the two countries found themselves on opposing sides in the [[Angolan Civil War]]. This had a dramatic effect on Zairian foreign policy for the next decade; bereft of his claim to African leadership (Mobutu was one of the few leaders who refused to recognize the Marxist government of Angola), Mobutu turned increasingly to the US and its allies, adopting pro-American stances on such issues as the [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]], and [[Israel]]'s position in international organizations.<ref name="Kasuka2012.2" />

====Relations with the United States====
[[File:Mobutu Nixon.jpg|thumb|Mobutu Sese Seko and [[Richard Nixon]] in Washington, D.C., October 1973]]
[[File:Mobutu meets with President George Bush at the White House, June 1989, The White House - David Valdez.jpg|thumb|Mobutu Sese Seko and U.S. President [[George H. W. Bush]] in Washington, D.C., 1989.]]

For the most part, Zaire enjoyed warm relations with the United States. The United States was the third largest donor of aid to Zaire (after Belgium and France), and Mobutu befriended several US presidents, including [[Richard Nixon]], [[Ronald Reagan]], and [[George H. W. Bush]]. Relations did cool significantly in 1974–1975 over Mobutu's increasingly radical rhetoric (which included his scathing denunciations of American foreign policy),<ref name="Young and Turner, p. 372">Young and Turner, p. 372</ref> and plummeted to an all-time low in the summer of 1975, when Mobutu accused the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] of plotting his overthrow and arrested eleven senior Zairian generals and several civilians, and condemned (''in absentia'') a former head of the Central Bank ([[Albert Ndele]]).<ref name="Young and Turner, p. 372"/> However, many people viewed these charges with skepticism; in fact, one of Mobutu's staunchest critics, [[Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja|Nzongola-Ntalaja]], speculated that Mobutu invented the plot as an excuse to purge the military of talented officers who might otherwise pose a threat to his rule.<ref>Elliot and Dymally, p. 150</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kasuka |first=Bridgette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ragu4v8r--4C&dq=%22In+spite+of+these+hindrances%2C+the+chilly+relationship+quickly+thawed+when+both+countries+found+each+other+supporting+the+same+side+during+the+Angolan+Civil+War.%22&pg=PA177 |title=Prominent African Leaders Since Independence |date=8 February 2012 |publisher=Bankole Kamara Taylor |isbn=978-1-4700-4358-2 |pages=177 |language=en}}</ref>

Because of Mobutu's poor human rights record, the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter Administration]] put some distance between itself and the [[Kinshasa]] government;<ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0172) "Zaire: A Country Study", "Relations with the United States"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121212072101/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0172) |date=12 December 2012 }}. Lcweb2.loc.gov (30 November 1973). Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref> even so, Zaire received nearly half the foreign aid Carter allocated to [[sub-Saharan Africa]].<ref>Lamb, David (1987) ''The Africans'', Vintage, {{ISBN|0394753089}}, p. 46</ref> During the first Shaba invasion, the United States played a relatively inconsequential role; its belated intervention consisted of little more than the delivery of non-lethal supplies. 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. Carter echoed Mobutu's (unsubstantiated) charges of Soviet and Cuban aid to the rebels, until it was apparent that no hard evidence existed to verify his claims.<ref>Young and Turner, p. 389</ref> In 1980, the [[United States House of Representatives|US House of Representatives]] voted to terminate military aid to Zaire, but the [[United States Senate|US Senate]] reinstated the funds, in response to pressure from Carter and American business interests in Zaire.<ref>Elliot and Dymally, p. 88</ref>

Mobutu enjoyed a very warm relationship with the [[Reagan Administration]], through financial donations. 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. During a state visit by Mobutu in 1983, Reagan praised the Zairian strongman as "a voice of good sense and goodwill".<ref>[http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/05.22.97/cover/mobutu-9721.html "When He Was King: On the trail of Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire's former Kleptocrat-in-Chief"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006213935/http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/05.22.97/cover/mobutu-9721.html |date=6 October 2008 }}. Metroactive (24 April 1990). Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref>

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]].<ref>{{unfit|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060721174238/http://www.heritage.org/Research/Africa/upload/91612_1.pdf "Zaire's Mobutu Visits America," by Michael Johns, Heritage Foundation Executive Memorandum #239, 29 June 1989]}}. Heritage.org. Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref> Even so, Mobutu's relationship with the US radically changed shortly afterward with the end of the [[Cold War]]. With the [[Revolutions of 1989|end]] of the [[Soviet Union]]'s status as a world superpower, there was no longer any reason to support Mobutu as a bulwark against communism. Accordingly, the US and other Western powers began pressuring Mobutu to democratize the regime. Regarding the change in US attitude to his regime, Mobutu bitterly remarked: "I am the latest victim of the cold war, no longer needed by the US. The lesson is that my support for American policy counts for nothing."<ref>Zagorin, Adam. (24 June 2001) [https://web.archive.org/web/20071021065501/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,161061,00.html "Leaving Fire in His Wake"]. Time. Retrieved on 23 April 2014.</ref> In 1993, Mobutu was denied a [[Visa (document)|visa]] by the [[United States Department of State|US State Department]] after he sought to visit Washington, D.C.

Mobutu also had friends in America outside Washington. Mobutu was befriended by televangelist [[Pat Robertson]], who promised to try to get the State Department to lift its ban on the African leader.<ref>[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-3868789.html Mobutu said to have powerful US friends]. New York Amsterdam News. 24 May 1997.  {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517115428/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-3868789.html |date=17 May 2013 }}</ref>

==Coalition government==
[[File:Photo Gbadolite avec Mobutu et Polspoel 1992.jpg|left|thumb|237x237px|Gui Polspoel with Frédéric François and Mobutu in [[Gbadolite]], 1992]]

In May 1990, due to the ending of the [[Cold War]] and a change in the international political climate, as well as economic problems and domestic unrest, Mobutu agreed to give up the MPR's monopoly of power. In early May 1990, students studying at the [[Lubumbashi]] campus of the [[National University of Zaire]] protested against Mobutu's regime, demanding his resignation.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=401}} On the night of 11 May 1990, electricity was cut off to the campus while a special military unit called ''Les Hiboux'' ("The Owls") were sent in, armed with machetes and bayonets.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=401}} By the dawn of 12 May 1990, at least 290 students had been killed.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=401}} The massacre led to the nations of the [[European Economic Community]] (now the European Union), the United States, and Canada to end all non-humanitarian aid to Zaire, which marked the beginning of the end of Western support for Mobutu.{{sfn|Kisangani|2016|p=401}}

Mobutu appointed a transitional government that would lead to promised elections but he retained substantial powers. Following the [[1991 Zaire unrest|1991 riots in Kinshasa]] by unpaid soldiers, Mobutu brought opposition figures into a coalition government, but still connived to retain control of the security services and important ministries. Factional divisions led to the creation of two governments in 1993, one pro- and one anti-Mobutu. The anti-Mobutu government was headed by [[Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya|Laurent Monsengwo]] and [[Étienne Tshisekedi]] of the [[Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Democratic Republic of the Congo)|Union for Democracy and Social Progress]] (UDPS).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kasuka |first=Bridgette |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ragu4v8r--4C&dq=%22The+anti-Mobutu+government+was+headed+by+Laurent+Monsengwo+and+%C3%89tienne+Tshisekedi+of+the+Union+for+Democracy+and+Social+Progress%22&pg=PA183 |title=Prominent African Leaders Since Independence |date=8 February 2012 |publisher=Bankole Kamara Taylor |isbn=978-1-4700-4358-2 |pages=183 |language=en}}</ref>

The economic situation was still dismal, and in 1994 the two groups merged into the High Council of Republic – Parliament of Transition (HCR-PT). Mobutu appointed [[Kengo Wa Dondo]], an advocate of [[austerity]] and [[free-market]] reforms, as prime minister. During this period, Mobutu was becoming increasingly physically frail and during one of his trips to Europe for medical treatment, ethnic [[Tutsi]]s captured much of eastern Zaire.

==Overthrow==
The seeds of Mobutu's downfall were sown in the [[Rwandan genocide]], when about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by about 200,000 Hutu extremists aided by the Rwandan government in 1994. The genocide ended when the Tutsi-dominated [[Rwandan Patriotic Front]] seized the whole country, leading hundreds of thousands of Hutus, including many of the [[génocidaires]], to flee into refugee camps in eastern Zaire. Mobutu welcomed the Hutu extremists as personal guests and allowed them to establish military and political bases in the eastern territories, from where they attacked and killed ethnic Tutsis across the border in Rwanda and in Zaire itself, ostensibly to prepare for a renewed offensive back into Rwanda. The new Rwandan government began sending military aid to the Zairian Tutsis in response. The resulting conflict began to destabilize eastern Zaire as a whole.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haskin |first=Jeanne M. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Tragic_State_of_the_Congo/Ov17yKWSXD8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Mobutu+Hutu+OR+extremists&pg=PA77&printsec=frontcover |title=The Tragic State of the Congo: From Decolonization to Dictatorship |date=2005 |publisher=Algora Publishing |isbn=978-0-87586-418-1 |pages=77–78 |language=en}}</ref>

When Mobutu's government issued an order in November 1996 forcing Tutsis to leave Zaire on penalty of death, the ethnic Tutsis in Zaire,<ref>Atzili, Boaz (2012) ''Good Fences, Bad Neighbors: Border Fixity and International Conflict''. University Of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0226031365}} p. 188</ref> known as [[Banyamulenge]], were the focal point of a rebellion. 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. Burundi and Angola also supported the growing rebellion, which mushroomed into the [[First Congo War]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Ailing with cancer, Mobutu was in [[Switzerland]] for treatment,<ref>Dipiazza, Francesca Davis (2007) ''Democratic Republic of Congo in Pictures''. Twenty First Century Books. {{ISBN|0822585723}}. p. 35</ref> and he was unable to coordinate the resistance which crumbled in front of the march. The rebel forces would have completely overrun the country far sooner than it ultimately did if not for the country's decrepit infrastructure. In most areas, no paved roads existed; the only vehicle paths were irregularly used dirt roads.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dickovick |first=James Tyler |url=http://archive.org/details/africa20120000dick |title=Africa 2012 |date=2012 |publisher=Lanham, MD : Stryker-Post Publications |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-1-61048-881-5 |pages=175}}</ref>

By mid-1997, Kabila's forces resumed their advance, and the remains of Mobutu's army offered almost no resistance. On 16 May 1997, failed peace talks were held in [[Pointe-Noire]] on board the [[South African Navy]] ship [[SAS Outeniqua|SAS ''Outeniqua'']] with Kabila and President of South Africa [[Nelson Mandela]] acting as the chair of the talks. However the talks stalled as Kabila was reluctant to negotiate and deplete the momentum of his forces, potentially seeing it as giving Mobutu the advantage to regroup his forces. Kabila was also anxious about meeting Mobutu face to face on a personal basis, as the United Nations High Special Commission to the Great Lakes Region Spokesperson Timothy Montague Hamilton Douglas later stated: "In all the years I spent in contact with President Mobutu, this was the first time I ever saw him outshone in superstition...Although they sat together in the same room for hours, Kabila refused to look into the president's eyes during the meeting and instead stared at the ceiling; after some conferring with the Zairian and AFDL aides, I was able to discern that the prevailing rationale was that he [Kabila] was afraid that the ''"Old Leopard''" still had enough magical power left to curse him with his stare and prevent him from reaching his prize, which he felt was now so close."  Douglas went on to comment on the terse atmosphere at the talks: "It was very strange. It was the only time that the two rivals met; and after fighting him for 32 years and being catapulted to the national stage in only a few months, Kabila had remarkably little to say to his foe. As far as I remember, he said, hand over power, and step down without any conditions, Mobutu, insulted by this treatment as one would imagine, limped off the boat, refusing to strike a deal. I remember President Mandela, 78- years old himself at this time, had to prop him up as he walked to his car...It was really dreadful, on May 15th they were to meet again, Mobutu made the journey-Kabila hadn't bothered to attend."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Coatney |first=Mark |title=No Negotiations |url=https://time.com/archive/6930193/no-negotiations/ |magazine=Time |language=en |date=14 May 1997|access-date=17 July 2025}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=July 2025|reason=Source of block quotes missing}}  Kabila's forces, known as the [[Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire]] (AFDL), proclaimed victory the next day. On 23 May 1997, Zaire was renamed the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]].<ref name=Dickovick>{{cite book |title=The World Today Series: Africa 2012 |last=Dickovick |first=J. Tyler |year=2008 |publisher=Stryker-Post Publications |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-1610488815 |url=https://archive.org/details/africa20120000dick }}</ref>

==Exile and death==
Mobutu went into temporary exile in [[Togo]], until President [[Gnassingbé Eyadéma]] insisted that Mobutu leave the country a few days later.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/ddd412eba59c464d6af9bcc55bdfc698|title=Togo prods Mobutu to move on _ but to where?|website=AP NEWS|access-date=4 December 2019|archive-date=3 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203231513/https://apnews.com/ddd412eba59c464d6af9bcc55bdfc698|url-status=live}}</ref> From 23 May 1997, he lived mostly in [[Rabat, Morocco]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aaab48.html|title=Refworld {{pipe}} Zaire: Information on events that occurred between 16 and 24 May 1997, including the rebel takeover|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|last=Refugees|website=Refworld|access-date=4 December 2019|archive-date=3 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203231854/https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aaab48.html|url-status=live}}</ref>  He died there on 7 September 1997 from [[prostate cancer]] at the age of 66.<ref>{{Cite news |last=French |first=Howard W. |date=8 September 1997 |title=Mobutu Sese Seko, Zairian Ruler, Is Dead in Exile in Morocco at 66 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/08/world/mobutu-sese-seko-zairian-ruler-is-dead-in-exile-in-morocco-at-66.html |access-date=12 April 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>  He is interred in an above ground mausoleum at Rabat, in the Christian cemetery known as Cimetière Européen.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 September 1997 |title=Il repose désormais dans un cimetière à Rabat Mobutu inhumé dans la plus grande discrétion |url=https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/239276/Il_repose_desormais_dans_un_cimetiere_a_Rabat_Mobutu_inhume_dans_la_plus_grande_discretion.html |access-date=13 April 2025 |website=L'Orient-Le Jour |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Reportage. Mobutu, la "vedette" du cimetière chrétien de Rabat |url=https://fr.le360.ma/politique/reportage-mobutu-la-vedette-du-cimetiere-chretien-de-rabat-133957/ |access-date=13 April 2025 |website=Le 360 Français |language=fr}}</ref>

In December 2007, the [[National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]] recommended returning his remains, and interring them in a mausoleum in the DRC, which has not yet taken place. Mobutu remains interred in Morocco.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120722042242/http://www.afriquenligne.fr/actualites/politique/rd-congo:-pour-le-rapatriement-des-restes-de-mobutu-2007121713559/ "RD Congo: Pour le rapatriement des restes de Mobutu"], Panapress, 17 December 2007 {{in lang|fr}}.</ref>

==Family==
Mobutu was married twice  in his lifetime. He married his first wife, [[Marie-Antoinette Mobutu|Marie-Antoinette Gbiatibwa Gogbe Yetene]], in 1955.<ref>{{Cite web|date=10 September 2007|title=Destins de famille(s) – Jeune Afrique|url=https://www.jeuneafrique.com/118918/archives-thematique/destins-de-famille-s/|access-date=24 February 2021|website=JeuneAfrique.com|language=fr-FR|archive-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516131531/https://www.jeuneafrique.com/118918/archives-thematique/destins-de-famille-s/|url-status=live}}</ref> They had nine children. She died of [[Congestive heart failure|heart failure]] on 22 October 1977 in [[Genolier]], [[Switzerland]], at the age of 36. On 1 May 1980, he married his mistress, [[Bobi Ladawa Mobutu|Bobi Ladawa]], on the eve of a visit by [[Pope John Paul II]], thus legitimizing his relationship in the eyes of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Church]]. Two of his sons from his first marriage died during his lifetime, Nyiwa (d. 16 September 1994) and Konga (d. 1992). Three more died in the years following his death: [[Kongulu Mobutu|Kongulu]] (d. 24 September 1998), Manda (d. 27 November 2004), and Ndokula (d. 4 November 2011).<ref name=r1/> His elder son from his second marriage, [[Nzanga Mobutu]], now the head of the family, finished fourth in the [[2006 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election|2006 presidential elections]] and later served in the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister of the day government. Another son of his, Giala, has also served in the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo as both a member of the National Assembly and the Senate. A daughter, Yakpwa (nicknamed Yaki), was briefly married to a Belgian, Pierre Janssen, who later wrote a book<ref>Janssen, Pierre (1997). ''À la cour de Mobutu''. Michel Lafon. {{ISBN|2-84098-332-X}}</ref> that described Mobutu's lifestyle in vivid detail.

Altogether, Mobutu had sixteen children.<ref>[https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1117314.html "List of close relations of former president Mobutu [RDC33468.FE]"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017215738/https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1117314.html |date=17 October 2016}} (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada). ''ECOI.net'', 17 December 1999. Retrieved on 3 November 2025.</ref>

With Marie-Antoinette (first wife): Nyiwa, Ngombo, Manda, Konga, Ngawali, Yango, Yakpwa, Kongulu, Ndagbia (9)

With Bobi Ladawa (second wife): Nzanga, Giala, Toku, Ndokula (4)

With Kosia Ngama (mistress and twin sister of his second wife): Yalitho, Tende, Ayessa (3)

==In art and literature==
Mobutu was the subject of the three-part 1999 Belgian documentary ''[[Mobutu, King of Zaire]]'' by [[Thierry Michel]]. Mobutu was also featured in the 2000 feature film ''[[Lumumba (film)|Lumumba]]'', directed by [[Raoul Peck]], which detailed the pre-coup and coup years from the perspective of Lumumba. Mobutu also featured in the 1996 American documentary ''[[When We Were Kings]]'', which centred on the famed [[Rumble in the Jungle]] boxing bout between [[George Foreman]] and [[Muhammad Ali]] for the 1974 [[heavyweight]] championship of the world which took place in [[Kinshasa]] during Mobutu's rule. In the 1978 war adventure film ''[[The Wild Geese]]'', the villain, General Ndofa, described in the film as an extremely corrupt leader of a copper-rich nation in central Africa, was a thinly disguised version of Mobutu.{{sfn|Burke|2018|p=110}}

Mobutu also might be considered{{original research inline|date=May 2024}} 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]]. [[William Close]], father of actress [[Glenn Close]], was once a personal physician to Mobutu and wrote a book focusing on his service in Zaire. [[Barbara Kingsolver]]'s 1998 historical novel ''[[The Poisonwood Bible]]'' depicts the events of the [[Congo Crisis]] from a fictional standpoint, featuring the role of Mobutu in the crisis. Mobutu was played by the Belgian actor [[Marc Zinga]] in the 2011 film ''[[Mister Bob]]''.  The French critic Isabelle Hanne praised Zinga's performance as Mobutu, writing he "brilliantly embodies this Shakespearian and bloodthirsty figure."<ref name="Hanne">{{cite news |last1=Hanne |first1=Isabelle |title="Mister Bob", pantin au Congo |url=https://www.liberation.fr/ecrans/2011/10/03/mister-bob-pantin-au-congo_951374/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |publisher=Liberation |date=3 October 2011 |archive-date=9 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909122033/https://www.liberation.fr/ecrans/2011/10/03/mister-bob-pantin-au-congo_951374/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Mobutu was included as an additional promotional card in the card-driven strategy game ''[[Twilight Struggle]]''. His card, when played, increases the [[political stability|stability]] of the country then known as Zaire and increases the influence of the United States over the African nation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 April 2025 |title=Twilight Struggle: Promo Deck {{!}} Image {{!}} BoardGameGeek |url=https://boardgamegeek.com/image/4775152/twilight-struggle-promo-deck |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250416170050/https://boardgamegeek.com/image/4775152/twilight-struggle-promo-deck |url-status=dead |archive-date=2025-04-16 |access-date=16 April 2025 }}</ref> The 2015 song "Françafrique" by Swedish hardcore punk band [[Refused]] (from the album ''[[Freedom (Refused album)|Freedom]]'') directly references Mobutu in its lyrics — the song contains the lines: "Mobutu, Congo; pimp and whore / As Paris' puppets guard the door".<ref>{{cite web |title=Françafrique |url=https://refused.bandcamp.com/track/fran-afrique |publisher=Refused / Bandcamp |access-date=26 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Refused: Freedom Album Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20726-freedom |publisher=Pitchfork |date=9 June 2015 |access-date=26 August 2025}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Gbadolite mobutu palace site.jpg|thumb|Mobutu's palace in his hometown of [[Gbadolite]], ransacked after he was deposed and exiled. Photographed {{circa}} 2010]]

According to Mobutu's ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' obituary: "He built his political longevity on three pillars: violence, cunning, and the use of state funds to buy off enemies. His systematic looting of the national treasury and major industries gave birth to the term '[[kleptocracy]]' to describe a rule of official corruption that reputedly made him one of the world's wealthiest heads of state."<ref>''The World's Most Notorious Dictators''. Athlon Special Issue. 2017. p. 58</ref>

In 2011, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine described him as the "archetypal African dictator".<ref name="Time"/>

Mobutu was infamous for amassing the equivalent of millions of US dollars from his country. According to the most conservative estimates, he stole US$50–125&nbsp;million from his country, and some sources put the figure as high as US$150&nbsp;million.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> According to Pierre Janssen, the ex-husband of Mobutu's daughter Yaki, Mobutu had no concern for the cost of the expensive gifts he gave away to his cronies. Janssen married Yaki in a lavish ceremony that included three orchestras, a US$65,000 wedding cake, and a giant fireworks display. Yaki wore a US$70,000 wedding gown and US$3&nbsp;million worth of jewels. Janssen wrote a book describing Mobutu's daily routine, which included several daily bottles of wine, retainers flown in from overseas, and lavish meals.<ref name=Edgerton/>

According to [[Washington Post]], Mobutu amassed between US$50–125&nbsp;million from his country, ranking him as the third-most corrupt leader since 1984 and the most corrupt African leader during the same period.<ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> [[Philip Gourevitch]], in ''[[We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families]]'' (1998), wrote:

{{Blockquote|Mobutu had really staged a funeral for a generation of African leadership of which he—the Dinosaur, as he had long been known—was the paragon: the client dictator of [[Cold War]] [[neocolonialism]], monomaniacal, perfectly corrupt, and absolutely ruinous to his nation.}}

Mobutu was instrumental in bringing the [[Rumble in the Jungle]] boxing match between [[Muhammad Ali]] and [[George Foreman]] to Zaire on 30 October 1974. According to the documentary ''[[When We Were Kings]]'', promoter [[Don King (boxing promoter)|Don King]] promised each fighter five million dollars (U.S.) for the fight. To this end, King offered the bout to any African country that put up the money to host it, in exchange for recognition. 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. Mobutu gained Zaire and its people considerable publicity in the weeks even before the televised bout, as worldwide attention focused on his country. According to a quote in the film, Ali supposedly said: "Some countries go to war to get their names out there, and wars cost a lot more than ten million (dollars)." On 22 September 1974, Mobutu presented the rebuilt [[Stade Tata Raphaël|20 May Stadium]], a multi-million-dollar sports project constructed to host the Ali-Foreman boxing card, to the Zaire Ministry of Youth and Sport, and to the people of Zaire.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Thomas A. |title=100,000 Cheers Greet Mobutu 'Gift,' a Rebuilt Stadium |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/23/archives/100000-cheers-greet-mobutu-gift-a-rebuilt-stadium.html |work=The New York Times |date=23 September 1974 |access-date=29 March 2020 |archive-date=29 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329115920/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/23/archives/100000-cheers-greet-mobutu-gift-a-rebuilt-stadium.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
===National===
*{{flag|Zaire}}:
**[[File:Ribbon_bar_of_the_National_Order_of_the_Leopard_(Zaire).svg|70px]] [[National Order of the Leopard]]

===Foreign===
*{{flag|Belgium}}:
**[[File:BEL_-_Order_of_Leopold_-_Grand_Cordon_bar.svg|70px]] Grand Cordon of the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]] (1969)<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://shs.cairn.info/revue-courrier-hebdomadaire-du-crisp-1969-38-page-1?lang=fr#s1n4|title=La visite du président Mobutu en Belgique|language=fr|newspaper=Cairn.info|date=1969 |volume=464 |issue=38 |pages=1–21 |doi=10.3917/cris.464.0001 |access-date=16 December 2024|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
*{{flag|Imperial Iran}}:
**[[File:25th_Centennial_Anniversary_Medal_Ribbon_Bar_-_Imperial_Iran.svg|70px]] Commemorative Medal of the [[2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire|2500th Anniversary of the Founding of the Persian Empire]] (1971)
*{{flag|Italy}}:
**[[File:Cordone_di_gran_Croce_di_Gran_Cordone_OMRI_BAR.svg|70px]] Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the [[Order of Merit of the Italian Republic]] (1973)<ref>{{cite web |title=Elenco dei Cavalieri di Gran Croce, decorati di Gran Cordone dell'Ordine, defunti |url=https://archivio.quirinale.it/materiali-pubblicazioni/onorificenze/ASPR_Onorificenze_Cavalieri_di_Gran_Croce_Gran_Cordone.pdf |publisher=Portale storico della Presidenza della Repubblica |access-date=5 May 2025 |language=it}}</ref>
*{{flag|Netherlands}}:
**[[File:NLD Order of the Golden Ark bar.svg|70px]] [[Order of the Golden Ark]] (1973)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/fotocollectie/ac33c994-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84|title=Prins Bernhard in Zaire (voorheen Belgisch Congo), Prins Bernhard reikt President Mobutu van Zaire Orde van de Gouden Ark uit|newspaper=Nationaal Archief|language=nl|date=1973|access-date=16 December 2024}}</ref>
*{{flag|Portugal}}:
**[[File:PRT_Order_of_Prince_Henry_-_Grand_Collar_BAR.svg|70px]] Grand Collar of the [[Order of Prince Henry]] (1984)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.objectivo.pt/ditadores-distinguidos-com-ordens-honorificas-portuguesas/|title=Ditadores distinguidos com ordens honoríficas portuguesas|newspaper=Jornal Objectivo|language=pt|date=15 February 2023|access-date=16 December 2024}}</ref>
*{{flag|Spain}}:
**[[File:Order_of_Isabella_the_Catholic_-_Sash_of_Collar.svg|70px]] Knight of the Collar of the [[Order of Isabella the Catholic]] (1983)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.boe.es/diario_boe/txt.php?id=BOE-A-1983-30733|title=Real Decreto 2894/1983, de 16 de noviembre, por el que se concede el Collar de la Orden de Isabel la Católica al Mariscal Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga, Presidente de la República del Zaire|newspaper= Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|language=es|date=1983|access-date=16 December 2024}}</ref>
*{{flag|South Korea}}:
**[[File:Grand_Order_of_Mugunghwa_(South_Korea)_-_ribbon_bar.svg|70px]] [[Grand Order of Mugunghwa]] (1982)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newslibrary.naver.com/viewer/index.naver?articleId=1982060700329201004&editNo=2&printCount=1&publishDate=1982-06-07&officeId=00032&pageNo=1&printNo=11288&publishType=00020|title=한·자이레 정상회담|newspaper=Naver News Library|language=ko|date=7 June 1982|access-date=16 December 2024}}</ref>
*{{flag|Taiwan}}:
**[[File:Order_of_Brilliant_Jade_(Taiwan)_-_ribbon_bar.gif|70px]] Grand Cordon of the [[Order of Brilliant Jade]] (1971)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=4&post=5703|title=President Mobutu visits Taiwan|newspaper=Taiwan Today|date=1 May 1971|access-date=16 December 2024}}</ref>
*{{flag|United States}}:
**[[File:US_Legion_of_Merit_Commander_ribbon.png|70px]] Commander of the [[Legion of Merit]] (1964)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient/recipient-400871/|title=Joseph-Désiré Mobutu|newspaper=Military Times|access-date=16 December 2024}}</ref>

== Explanatory notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}
{{Notelist}}

== See also ==

* [[Kinsangani battle (1997)]]

==References==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

== General and cited references ==
=== Books ===
==== English ====
* Ayittey, George B.N. ''Africa in Chaos: A Comparative History''. [[Palgrave Macmillan]]. {{ISBN|0-312-21787-0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Kyle |title=Revolutionaries for the Right Anticommunist Internationalism and Paramilitary Warfare in the Cold War |date=2018 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |location=Chapel Hill |isbn=9781469640747}}
* Callaghy, Thomas M. ''Politics and Culture in Zaire''. Center for Political Studies. ASIN B00071MTTW
* Callaghy, Thomas M. ''State-Society Struggle: Zaire in Comparative Perspective''. [[Columbia University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-231-05720-2}}
* Close, William T. ''Beyond the Storm: Treating the Powerless & the Powerful in Mobutu's Congo/Zaire''. Meadowlark Springs Production. {{ISBN|0-9703371-4-0}}
* De Witte, Ludo. ''The Assassination of Lumumba''. Verso. {{ISBN|1-85984-410-3}}
* Edgerton, Robert. ''The Troubled Heart of Africa: A History of the Congo''. [[St. Martin's Press]]. {{ISBN|0-312-30486-2}}
* Elliot, Jeffrey M., and Mervyn M. Dymally (eds.). ''Voices of Zaire: Rhetoric or Reality''. Washington Institute Press. {{ISBN|0-88702-045-3}}
* [[Howard W. French|French, Howard W.]] ''A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa''. Vintage. {{ISBN|1-4000-3027-7}}
* Gerard, Emmanuel, and Kuklick, Bruce. ''Death in the Congo: Murdering Patrice Lumumba'', 2015, Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-72527-0}}
* Gould, David. ''Bureaucratic Corruption and Underdevelopment in the Third World: The Case of Zaire''. ASIN B0006E1JR8
* Gran, Guy, and Galen Hull (eds.). ''Zaire: The Political Economy of Underdevelopment''. {{ISBN|0-275-90358-3}}
* Harden, Blaine. ''Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent''. [[Houghton Mifflin]] Company. {{ISBN|0-395-59746-3}}
* {{cite book| last = Hoskyns| first = Catherine| title = The Congo Since Independence: January 1960 – December 1961| publisher = Oxford University Press| date = 1965| location = London| oclc= 414961}}
* {{cite book| last = Kanza| first = Thomas R.| author-link = Thomas Kanza| title = The Rise and Fall of Patrice Lumumba: Conflict in the Congo| publisher = Schenkman Books, Inc.| edition = expanded| date = 1994| location = Rochester, Vermont| isbn = 978-0-87073-901-9}}
* Kelly, Sean. ''America's Tyrant: The CIA and Mobutu of Zaire''. American University Press. {{ISBN|1-879383-17-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Kenyon|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Kenyon|title=Dictatorland: The Men Who Stole Africa|date=2018|publisher=[[Head of Zeus]]|location=[[London]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7GfEAAAQBAJ|isbn=9-781784-972141}}
* Kingsolver, Barbara. ''The Poisonwood Bible''. HarperCollins. {{ISBN|0-606-19420-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kisangani |first1=Emizet F. |title=Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo |date=2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |location=Latham |isbn=9781442273160}}
* MacGaffey, Janet (ed.). ''The Real Economy of Zaire: The Contribution of Smuggling and Other Unofficial Activities to National Wealth''. Philadelphia: [[University of Pennsylvania Press]]. {{ISBN|0-8122-1365-3}}
* Meditz, Sandra W. and Tim Merrill. ''Zaire: A Country Study''. Claitor's Law Books and Publishing Division. {{ISBN|1-57980-162-5}}
* Mokoli, Mondonga M. ''State Against Development: The Experience of Post-1965 Zaire''. New York: [[Greenwood Press]]. {{ISBN|0-313-28213-7}}
* Mwakikagile, Godfrey. ''Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era'', 2006, Chapter Six: "Congo in The 1960s: The Bleeding Heart of Africa." New Africa Press, South Africa. {{ISBN|978-0-9802534-1-2}}; Mwakikagile, Godfrey. ''Africa is in A Mess: What Went Wrong and What Should Be Done'', 2006. New Africa Press. {{ISBN|978-0-9802534-7-4}}
* Nzongola-Ntalaja, Georges. ''The Congo: From Leopold to Kabila: A People's History''. Zed Books. {{ISBN|1-84277-053-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Odom |first1=Thomas Paul |title=Shaba II The French and Belgian Intervention in Zaire in 1978 |date=1993 |publisher=U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Combat Studies Institute |location=Fort Leavenworth |isbn=9781839310973}}
* {{cite book| last = Reid| first = Stuart A.| title = The Lumumba Plot| publisher = Alfred A. Knopf| date = 2023| location = New York| isbn = 9781524748814}}
* Sandbrook, Richard (1985). ''The Politics of Africa's Economic Stagnation''. [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-521-31961-7}}
* Schatzberg, Michael G. ''The Dialectics of Oppression in Zaire''. [[Indiana University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-253-20694-4}}
* Schatzberg, Michael G. ''Mobutu or Chaos?'' University Press of America. {{ISBN|0-8191-8130-7}}
* Stockwell, John. In Search of Enemies, W. W. Norton; First Edition (17 March 1984) {{ISBN|0393009262}}
* Taylor, Jeffrey. ''Facing the Congo: A Modern-Day Journey into the Heart of Darkness''. [[Three Rivers Press]]. {{ISBN|0609808265}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Young |first1=Crawford |last2=Turner |first2=Thomas |date=1985 |title=The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State |location=Madison |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |isbn=9780299101138}}

====French====
* Braeckman, Colette. ''Le Dinosaure, le Zaïre de Mobutu''. Fayard. {{ISBN|2-213-02863-X}}
* Chomé, Jules. ''L'ascension de Mobutu: Du sergent Désiré Joseph au général Sese Seko''. F. Maspero. {{ISBN|2-7071-1075-2}}
* [[Emmanuel Dungia|Dungia, Emmanuel]], ''Mobutu et l'Argent du Zaïre, les révélations d'un diplomate, ex-agent des Services secrets''. L'Harmattan. {{ISBN|2-7384-1133-9}}, {{ISBN|978-2-7384-1133-4}}.
* Mobutu Sese Seko. ''Discours, allocutions et messages, 1965–1975''. Éditions J.A. {{ISBN|2-85258-022-5}}
* Monheim, Francis. ''Mobutu, l'homme seul''. Editions Actuelles. (Unknown ISBN)
* Ngbanda Nzambo-ku-Atumba, Honoré. ''Ainsi sonne le glas! Les Derniers Jours du Maréchal Mobutu''. Gideppe. {{ISBN|2-9512000-2-1}}
* [[Jean Nguza Karl-i-Bond|Nguza Karl-i-Bond, Jean]]. ''Mobutu ou l'Incarnation du Mal Zairois''. Bellew Publishing Co Ltd. {{ISBN|0-86036-197-7}}

====Other====
* {{Cite book |last= Shaw |first= Karl |title= Power Mad! |trans-title= Šílenství mocných |year= 2005 |orig-year= 2004 |publisher= Metafora |location= Praha |language= cs |isbn= 978-80-7359-002-4 }}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|d=Q164535|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}}
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1320000/audio/_1323066_drcongo_mobutu.ram Speech by Mobutu, vowing to resist the rebel onslaught and remain in power]
* [http://www.cnn.com//WORLD/9709/07/mobutu.wrap/index.html Obituary]
* [http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/051797zaire-mobutu.html Anatomy of an Autocracy: Mobutu's 32-Year Reign] (''[[The New York Times]]'' biography by [[Howard W. French]])
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/903324.stm Mobutu's legacy: Show over substance]
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/fooc50/4173100.stm Hope and retribution in Zaire], Allan Little, ''[[From Our Own Correspondent]]'', BBC News, 24 May 1997.
* {{unfit|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20140608214731/http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1989/06/zaires-mobutu-visits-america "Zaire's Mobutu Visits America," by Michael Johns, Heritage Foundation Executive Memorandum #239, 29 June 1989]}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-off}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Joseph Kasa Vubu]]'''<br />''as '''President of the Republic of the Congo ''}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Heads of state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|President of Zaire]]''' <br/> (''before 1971 '''[[President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]])''|years=24 November 1965 – 16 May 1997}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Laurent-Désiré Kabila]]'''<br />''as '''President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ''}}
{{S-end}}

{{DRCongoPres}}
{{African Union chairpersons}}
{{Lumumba Government}}
{{Congo Conflict: 1960–1968}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mobutu}}
[[Category:Mobutu Sese Seko| ]]
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:1997 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century criminals]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Legion of Merit]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Morocco]]
[[Category:Deaths from prostate cancer]]
[[Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo anti-communists]]
[[Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Marshals]]
[[Category:Grand Collars of the Order of Prince Henry]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic]]
[[Category:Presidents for life]]
[[Category:Leaders who took power by coup]]
[[Category:Lumumba Government members]]
[[Category:Minister of Defence of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Ngbandi people]]
[[Category:People from Mongala]]
[[Category:People of the Cold War]]
[[Category:People of the Congo Crisis]]
[[Category:People of the Rwandan genocide]]
[[Category:Political corruption]]
[[Category:Politicide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Popular Movement of the Revolution politicians]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic]]
[[Category:Soldiers of the Force Publique]]
[[Category:Military coups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Zaire]]
[[Category:Far-right politics in Africa]]
[[Category:20th-century Democratic Republic of the Congo politicians]]