The announcement of elections launches intense political activity. However it is along tribal lines, since almost no other allegiances have been formed. By November 1959 more than fifty political parties are officially registered. Only Lumumba's MNC has an essentially national perspective. At least two of the tribal parties represent such large regional groups that their programme implies the strong possibility of secession. One is Kasavubu's Abako party. The other is the party led by Moise Tshombe, based in the mineral-rich province of Katanga. With mounting violence in the colony, and with the December elections invalid because of widespread boycotts, the Belgian government invites ninety-six delegates from the main Congolese parties to a conference (Round Table Conference) in Brussels in January 1960. Lumumba, Kasavubu and Tshombe are among those who attend. The Belgians suggest a four-year transition to independence, but the Congolese refuse to wait. By the end of the conference Belgium has accepted a completely impractical dash to the starting line. The Belgian Congo will become an independent nation in less than six months, on 30 June 1960.
Lumumba and Kasavubu
Elections take place in May. Lumumba's MNC emerges as the largest single party, with Kasavubu's Abako in second place. Neither succeeds independently in forming a coalition. As a compromise Kasavubu becomes president and head of state, with Lumumba as prime minister at the head of a coalition including a dozen extremely diverse minor parties. Tshombe's party wins control of the provincial assembly in Katanga. This arrangement seems a certain recipe for future trouble, but there turn out to be more immediate problems. The nation becomes independent on 30 June 1960 as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Just four days later there are early signs of mutiny in the army. The reason is the fury of the African soldiers that in spite of independence the officers in the Congolese army are without exception white. The fact is not surprising (in the colonial army Africans could not rise higher than the rank of sergeant-major, and in the rush to independence the first Congolese officer cadets have not yet completed their courses). But it is none the less profoundly displeasing.
Lumumba gives in as the tension rises during the first week of July. He agrees to the dismssial of the Belgian officers and the appointment of Congolese in their place. The role of hastily issuing the new commissions falls to Joseph Mobutu, the minister for defence. This patronage later gives him a powerful role in the evolving army. In the short term no one can control the unfolding chaos. Without any effective chain of command, the army goes berserk in riots against the Belgian population. Before the middle of July 25,000 Belgians flee the country. In the other direction nearly 10,000 Belgian troops fly in to protect European lives and property, particularly in wealthy Katanga. On July 11 Moise Tshombe takes advantage of the collapse of government control. He declares the independence of Katanga. With the help of Belgian troops he is able to expel all units of the Congolese army. The ingredients for the next stage of the Congo's agony are all in place. With many in the west showing signs of support for Tshombe (mindful of the wealth of his region), Lumumba raises the stakes by asking for Soviet help in recovering Katanga.
During August there arrive from Russia aircraft, arms, technicians and military advisers. Within two months of independence the Congo has become a potential flashpoint of the Cold War. The issue dominates debate in the general assembly of the UN. Meanwhile UN forces are on the ground trying to hold the peace. In the event a local coup, still during the first three months of independence, proves a turning point. On September 4 President Kasavubu announces that he has dismissed Lumumba as prime minister. Lumumba, in response, hurries to the radio station to broadcast that he has dismissed Kasavubu as president. The resulting confusion is only resolved when the 29-year-old minister of defence, Mobutu Sese Seko, declares on September 14 that he is 'neutralizing' all politicians and is temporarily taking over the duties of government in the name of the army. This is in fact a ploy against Lumumba who is later who is later captured, tortured and assassinated along with Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito on the 17th of January.
Kasavubu and Tshombe
During 1961 and 1962 the urgent question in Congo is whether Tshombe can sustain an independent Katanga. He has the support of the powerful mining company, Union Minière, and his army is strengthened by the continuing presence of Belgian troops (by now removed again from the rest of the country) and by the addition of European mercenaries. But the UN and the majority of international opinion is against the secession of Katanga. Outbreaks of warfare and bursts of urgent UN diplomacy alternate during this period (the UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld dies in a plane crash in 1961 when flying to negotiate with Tshombe). But Tshombe has a habit of abandoning his promises when it suits him. The turning point comes late in 1962, when UN policy moves from a neutral peacekeeping role to active intervention against Katanga. After strong initial resistance, the Katangan army gives up the fight in January 1963. Tshombe flees into exile in Spain.
President Kasavubu, faced in 1964 by continuing unrest in the eastern provinces, attempts to resolve the issue by inviting Tshombe to return from exile as the nation's prime minister. New elections for the national assembly are held in April 1965. Tshombe's party seems to win a majority (the results may be unreliable), but in the aftermath of the election he is dismissed from his post by Kasavubu. Tshombe returns to Spain, leaving the Congo in continuing political chaos. But a new strong man is waiting to strike. Mobutu, now commander in chief, has been strengthening the Congolese army and with it his own power. In October 1965 he stages a coup, dismisses Kasavubu, and takes on the role of president.
Mobutu
Mobutu rapidly puts in place the apparatus of dictatorship, forming in 1966 the MPR (Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution) as the only permitted political party. He also sets about asserting the African identity of his nation. The colonial capital, Léopoldville, becomes in 1966 Kinshasa. Five years later the nation itself acquires an appealing new name, Zaire (relating to the Congo because it derives from an African word for river). An order is given for all citizens to adopt African names. The president himself, previously Joseph Mobutu, becomes Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu Wa Za Banga ('the all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, sweeps from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake'). Over the next three decades, Mobutu led one of the most enduring regimes in Africa; it was also one of the most dictatorial and corrupt. Despite the country's obvious natural resources, including copper, gold and diamonds, much of Zaire's population sank further into poverty. Mobutu amassed a personal fortune estimated to be as much as USD$5 billion, while what foundation the country once had was left to decay.
