Mobutu Research Articles

Zaire: The Politics of Penury

ZAIRE: THE POLITICS OF PENURY Crawford Young iL/aire, as a territorial entity, was created by the international (then European ) community at the Berlin Congress. Over time, Belgium succeeded in transforming the territory bequeathed by Leopold II into a chasse gardée, largely excluding other external influences. In 1960, with the breakdown of the decolonization formula, Zaire suddenly became a battleground for influence among a number of competing forces, with the United Nations and its peacekeeping forces holding the ring, and the United States playing a dominant role. This struggle, largely conducted in the political realm, revolved around the nature of the postcolonial Zairian state, and its pattern of external affiliations in a broader international context still dominated by the "cold war." During the Mobutu years the character of external relationships has changed. With the resurrection of the Zairian state, a somewhat higher degree of autonomy was achieved. At the same time, major new economic linkages were forged, through the grandiose copper-energy development strategy of the nouveau régime. When the expansive dreams of the new order were shattered by socioeconomic crisis that struck one hammer blow after another from 1974 on, the Zairian state found itself enmeshed in quite a new kind of external bondage, this time much more economic in nature. The tributary relationship to Western states and economic institutions that emerged in the late 1970s seemed much more durable in character than the political dependency of the first republic. The first public tipoff of the impending crisis was the suspension of Crawford Young is professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and president of the African Studies Association for 1982-83. Professor Young is author of Ideology and Development (1982) and The Politics of Cultural PluraUsm (1976). 115 116 SAIS REVIEW export insurance guarantees by the Belgian Office Ducroire in the spring of 1975. Soon thereafter, Zaire began to fall behind in debt repayments, which was revealed by the Wall StreetJournal on October 20, 1975. At this juncture, with the United States deeply embroiled in partnership with Zaire in the Angolan civil war, an effort was made to provide a governmental bailout through a special $60 million infusion (one-third each Export-Import Bank, pl (Public Law) 480, and aid credit).1 At that time, State Department sources privately shared President Mobutu's argument that the Zairian financial problem was short term and primarily provoked by the copper price fall. It therefore sufficed to throw up a bailey-bridge over the turbulent but narrow torrent of insolvency to help Zaire across to the abundance that lay on the far shore. Zaire made its first quiet gesture toward fending off bankruptcy in the spring of 1975. Mobutu approached Irving Friedman, Citibank vice-president , with whom he had developed a personal relationship when Friedman was serving as an imf official. Friedman had had a major role in establishing the hefty Citibank commitment to Zaire. From 1972 to 1974, with an office established in Kinshasa, Citibank and its affiliates in Paris and London helped arrange loans of $164 million, or 59 percent of all private bank borrowing.2 Mobutu was eager to obtain a reprieve on the debt without passing through the imf, to which he had a strong antipathy; its conditions were likely to be too stringent, and he had privately pledged in 1967 that he would never again commit himself to following Fund prescriptions.3 Citibank, however, was not willing to go along with this scheme; Friedman was convinced imf involvement was indispensable. By this time, ninetyeight banks worldwide held debts totaling $887 million, ofwhich about $500 million was unguaranteed. The claims were roughly equally divided among American, European, and Japanese banks. When payments gradually stopped during 1975, banks began to make inquiries. To their dismay, it was exceedingly difficult to determine Zaire's financial situation. By the fall of 1975, Mobutu had no choice but to invite an imf team and to enter into discussions about drawing the relatively easy "first tranche" of credit to which members were entitled. The imf was flabbergasted to discover that no one in Zaire knew exactly what the debt was. Zairian borrowing had been undertaken through various...

Zaire: Mobutu and Beyond

Zaire: Mobutu and Beyond

LE MAL ZAIROIS: WHY POLICY FAILS IN ZAIRE

IN JANUARY 1973 President Mobutu promulgated Law 73-015, a new statute concerning the territorial and administrative organization of Zaire. The law was a sweeping, yet ill-fated, attempt to reform the nation's existing administrative structure. My aim here is neither to recount nor analyze all of the changes which the new law was designed to initiate, but to emphasize those provisions affecting the basic units of local government and administration-the collectivities-and to explain why these reforms failed. Collectivities are crucial in Zaire and merit attention because, to quote one Zairian leader, it is on the shoulders of the collectivity 'that the chances for success of the country's general policy are grounded for it is the only entity in contact with national realities.' In addition, these policy reforms warrant scrutiny because they were conceived and, for the most part, implemented when the now-beseiged regime of Mobutu Sese Seko was at the height of its powers and appeared to be forging ahead on all fronts. An examination of this case of policy failure should indicate, therefore, some of the more deeply-rooted problems of the Zairian polity; difficulties which the present fascination with the more glaring international aspects of the current crisis tends to obscure.2 The reasons why this administrative reform was still-born will be treated in the context of a case study of efforts to implement the new policy in the hinterland, specifically in the area of Lisala.3 Initially, however, I should like to furnish an overview of the motives which prompted the reform.

The Policy of National Integration in Zaïre

National integration continues to be a matter of considerable debate and experiment among those concerned with the administration of Zaïre, but has attracted little attention elsewhere, even within the country. It is not to be confused with another policy – or alleged policy – that of suppressing tribalism in favour of national solidarity. Although ‘tribalism’ and ‘regionalism’ are constantly denounced by President Mobutu Sese Seko and other officials, they are major sources of corruption which the Government, by its practice, actively encourages by frequently reassigning all personnel in the higher ranks of the public service, and making sure that an ethnic mix is maintained in every agency. Officers commonly complain that the only thing that matters is one's tribal designation, not one's ability or performance. Engineered ‘tribalism’ of this sort has nothing to do with ancestral traditions and communal habits.

Clay mineral diagenesis in two East African lake sediments

AbstractThe vertical clay mineral distribution pattern in two sediment cores taken from two East African lakes has been studied in detail. In the core from Lake Albert (Mobutu Sese Seko) a clay assemblage consisting principally of smectite with some illite and kaolinite in the uppermost segment of the core changed with depth into first a mixed-layer illite-smectite dominated clay and then at 6·60 m into an iltite dominated clay. Lower in the core there was again a transition towards interlayer mixtures, and in the bottom segment towards smectite. These changes are interpreted as a diagenetic transformation of smectite into illite, effected by saline palaeo-lake water with an unusually high K/Na ratio. Three smectite→illite-smectite→illite transition cycles were recognized in a 56 m deep sediment core from Lake Manyara. The sections in which illite dominated contained silt-sized analcime, while those with interlayer mixtures contained alkaline zeolites. The diagenetic illitization of smectite appeared to parallel the process of analcime formation, the K necessary for illitization being released during K,Na-zeolite→analcime transformation. These occurrences suggest that high temperature and pressure may not constitute absolute prerequisites for the diagenetic illitization of smectite.

The State and the Economy: The “Radicalization of the Revolution” in Mobutu's Zaire

RESUMELe 30 decembre 1974 le president Mobutu a declare que desormais la revolution zairoise est entree dans sa nouvelle phase. Les changements importants ont ete introduits dans la politique economique du pays. Certaines entreprises auparavant “zairianisees” (appartenant aux etrangers elle furent attribuees aux particuliers de nationalite zairoise) ont ete reprises par l'Etat et leur direction confiee aux personnalites nommees par le President.L'article analyse l'evolution de cette politique au niveau de la capitale et son application a l'interieur. Il montre que la nouvelle politique economique privilegie la bourgeoisie politico-commerciale et non, comme le pretendent les autorites politiques, la population toute entiere. L'analyse souligne l'omnipresente interpenetration des secteurs commercial et economique, l'ambiguite de la politique economique et les difficultes de son application.

The State and the Economy: The "Radicalization of the Revolution" in Mobutu's Zaire

The State and the Economy: The "Radicalization of the Revolution" in Mobutu's Zaire

The Continuing Struggle for National Liberation in Zaïre

Thepurpose of this article is to elucidate the factors underlying the rise of political opposition against the régime of Mobutu Sese Seko, and this should help clarify the background to the Shaba wars of 1977–8. The major argument is that these factors are intimately related to two major aspects of a continuous political crisis in Zaïre today, namely: the democratic struggle against Mobutu's dictatorship and reign of terror, and the popular movement for a ‘second independence’. In order to substantiate this argument, the article traces the growth of organised opposition to four interrelated phenomena: (1) the ideological split in the anti-colonial nationalist movement between ‘radicals’ and ‘moderates’, (2) the leadership struggle among the moderates themselves, (3) the neo-colonial character and tasks of the post-colonial state, and (4) the autocratic nature of Mobutu's oppressive rule.

Clay minerals in Lake Mobutu Sese Seko (Lake Albert) — Their diagenetic changes as an indicator of the paleoclimate

The mineralogy and chemistry of cores from Lake Mobutu Sese Seko (East Africa) were studied. The base of the longest core was14C-dated at 28,000 years B.P. The clay fraction contains smectite (S), illite (I), kaolinite (K) and interstratified illite-smectite (I—S). These clays vary in a cyclic pattern. The following sequence was observed in the longest core from top to bottom: S (I+K) → I—S (S, + I, + K) → I (I—S, +(K)) → I—S (I, +S, +K) → S (I+K). This sequence is related to the Pleistocene evolution of Lake Mobutu Sese Seko. The occurrence of illite is explained as a diagenetic transformation of smectite into illite. During the illite formation (> 12,500 years B.P.) the lake was in a closed basin stage, a conclusion supported by the presence of phillipsite and chabazite zeolites and the occurrence of protodolomitic oolites together with the illite.

Zaïre: the Roots of the Continuing Crisis

The guns have again gone silent in Zaïre. The second war — dubbed Shaba II — in the key mining town of Kolwezi during May 1978, seems to have faded away as rapidly as it started, and has stopped making headlines around the world. However, in its wake, it has left a bitter taste in many mouths. In less than 15 months since Shaba I in March 1977, western intervention – spearheaded this time by French légionnaires and Belgian paratroopers – again pulled the tottering régime of President Mobutu Sese Seko back from the brink. The net result of this military intervention in Zaïre has been to keep Mobutu more firmly entrenched in power than ever.

Fidélité au Guide: the J.M.P.R. in Zaïrian Schools

Mon travail c'est pour former et encadrer la jeunesse dans le bon chemin et dans la fidélité au Guide; à l'attachement inconditionnel au PrésidentFondateur. Pour leur apprendre à être responsable, être productif. Pour leur préparer à leur vie future comme l'élite du pays. – a J.M.P.R. leader1

Soldiers as Traditionalizers: Military Rule and the Re-Africanization of Africa

On the basis of evidence mainly from West Africa, many scholars in the 1960's made predictions about likely trends in Africa as a whole on such issues as one-party states. On the basis of data from Eastern Africa, can we now risk predictions about likely performance of military regimes in Africa as a whole?There is evidence from Eastern Africa that African soldiers may be agents of retradi-tionalization. The bulk of the army in most countries is recruited from some of the most rural and least acculturated sectors of society. Contemporary African soldiers may be traditionalists in charge of modern armies with modern technology. What happens when a modern organization is manned mainly by rural recruits?It may be that both modernization and retraditionalization are taking place under military leadership in Africa. The cultural revivalist role of sub-westernized or non-westernized African soldiers is beginning to manifest itself in places like Uganda under Idi Amin and Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko. The political decline of westernized intellectuals and the rise of soldiers may herald a partial re-Africanization of Africa, but with some painful costs.

IUCN governing assembly II. Welcoming address by Mobutu Sese Seko, president of the Republic of Zaire

IUCN governing assembly II. Welcoming address by Mobutu Sese Seko, president of the Republic of Zaire

Soldiers As Traditionalizers: Military Rule and the Re-Africanization of Africa

On the basis of evidence mainly from West Africa, many scholars in the 1960's made predictions about likely trends in Africa as a whole on such issues as one-party states. On the basis of data from Eastern Africa, can we now risk predictions about likely performance of military regimes in Africa as a whole?There is evidence from Eastern Africa that African soldiers may be agents of retradi-tionalization. The bulk of the army in most countries is recruited from some of the most rural and least acculturated sectors of society. Contemporary African soldiers may be traditionalists in charge of modern armies with modern technology. What happens when a modern organization is manned mainly by rural recruits?It may be that both modernization and retraditionalization are taking place under military leadership in Africa. The cultural revivalist role of sub-westernized or non-westernized African soldiers is beginning to manifest itself in places like Uganda under Idi Amin and Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko. The political decline of westernized intellectuals and the rise of soldiers may herald a partial re-Africanization of Africa, but with some painful costs.

Wildlife in Zaïre

The first part of Dr Verschuren's survey of Zaïre's wildlife, which appeared in the last issue of Oryx, April 1975, surveyed the main wildlife areas and described the conservation policy of the Zaïre Government under President Mobutu Sese Seko, one of the most forward-looking and conservation-minded governments in Africa. This second article discusses the status of the major large mammals. The author concludes that, largely because Zaïre has maintained very large areas of forest intact, the wildlife situation on the whole is good. Most encouraging is the fact that the highest authorities in Zaïre appreciate the value of their wildlife heritage. The photographs in this article are by the author.

The Church-State Conflict in Zaire: 1969-1974

There is no conflict between the Church and the State in Zaire, President Mobutu Sese Seko stated recently in a Kinshasa daily newspaper (Salongo, 28 Oct. 1973: 5). Despite the President's claim, the events of the last several years indicate a situation of high tension, if not of conflict. Zaire's only Cardinal was expelled from the country; the state banned all religious broadcasts, publications, youth groups, and Bishops' meetings, and a Bishops' Committee wrote that the government is moving towards totalitarianism and dictatorship-not exactly the kinds of actions which reveal close harmony.1 This article discusses the steady deterioration and final stabilization of church-state relations in Zaire over the last five years. In an attempt to give both viewpoints, President Mobutu's public pronouncements and the state's concrete actions are presented, as well as the Bishops' statements and the Church's responses. This conflict has been an important one to both sides. On the one hand, the Zairian Church is certainly the largest and most powerful Catholic Church in Africa, and thus one in which the Vatican takes a keen interest. On the other hand, the government is preoccupied with the Church, which has constituted the greatest threat to Mobutu's drive for absolute power. With its 3,900 Belgian priests and sisters and its close ties to the Vatican it represents both the colonial past and foreign domination. Worst of all, the Church professes a system of beliefs and practices which are different from those of the Zairian political party. Certainly one of the fascinating aspects of this topic is the contradiction between the President's public statements, which imply that he objects to the large foreign involvement in the Zairian Church, and the state's concrete actions, which are clearly directed against spreading the Catholic system of beliefs and practices.

Wildlife in Zaïre

Zaïre is one of the foremost African countries in thefieldof wildlife conservation, with large areas of wild country still almost untouched, a magnificent range of wildlife, large well managed national parks, and the will and intention to conserve and extend these, as President Mobutu Sese Seko has made clear. This year conservationists from all over the world will be able to see a little of how this vast country is conserving its wildlife when they meet there for the IUCN General Assembly. In this article the former Director General of Zaïre's Institut National pour la Conservation de la Nature, who has worked there as a biologist since 1948, surveys the main wildlife areas. A second article, in the next Oryx, will describe the status of the major mammals.

The Recourse to Authenticity and Négritude in Zaïre

‘Chad should follow a genuine policy of authenticity and should unite behind this national movement for its cultural and social revolution.’1This suggestion was not made by President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaïre, the founder and chief proponent of authenticity, but by President Mouammar El Kadhafi of Libya in an address to the party leaders of Chad. It illustrates the increasing influence of authenticity as a guiding ideology in Africa, and perhaps in other continents as well. Not only are a number of nations using the phrase, but they are taking steps to make it a reality. Before describing these measures, let us examine the recourse to authenticity and compare it to its predecessor,négritude.

Christ and Culture in Zaire

Since we decided to retake our authentic names, everybody speaks of a conflict with the Church. This is not the case at all. There is no conflict between Church and State in Zaire.“ While President Mobutu Sese Seko denies the Church-State situation in Zaire is one of conflict, it is undoubtedly not one of great harmony. When a government expels the cardinal from his own country, silences the churches by prohibiting all religious broadcasts, publications and meetings, and refers to the political party as the proper way to fulfill the word of God, there are some very real problems.

Israel and the Third World

A new dimension has been added during the past two years to the tortuous drama of peacemaking in the Middle East with the decision by the Organization of African Unity, represented by four distinguished heads of state-Leopold Senghor of Senegal, Ahmadou Ahidjo of Cameroon, Joseph Mobutu of Zaire, and Yakubu Gowan of Nigeria-to take an active role in the attempts to find a solution to the Arab-Israel conflict. While the attempts have not thus far borne fruit, they have drawn attention to the growing importance of Israel's relations with that amorphous group of nations (almost 70 per cent of humanity) known as the Third World. When Israel came into existence in 1948, the concept of a Third World was just being born out of the travail of Yugoslavia's bold defiance of Stalinist domination and India's first steps to establish her own identity as an independent nation. Since then the ranks of Third World countries have swelled greatly, but so have the differences among them, leaving as their major common characteristic a passion for rapid development. For Israel the emergence of the Third World has presented both a challenge and an opportunity. Gaining the acceptance and if possible the friendship of these nations provided the challenge; the opportunity lay in transforming Israel's own quest for speedy