![]() ![]() The US and British Ambassadors in Leopoldville strongly disapproved of our reaction to Mobutu’s coup, arguing that Mobutu was a sincere anti-communist and the best hope for the future of Congo. Thus, much to the annoyance of Washington, Dag Hammarskjold and his representatives in the Congo refused to recognize him in his new, self-appointed role. Mobutu’s action, almost certainly masterminded by the Americans, was totally unconstitutional. I told Mobutu that if he wanted to make a coup d’etat, the place for him was in the streets with his followers, not listening to the radio under false pretenses in someone else’s bedroom. I don’t know when I have been more irritated. “C’est moi!” Mobutu exclaimed, triumphantly pointing to the radio. But then the music stopped, and a voice was heard to say that he was suspending the president, the prime minister and the parliament and taking over the country. He seemed to be enjoying the whiskey all right, as Radio Leopoldville continued to play the cha cha cha. Some time later, I looked in on our uninvited guest. At his request, I lent him a radio, adding half a bottle of whiskey to cheer him up. Our office was already jammed with jittery suppliants, so I put him in my bedroom. He said he was tired and nervous and needed a quiet place to relax. Two days later, Mobutu, who as far as we knew, was still Lumumba’s chief military aide, appeared once again at our headquarters, this time in uniform. ![]() None of us had yet fully cottoned on to Mobutu’s ambition and his exceptional eye for the main chance. ![]() He may well, I realized later, have misinterpreted this boy scout approach. Rajeshwar Dayal, the newly-arrived head of our operation and I exhorted Mobutu to stand by his fledgling nation in its hour of need. He was dressed in civilian clothes and told us that he was disgusted with recent events and wanted our help in leaving the country. Unexpectedly, Colonel Joseph Mobutu appeared in this crowd. In early September, 1960, after President Kasavubu dismissed Lumumba and vice versa, rumor and panic swept Leopoldville, and our headquarters was jammed with all sorts of people seeking advice, protection, help, or a way to get out of the Congo. Seen here during the parade are (right to left): Colonel Joseph Mobutu, Prime Minister Cyrille Adoul and President Joseph Kasavubu, along with various UN officials. In those early days, Mobutu seemed a comparatively sensible young man, one who might even, at least now and then, have the best interests of his newly independent country at heart.ġ7 September 1962 – A memorial parade was held in the Republic of Congo's capital, Leopoldville (now known as Kinshasa) for UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, who, along with colleagues, was killed in a plane crash while on a peace mission in the country. It was he who would bring up, in a disarmingly casual way, Lumumba’s most outrageous requests – that the UN should, for example, meet the pay roll of the potentially mutinous Congolese army. It was to him that we appealed when our people were arrested by Lumumba’s hashish-stimulated guards. By comparison with his boss, Mobutu was a pillar of pragmatism and common sense. When I first met Mobutu in July 1960, he was Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba’s chief military assistant and had just promoted himself from sergeant to lieutenant-colonel. Moise Tshombe’s career was shorter, but his leading role in the 1960 secession of the mining province of Katanga did much to sabotage what promise there was for the future of the Congo. Mobutu was the smarter and more unpleasant, and during his time in office he managed to destroy the third largest – and potentially the richest – country in Africa. Joseph-Desiré Mobutu, 32 years the president of Zaire (Congo), and Moise Tshombe, the first and only president of the secessionist state of Katanga, were two of the most active members of the independence generation in Africa. ![]() Two important figures in the history of the country now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo – Mobutu Sese Seko, who served as President, and Moise Tshombe, who served as Prime Minister, as well as leader of the breakaway province of Katanga. ![]()
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