The First Invasion of Shaba: 1977

Abstract

During July 1974, at a meeting of the MPR Politburo (now the country’s only political organisation), chaired by President Mobutu, it was decided to revise the 1967 constitution and replace Christianity with ‘Mobutism’ throughout the country. On the 14th it was officially announced that Zaire was to become a secular state, and that in future there would be no religious holidays, including Christmas Day. Mobutu unabashedly drew a parallel between ‘Mobutism’ and Christianity, saying that the role of the political commissioners of Mobutism could be compared to that of the theologians of the Church. On 1 January 1975 religious instruction in primary and secondary schools was abolished and replaced by courses in civics and politics, and MPR militants began to replace crucifixes with portraits of Mobutu in the well-known communist fashion.KeywordsRailway LineArmed GroupDiplomatic RelationGeneral StaffTransport AircraftThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.