$Unique_ID{COW04161} $Pretitle{267} $Title{Zaire Chapter 2A. Government and Politics} $Subtitle{} $Author{Margarita Dobert} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{mobutu political government army students president shaba first foreign national} $Date{1978} $Log{Monkey, Central Zaire*0416101.scf } Country: Zaire Book: Zaire, A Country Study Author: Margarita Dobert Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1978 Chapter 2A. Government and Politics [See Monkey, Central Zaire: Monkey, Central Zaire] A promising start and steady consolidation of power followed by serious upsets and erosion of support characterized President Mobutu Sese Seko's first thirteen years as Zaire's ruler. Taking over in 1965 after five years of turmoil, he dealt successfully with all forces that might present a threat, such as the Catholic Church, labor unions, ethnically based groups, and rebellious students. Exalting the prestige and grandeur of the state, of Zairian nationalism, he presented himself as the savior of a divided nation, in the image of Charles de Gaulle. Typically he shifted the national anniversary from June 30, the day of independence, to November 24, the day of his assumption of power. As soon as he felt secure at home, he took a bold radical stance in foreign affairs, aspiring to become a major voice in the third world. Economic success, based on high copper prices, underpinned his political ventures. He created a rigidly centralized administration reminiscent of Belgian rule, topped by a single authority figure that Mobutu claimed to be in the African political tradition. Governing by decree, his words literally were law His power was absolute, anchored in a constitution of his own inspiration that made him head of the legislative, executive, and judiciary. Political and government functions at all levels were fused within a single party over which the masses had no control and that they tended to view as largely an aspect of the administration. All key positions were held by men who were totally dependent on Mobutu for their survival. They feared and respected him for his personal courage, acute political sense, skill at dividing and using people, and his ability to articulate. Mobutu shifted them at will, allowing no one to develop a personal power base. Their loyalty to him was bought at a heavy price for the economy because their positions in the upper echelons of the political-administrative hierarchy and state enterprises enabled them to enrich themselves in such a way that income-which might have been invested to benefit the population at large-was not available for such purposes. Their failures and weaknesses were documented in secret dossiers assembled by the president's highly efficient intelligence service. Plummeting copper prices in 1974, inflation, fiscal mismanagement, dislocation caused by Zairianization (see Glossary), a gamble on an unsuccessful participant in the Angola civil war in 1975, and a lamentable showing of the army during the first Shaba invasion of 1977 combined to undermine Mobutu's power. Anger and demoralization erupted in a series of plots. Mobutu dealt with his enemies, actual and presumed, with increasing severity and tried to ride out the economic and political crises at home. Abroad, he showed a low profile, his dreams of leadership in Africa shattered. He was forced to reassume dependency on Western powers who feared that his fall might create a vast political vacuum in the center of the continent. A second Shaba invasion in May 1978 brought the vulnerability of the regime into even sharper focus and dealt a serious blow to the economy by temporarily stopping mining operations at Kolwezi. Political Geography Since independence the former Belgian Congo has been known successively as the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and, since October 27, 1971, as the Republic of Zaire. The term zaire, which has been the name of the currency since 1967, is based on a corrupted version of the Bantu word nzari for river. Names of cities were also changed in 1971 and 1972 (see table A, Preface). The boundaries with nine states have been demarcated, most of them following such natural features as major rivers, lakes, and streams. The nation claims territorial waters extending for twelve nautical miles from its short (thirty-seven-kilometer) coastline on the Atlantic Ocean (see fig. 1). Internally the country is organized into eight regions and the autonomous capital of Kinshasa, which administratively corresponds to a ninth region. Regions were called provinces before July 19, 1972, and there had been six at the time of independence. To remove causes for ethnic dissension, their number was increased to twenty-one in June 1963. But in the course of renewed centralization, the number was reduced to twelve in April 1966 and on December 24 of the same year to eight. In October 1971 and January 1972, during the general changeover from European to African names, Orientale became Haut-Zaire; Central, Bas-Zaire; and Katanga was renamed Shaba. Regions are subdivided into subregions (formerly called districts) and subregions into zones (formerly called territories or communes). In 1978 there were thirty-eight subregions of which thirteen comprised major towns and their environs. There were 134 zones, a number of which were urban. Political Dynamics Political Developments, 1965-78 On November 24, 1965, the military high command of the Armee Nationale Congolaise (ANC) proclaimed the dissolution of the existing government and the installation of General Joseph-Desire Mobutu as chief of state, replacing President Joseph Kasavubu. A state of emergency was declared, and the military leaders announced that, in order to restore national unity and end the confusion brought about by political and ethnic rivalries, the new government would remain in power for a period of five years. Although there was no immediate elucidation of the political and ideological orientations of the new regime, the leaders asserted that they had no intention of developing a military dictatorship and that the institutions of government would continue to function in accordance with the 1964 constitution. President Mobutu declared that his action was not a military coup but a duty performed in order to save the country from further chaos and anarchy. Consolidation of Government Control After the assumption of power by the new leadership, all political activities were banned. Colonel Leonard Mulamba, named by President Mobutu to the position of prime minister, was charged with the formation of a "government of national union" to include representatives from each of the twenty-one provinces and the city of Kinshasa. Throughout the early months of the new government the leaders repeatedly emphasized the drive to create a "new Congo" through common work and sacrifice. The president called on all government officials to set an example for the nation by working in the fields. His phrase "Retroussons les manches" (Let's roll up our sleeves) became the government's slogan. After the establishment of the new government there followed a progressive consolidation of executive, administrative, and political functions by which political power was increasingly centralized in the office of the president. The portfolio for national defense, as well as the direct control of the security police, was taken over by the president. He further assumed the power to rule by decrees that would have the force of law, thus effectively eliminating the decisionmaking role of parliament. Official policy was initiated by the president rather than in the office of the prime minister, and the government was identified, both at home and abroad, with the personal role of Mobutu. In October 1966 the office of prime minister was eliminated, and its powers were taken over by the president. Central government control was progressively extended over the provinces. In the first three months of the new government six of the twenty-one provincial governors were charged with corruption and removed from office. They were temporarily replaced by military officers, who were given the title of commissioners of the republic. Provincial police were nationalized and reorganized under the Ministry of Interior. Viewing the existing system of twenty-one provinces as too costly and unwieldy, and perhaps recognizing that their formation had shifted the locus of ethnic strife without eliminating it, the president acted to reduce their number and made provincial officials directly responsible to the central government. Two reorganization moves reduced the number of provinces to eight and changed the provincial assemblies from legislative to consultative bodies. Governors became subject to supervision by central authorities, and the president was empowered to annul decisions of the provincial leaders if they were not in accord with government policy. The position of provincial governor was transformed into an administrative office of the central government and placed under the authority of the Ministry of Interior. At the same time the governors were designated career servants and were shifted to provinces other than their regions of origin. Government moves to establish greater control over foreign enterprises operating in the country brought about a confrontation with the Belgian-owned Union Miniere du Haut-Katanga (UMHK) in 1966. As a result of the company's refusal to comply with government demands the company was nationalized, and a new state-owned company, the Generale Congolaise des Minerais-GECOMIN, was formed. The government continued its efforts to increase its participation in, and control over, the mining industry throughout 1967 and 1968, but the dispute was not finally settled until late 1969, when the parties agreed on terms for indemnification (see The Zairian Mining Industry after Independence, ch. 4). A military challenge was posed in the summer of 1966 when Katangan units of the army mutinied in Kisangani and resisted the national armed forces for more than two months. A more serious military and political crisis erupted in mid-1967 when mercenary forces in the employ of the Congolese government, joined by some units of the national army, revolted in an attempt to bring about the fall of the central government. The rebel units succeeded, for a time, in holding the cities of Kisangani and Bukavu but were eventually forced to retreat across the border into neighboring Rwanda, where they became an international political issue. The Congo government's difficulties with the mercenary forces drew the immediate sympathy of most of the other African states, as well as that of many other nations of the world. By 1967 Mobutu had consolidated his rule, and he proceeded to give the country a new constitution and a single party. The press and the radio had grown increasingly critical of the role of parliament, declaring it an obstacle to national progress. In presenting the draft of a proposed constitution to the public in April 1967, President Mobutu announced that since the new constitution provided for a unicameral national assembly, the existing parliament would cease to function after the current session closed in June. A constitutional referendum in the same month resulted in approval by 98 percent of the voters (see Constitutional Development, this ch.). A single political organization, the Popular Movement of the Revolution (Mouvement Populaire de la Revolution-MPR), was created to replace all existing parties (see The Party, this ch.). In 1968 Mobutu made overtures to his opponents by promising amnesty. However, when Pierre Mulele, leader of the 1964 Kwilu Rebellion, returned from Brazzaville in October, he was publicly executed. During the period from 1965 to 1969 several changes were made in the structure and makeup of the Council of Ministers and the higher departments of the government, the most extensive being two successive rearrangements ordered by the president in March and August 1969. The reshuffle in August included the transfer of nine ministers and ten deputy ministers to other positions. Among the most significant changes were the removal of Justin-Marie Bomboko, who had held the post of foreign minister since independence-except for the period of July 1964 to November 1965 during which Moise Tshombe was prime minister-and Victor Nendaka, finance minister and an influential figure of long standing. Bomboko and Nendaka were named, respectively, ambassadors to the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). Cyrille Adoula, ambassador to the United States and formerly prime minister, became minister of state of foreign affairs and foreign trade. Albert N'Dele, who had been governor of the National Bank and later minister of finance, was dismissed and not given another position. From then on those who had played an important role during the first years of independence had very little influence. A number of changes were also made in the leadership of the MPR and the high command of the ANC. Political Unrest Other than the important cabinet changes, the most significant political events of 1969 centered on the clashes between demonstrating Lovanium University students and army security forces in early June. Reports indicated that several hundred students, dissatisfied with the living allowances provided by the state, inflated prices, and what they considered extravagant expenditures by the government, marched from Lovanium University (on the city's outskirts) into Kinshasa to demonstrate their grievances. After the marchers broke through two police roadblocks, there followed a violent confrontation with a unit of the ANC during which the soldiers opened fire, and an unknown number of students were killed. A reported 500 students were placed under arrest, and several hundred others were confined to the campus. All the students were subsequently released, except for thirty-four who were charged with activities against the security of the state and scheduled to be tried. Before the trial could begin, a number of the students fled to Bulgaria, which resulted in the rupturing of diplomatic relations with that nation. The remaining students were tried, found guilty on several counts of antigovernment activities, and given prison sentences, some as long as twenty years. On October 14, however, Mobutu, on the occasion of his thirty-ninth birthday, declared amnesty for all of the imprisoned students and indicated that they were free to return to school. A period of comparative quiet followed. Students seemed to have resigned themselves to the fact of Mobutu's absolute power. In May 1970 the MPR held its first extraordinary congress. It chose Mobutu as the sole candidate for the presidential elections and proclaimed itself as the country's supreme institution. In the fall Mobutu was elected president for seven years by an official vote of 10,131,699 to 157. The year 1971 was marked by falling copper prices, inflation, and unemployment. There was unrest not only among the urban population but also in rural areas, which in some cases was put down by force. At least six subversive plots were reported, some in the eastern section of the country and some in Bandundu Province. Rumor had it that Antoine Gizenga, head of the breakaway Stanleyville regime in 1961 and self-proclaimed political heir of Patrice Lumumba, had created the National Liberation Front in the neighboring Republic of the Congo. A number of former rebels were accused of communist subversion and arrested. Bomboko and Nendaka, who had been recalled in disgrace in 1970 from their ambassadorial posts abroad, were also arrested. They were released eventually and went to live in their hometowns and engaged in business activities, rarely going to Kinshasa. On June 4, 1971, students paraded in memory of the victims of the 1969 clash. The army intervened, there were altercations, and the university was closed. Students, with the exception of foreigners, were dismissed and forced to enroll in the army for two years. At Lumbumbashi, where sympathy demonstrations were held, students were told that they must either go back to their studies or join the army. Out of a total number of 2,500 students, 126 opted for the army, but most of the others were forced to enlist anyway. Eventually a modus vivendi was found by allowing the students to continue their studies while serving in the army. Of about fifty students who had been accused of desertion, thirty-eight were acquitted, but sixteen who had gone abroad were given ten-year prison terms in absentia. After these incidents, a single university was created. Authenticity and Zairianization On October 27, 1971, the Democratic Republic of the Congo became the Republic of Zaire. This followed a number of other geographic name changes chosen from the country's cultural heritage in keeping with the MPR's new official ideology of authenticity (see The Party, this ch.). There was continued unrest during 1972, accusations of corruption in the administration, and dismissals. Four provincial governors were arrested in July, and eight ambassadors were accused of corruption and recalled. Government employees were ordered to show the origin of their private properties. In May the National Assembly passed a law requiring that personal names should be exclusively African, which led to difficulties with the Catholic Church in Zaire (see The Catholic Church, this ch.). Based on the work of a special administrative reform commission, a law was passed in January 1973 that unified and centralized the administration (see Regional Administration, this ch.). The year was comparatively calm, although there were some reports of secessional plots by Kongo ethnic groups in Bas-Zaire. During the first ordinary congress of the MPR, held in May, Mobutu announced support for the liberation movements in southern Africa, which changed his image on the continent (see Foreign Relations, this ch.). Copper prices doubled during the year, and Mobutu decided that this was an auspicious moment to secure economic independence for Zaire. In a speech to the Legislative Council on November 30, he announced that enterprises in the agricultural, commercial, and construction sectors, mostly of small and medium size, were to be Zairianized. Over the next three months some 1,500 to 2,000 plantations, retail and wholesale houses, ranches, construction firms, and others, belonging mostly to Belgians, Portuguese, Greeks, and Pakistanis, were expropriated and turned over to Zairians with "the means and the vocation" who turned out to be mainly party loyalists (see Zairianization, Nationalization, and "Retrocession," ch. 4). The lists of beneficiaries were prepared by the departments of commerce and agriculture, who heeded recommendations from regional commissioners. Crucial sectors of the economy were not touched. The enterprises taken were those most visible to the public. There were speculations that this move was prompted by a desire to appease army officers and civil servants dissatisfied with their low salaries. The Crumbling of the Economic Base April 1974 was the month of the Portuguese coup that eventually led to the involvement of Mobutu on the losing side of the Angola civil war (see Foreign Relations, this ch.). It was also the month of the collapse of copper prices. By the end of the year the price of one metric ton of copper had dropped from US$3,000 to US$1,200 while the actions of oil producers after the Arab-Israeli October 1973 war had sent oil prices sky high. Inflation reached a rate of 40 percent. The resulting economic crisis was worsened by the commercial dislocation and decline in production caused by Zairianization. Mobutu made plans for a visit to the Soviet Union, which did not materialize; he went instead to the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). On his return on December 30 he announced that he would "radicalize the Zairian revolution." The public sector was to be vastly expanded because of mismanagement by the new owners of Zairianized enterprises. All businesses and factories with an annual turnover of Z1 million (for value of the zaire-see Glossary) or more were to be nationalized and turned over to "general delegates" personally appointed by Mobutu. In line with his new radical stance, Mobutu requested that henceforth he be addressed as Citizen Mobutu. Officials were told that any foreign holdings they might own were to be turned over to the state. All Zairian children enrolled in foreign schools were to be brought home. He called all those who had taken enterprises under the Zairianization measure "exploiters of the national wealth," and on December 30 they were ordered to return them. There were loopholes in the laws, however, and very few businesses were given back. There was grumbling not only among students and intellectuals but also by the man in the street who dubbed the newly rich "acquereurs" (literally, buyers, but in this context meaning grabbers). During the first months of 1975 more sweeping decrees were passed, such as cutting all rents by 50 percent and limiting top salaries to the equivalent of US$2,000 a month. Secondary-school graduates were ordered to do one year's ideological, agricultural, and military work before entering the university. Primary and secondary schools dominated by foreign religious denominations were closed. During June 1975 there were arrests after an alleged army coup against Mobutu. There were rumors that it had originated in Kasai and had been discovered just in time. The government-controlled newspaper Elima claimed that the plot was tribally motivated and that the United States, with whom relations were then cool, was involved. Washington issued a vehement denial and recalled its ambassador, who had been declared persona non grata. Eleven army officers and thirty civilians were put on trial and most of them convicted. The kidnapping of four students-three Americans and one Dutch-from a wildlife station on the Tanzanian shore of Lake Tanganyika onto Zairian territory brought the continued existence of opposition groups into the limelight. Since Americans were involved, the incident brought further deterioration in the relations between the United States and Zaire. Probably sensing public dissatisfaction, Mobutu dispensed with the legislative elections that had been scheduled for November. Instead the names of 244 candidates (10 percent of them women), chosen by the Political Bureau, were read aloud in towns and villages. The people expressed their approval by handclapping, and the level of applause was gauged to represent support. In February 1976 Mobutu officially disengaged himself from Angola and signed an accord with the victorious faction normalizing relations. His army had been humiliated and his foreign image badly damaged. He tried to deal with his domestic difficulties-there were rumors of mutiny in the army ranks-in his customary manner by reshuffling his government. He dismissed twelve members of the Political Bureau and fifteen members of the Executive Council, including the commissioner for foreign affairs. The country's desperate economic situation forced him to negotiate economic measures with Western powers and to agree to an austere stabilization program under International Monetary Fund auspices. The nationalization measures of the previous year were revised, and foreign owners were told that they could reclaim their confiscated enterprises if they were willing to sell up to 40 percent of their stock to Zairians. The First Shaba Invasion and Its Aftermath This uneasy truce was shattered by the invasion of Shaba, which took the country by surprise. It began on March 8, 1977, when exile groups invaded Shaba, and ended eighty days later with a victory for Mobutu achieved with the help of Moroccan troops. The invasion had far-reaching domestic repercussions. For many months there were arrests, trials, and executions and a continued purge of army personnel, which in turn fanned the smouldering fires of discontent. While rooting out and punishing his enemies, Mobutu also tried to placate them by liberalizing the political system. Because of the Shaba invasion Mobutu announced in July 1977 several changes designed to make his government more democratic. He would share some of his presidential powers with a first commissioner of state, who would appoint the members of the Executive Council and coordinate their activities. In other words, the first commissioner of state would be a sort of prime minister, a post that had been abolished in 1966. The president also announced that members of the Legislative Council would no longer be nominated by the Political Bureau but directly by the people. Regional and urban councils would be elected entirely by universal suffrage. Of the thirty members of the Political Bureau, only twelve would henceforth be nominated by the president, and eighteen would be elected-two in each region and the town of Kinshasa. Moreover, anyone, including well-known political opponents, could run against Mobutu in the presidential elections that were to take place in November. There was speculation that Mobutu would appoint foreign affairs commissioner Nguza Karl I Bond, considered his closest confidant, as first state commissioner. Instead he appointed Mpinga-Kasenda, a relatively little known university professor and member of the Political Bureau, who had been in charge of the Makanda Kabobi Party Institute since 1975 but had otherwise not played a significant role. Zairians had no doubt that Mobutu would continue to make the final decisions on appointments. On August 13, to general surprise, Nguza, a Lunda from Shaba and a relative of Tshombe, who had been mentioned in the foreign press as a possible successor to Mobutu, was arrested. He was accused of having concealed knowledge of the invasion and was condemned to death on September 13. Two days later his sentence was commuted to life in prison. There were other sensational dismissals, arrests, and disciplinary actions against many people accused of having been involved in the Shaba invasion, including Bizeni-Mana, Nguza's principal adviser; Munguya Mbenge, ex-regional commissioner of Shaba, who fled to Belgium; Sambwa Pida Mbagui, governor of the Central Bank; and the mwaant yaav, the great Lunda chief, who was taken forcefully to Kinshasa but later put on probation. Colonel Mampa Ngua, army chief of staff, and several top officers were arrested because of the poor performance of Zairian forces. Mampa was first condemned to death and the sentence then commuted to life in prison. Accusations and arrests continued into 1978. Elections for eighteen seats in the Political Bureau, the Legislative Council, and urban councils were scheduled for October 1977. Thousands of citizens declared their candidacy. Although every Zairian was presumably entitled to run according to the liberalizing provisions passed in July, regional commissioners kept careful watch and in some cases annulled a candidacy over some technicality. Conditions for candidates were after all "fixed by the discipline and deontology of the party," according to Mobutu. Nevertheless many new persons were drawn into the political process. At the level of the Political Bureau, however, although 280 Zairians had declared their candidacy, essentially the same persons were elected who had circulated in the past among the country's top posts. Mobutu decided in early 1978 to raise the number of his appointees from twelve to eighteen to balance the number of those elected. The opposition was specifically invited to take part in the presidential referendum in November. Mobutu was in fact the only candidate, and he was duly elected by the 4,000 delegates to the second extraordinary congress of the MPR for another seven years. Neither the constitutional changes nor the military reorganization that Mobutu undertook after the first Shaba invasion managed to marshal public support for his regime. Apparently there had been genuine interest in the nomination of candidates for the 1,100 seats on urban councils who made promises for schools, housing, streets, and other improvements that they could not deliver, thereby arousing expectations that were disappointed. Plots, uprisings, and political unrest continued to be reported in various parts of the country. In January 1978 a revolt near Idiofa in Bandundu by villagers apparently sympathetic to the Maoist teachings of Mulele-who had led an uprising in 1964 and 1965 was later executed-was brutally put down by government forces, and fourteen chiefs, accused of having been the ringleaders, were publicly executed. In March 1978 a military tribunal in Kinshasa began a trial of twenty-four civilians and sixty-seven military officers, including twelve colonels, eighteen majors, and thirteen captains. Accusations ranged from nonpolitical extortion to high treason and conspiracy to overthrow the government. According to testimony given during the trial a Belgian diplomat was involved as well as the Brussels-based opposition group, Action Movement for the Resurrection of the Congo (Mouvement d'Action pour la Resurrection du Congo-MARC). Its leader, Munguya Mbenge, a former commissioner in Shaba, was presumably slated to replace Mobutu. He, MARC's secretary general Kanyonga Mobateli, and another exile were tried in absentia. On March 16 nineteen death sentences were handed down, five in absentia. Thirteen were executed. There was one sentence for twenty years penal servitude, four ten-year sentences, and fifteen five-year sentences. Fifteen persons were acquitted. In late May Mobateli was reported as having died from an accident with a pistol a month earlier. The Second Shaba Invasion On May 3, 1978, Katangan guerrillas launched another strike at Shaba from their bases within Angola, capturing the mining town of Kolwezi. A week later they were driven out by some 700 French legionnaires who rescued more than 2,000 whites. The attack and counterattack left the town devastated and several hundred dead. The invaders returned to Angola or vanished into the surrounding bush, presumably to strike again. Apart from bringing mining operations to a standstill, thus dealing a serious blow to the economy, the invasion showed to an even greater degree than the first invasion the fragility of Mobutu's regime (see The Shaba Invasions, ch. 5). The political organization of the invaders, the National Front for the Liberation of the Congo (Front National de Liberation du Congo-FNLC), again claimed to aim not only at the takeover of Shaba but at the ouster of Mobutu. Support, however, seemed likely to exist chiefly among the local population who were mainly Lunda or members of related groups like the majority of invaders. In fact there were reports of friendly reception and even of complicity among the inhabitants who had remained apathetic during the first invasion. Mobutu accused the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Angola of having engineered the attack and flew off to Europe to drum up support. International repercussions were swift and violent. The United States accused the Soviet Union and particularly Cuba of having trained the attackers and blamed Angola for connivance. The Soviet Union and Cuba firmly denied any involvement. Angola labeled the attack an internal Zairian affair. No firm public evidence of these claims and counterclaims was available by the end of May. According to scattered reports-difficult to verify-the Katangans had been able to establish a fairly independent fief in northern Angola largely beyond that government's writ where they supported themselves by cultivating, livestock raising, and the exploitation of a few diamond mines. Their ideology, beyond a consuming hatred for Mobutu and love of their homeland, was difficult to define. They had in turn been followers of the conservative Tshombe, anti-insurgent fighters for the colonial Portuguese, then partisans of the MPLA. Their leader, Nathaniel Mbumba, was said to have refused alliance with radicals like Laurent Kabila and Gizenga because they had fought against Tshombe. Both Kinshasa and the rest of the country were reported to have remained calm. The roughly 80,000 Europeans living in Zaire made no attempts to leave the country permanently.