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Mobutu

Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu.jpg
Mobutu at the Pentagon on 5 August 1983
President of Zaire
In office
24 November 1965 – 16 May 1997
Preceded by Joseph Kasa-Vubu
Succeeded by Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Personal details
Born Joseph-Desiré Mobutu
(1930-10-14)14 October 1930
Lisala, Belgian Congo
Died 7 September 1997(1997-09-07) (aged 66)
Rabat, Morocco
Nationality Congolese
Political party Popular Movement of the Revolution
Spouse(s) Marie-Antoinette Mobutu (Deceased)
Bobi Ladawa Mobutu
Children 14
Religion Roman Catholic

Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (/məˈbt ˈsɛs ˈsɛk/; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the military dictator and President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (which Mobutu renamed Zaire in 1971) from 1965 to 1997. He also served as Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity in 1967–1968.

Once in power, Mobutu formed an authoritarian regime, amassed vast personal wealth, and attempted to purge the country of all colonial cultural influence, while enjoying considerable support from the United States due to its anti-communist stance.

During the Congo Crisis, Belgian forces helped Mobutu in a coup d'état against the nationalist government of Patrice Lumumba in 1960 to rule the government. Lumumba was the first leader in the country to be democratically elected, but he was subsequently deposed in a coup organised by Colonel Mobutu and executed by a Katangese firing squad led by Julien Gat, a Belgian mercenary. Mobutu then assumed the role of army chief of staff, before taking power directly in a second coup in 1965. As part of his program of "national authenticity", Mobutu changed the Congo's name to Zaire in 1971 and his own name to Mobutu Sese Seko in 1972.


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