Mobutu Sese Seko

Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (/məˈbt ˈsɛs ˈsɛk/; born Joseph-Desiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) 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 his anti-communist stance.

During the Congo Crisis, Belgian forces aided Mobutu in a coup against the nationalist government of Patrice Lumumba in 1960 to take control of the government. Lumumba was the first leader in the country to be democratically elected, but he was subsequently deposed in a coup d’état 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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Latest News for: mobutu sese seko

‘Rumble in the Jungle’ memories: ‘We don’t cook people in pots’

Las Vegas Review-Journal 23 Mar 2025
To recount, former Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko desperately wanted to stage Foreman-Ali in his country to boost tourism ... “President Mobutu sent Don King to Seattle to talk to George Foreman.

Rumble in the Jungle 50 years on with George Foreman: ‘I was truly devastated to lose’

The Daily Telegraph 22 Mar 2025
... Don King as a promoter, played out under bizarre circumstances underwritten by Mobutu Sese Seko, the country’s autocratic leader, who wished to stage the greatest heavyweight contest possible.

Boxing heavyweight great George Foreman, who fought Muhammad Ali in the ‘Rumble in the Jungle,’ ...

CNN 22 Mar 2025
He was 76. The Instgram post reads. “Our hearts are broken ... He told The Undefeated ... The decision to hold the fight in Zaire was controversial, with criticism over human rights abuses and corruption under late President Mobutu Sese Seko ... I was devastated ... .

Supermarket guards, truck drivers and ‘very big mistakes’: the failed role of western mercenaries in the fall of Goma

The Observer 14 Mar 2025
The day before, on 28 January, the M23 militia and Rwandan soldiers had together captured the largest city in the eastern DRC ... Former Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko also hired ex-Yugoslav mercenaries as his regime collapsed in the 1990s ... Share ... .

The debt noose: Why does Africa remain trapped

Beijing News 13 Mar 2025
The continent must unite to shape its economic future and to end its dependence on Western financial institutions ... In his place, the US and Belgium installed Mobutu Sese Seko, who accumulated billions in debt while plundering national wealth ... (RT.com).

‘People need a break’: DRC conflict reignites dark memories of Congo wars

Al Jazeera 13 Mar 2025
list 2 of 3Rwanda slams UK sanctions over DR Congo violence ... end of list ... Both countries then backed a Congolese rebel group, led by Laurent Kabila, to unseat the dictator, President Mobutu Sese Seko. Mobutu, at the time, had many regional enemies ... .
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