The Fate of Africa: A History of the Continent Since Independence

Socialism doesn’t mean that if you’ve made a lot of money, you can’t keep it

The colonial state that replaced it was rigidly controlled by a small management group in Brussels representing an alliance between the government, the Catholic Church and the giant mining and business corporations, whose activities were virtually exempt from outside scrutiny.

local government elections. It also added a vague promise about independence as being the eventual goal of Belgian policy. But having taken that momentous decision, it then fell into protracted debate about the wisdom of the move. Across the Congo, however, political activity burst out in wild and hectic profusion. By November 1959 as many as fifty-three political groups were officially registered; a few months later the number had increased to 120. Almost every party sprang from tribal origins. Some were based on major groups like the Bakongo, the Baluba, the Balunda and the Bamongo; others were of only local importance. In Katanga, the Congo’s richest province where the giant copper industry was located, a thousand miles south-east of Léopoldville, the main party to emerge was the Lunda-dominated Conakat – Conféderation des Associations Tribales du Katanga. Led by Moise Tshombe, a shrewd, clever politician, the son of a wealthy Katanga businessman, it favoured provincial autonomy for Katanga, worked closely with Belgian groups pursuing the same interest, and advocated continuing ties with Belgium.

Seven days later, with a suddenness that shook Belgium to the core, Léopoldville was torn by vicious rioting. The immediate cause of the violence in January 1959 was a decision by the local authorities to refuse permission for Abako to hold a scheduled Sunday afternoon meeting. But Belgian investigations showed that unemployment, overcrowding and discrimination had produced a groundswell of frustration and discontent.

In 1958 he joined a group of other young educated Congolese - évolués, as they were called – to launch the Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) to rally support on a national basis. Along with two companions, he was allowed to travel to Accra in December 1958 to attend the All-African People’s Conference.

In Léopoldville the politicians resumed their bickering and intrigue once more until in 1965 Mobutu, the army commander, stepped forward for a second time, suspended all political activity and assumed the presidency for himself. At the time, it seemed to offer some prospect of respite.