tiltpoker.net Sésé Seko in the 1960s.Mobutu Sésé Seko Nkuku wa za Banga was the President of Zaire from 1965 to 1997.Early yearsMobutu was born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu in Lisala, Belgian Congo. He joined the Force Publique, the Belgian Protestant Congolese army in 1949, rising to the rank of Sergeant Major. He left in 1956 and worked as a journalist and then newspaper editor. In 1958 he joined the nationalist Mouvement National Congolais . Following the
granting of independence on June 30, 1960, he joined the new government as Secretary of the State for Defense. The new government was a coalition between Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and President Joseph Kasavubu, both of whom soon started to struggle for overall power - both attempting to dismiss the other from government. tiltpoker.net On September 14, 1960 a coup détat overthrew Lumumba in support of Kasavubu. Colonel Mobutu was a key figure in the coup and was rewarded with rapid promotion.Military coupIn 1965, now Lieutenant-General Mobutu seized power
from President Kasavubu, following another power struggle between Kasavubu and his prime minister Moise Tshombe. Mobutu declared himself president tiltpoker.net for five years. He quickly centralized power, put down an attempted coup in 1967 and was elected president in 1970. Embarking on a campaign of anti-European, pro-African cultural awareness, Mobutu renamed the country the Republic of Zaire in October 1971. In 1972 he renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Wa Za Banga , Mobutu Sese Seko for short . Note that the latter portion
of this name has been transliteration in a wide variety of ways.KleptocracyInitially he nationalized foreign-owned firms and forced European investors out of the country. This precipitated such an economic slump that Mobutu was forced by 1977 to try to woo tiltpoker.net foreign investors back. Also in 1977 he needed Belgian aid to help repulse an attack on Katanga by Katangan rebels based in Angola. Despite this, he was re-elected in 1977, but no other candidates stood. He worked hard on little but to increase his personal fortune, which in 1984 was estimated to amount to nearly United States
dollar $4 billion, most of it in Swiss banking banks. This was almost equivalent to the countrys foreign debt at the time, and by 1989 the government was forced to default on international loans from Belgium. Mobutus rule earned a reputation as one of the worlds foremost examples of kleptocracy. portrait appeared on every banknoteCoalition governmentIn May 1990, due to economic tiltpoker.net problems and domestic unrest, Mobutu agreed to end the ban on other political parties and appointed a transitional government that
would lead to promised elections, but he retained substantial powers. However, following riots in Kinshasa by unpaid soldiers, Mobutu brought opposition figures into a coalition government, but he still connived to retain control of the security tiltpoker.net 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 and Étienne Tshisekedi of the Union pour la Democratie et le Progres Social The economic situation was still dreadful, and in 1994 the two groups joined as the High Council of Republic - Parliament of Transition tiltpoker.net . Mobutu appointed Kengo Wa Dondo, an advocate of austerity and free-market reforms, as prime minister. tiltpoker.net Mobutu was becoming increasingly
physically frail and during one of his absences for medical treatment in Europe, Tutsis captured much of eastern Zaire.OverthrowMobuto was overthrown in the First Congo War. Tutsis had long opposed Mobutu due to his open support for Rwandan Hutu extremists responsible for the Rwandan genocide in 1994. When his government issued an order in November 1996 forcing Tutsis to leave Zaire on penalty of death, they erupted in rebellion. From eastern Zaire, with the support of president Paul Kagame of Rwanda, they launched an offensive to
overthrow Mobutu, joining forces with locals opposed to him as they marched west toward Kinshasa. Resistance crumbled in front of the march, the army being more tiltpoker.net used to suppressing civilians than defending the large country. On May 16, 1997, following failed peace talks, the Tutsi rebels and other anti-Mobutu groups as the Alliance des Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation du Congo-Zaire captured Kinshasa. Zaire tiltpoker.net was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mobutu went into temporary exile in Togo but lived mostly in
Morocco. Laurent-Désiré Kabila became the new president in the same day.DeathMobutu died in September 1997 in exile in Rabat, Morocco, from prostate cancer which had been developing since 1962. Reference, external links Wrong, Michela. "In The Footsteps of Mr.Kurtz". Perennial. ISBN 0-06-093443-3 Note on his name1930 births deaths of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Sese Sekofr:Mobutu Sese Sekoid:Mobutu Sese Sekoja:モブツ・セセ・セコlt:Mobutu tiltpoker.net Sésé Sekonl:Mobutu Sese Sekofi:Mobutu Sese Sekosv:Mobutu Sese Seko