Congo: its past and its present
Since Congo received its own independence from Belgium in 1960, Congo has led its own “life” from its mother; yet thousands of corrupted conflicts, civil war, and boycotting of various voting elections followed afterwards. One of the major problems that arouse in the first years of its freedom was the assassination of Congo’s first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba.
Patrice Lumumba, considered as a hero in his homeland but as a greedy Communist in the United States, has been kidnapped first, taken to Katanga, which was, at that time, still a Belgian territory, and then murdered by a bunch of CIA members (a conjecture; no actual evidence was found up to now). It was concluded that Belgium, previous Congo’s motherland, was in fact part of the assassination and that it contributed to various factors related to Lumumba’s murder.
All of it began with Lumumba’s success of being elected as the first ever Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1960. At that time, he had already many followers under his sleeve and when he got out of prison (he went indeed to prison for embezzlement in his post office and was sentenced for 12 years of imprisonment & a high fine), he began to be more politically active; Active as in pro-Communist and anti-colonialism, which agitated both the United States and Belgium. For a couple of days, Lumumba kept close ties with the Soviet Union, which sent essential supplies and other necessities for Congo. President Eisenhower was unsurprisingly shocked of this news. At his final judgment, President Eisenhower ordered Allen Dulles, director of the CIA at that time, to kill Patrice Lumumba and to eliminate all evidences. Confused, Allen Dulles had no other choice than to follow the President’s order.
Not long after Lumumba’s death, Mobutu Sese Seko took the place as the President of Congo in 1965, establishing an authoritarian government. During his reign, Sese Seko secretly followed “Show over substance”, pretending to do work and help for his people, who are confused to realize that they receive none of both. In short, Sese Seko shows the world how strongly he cares about his people by establishing rigid civil services and contributing money, collected from the people as taxes, to health care organizations.
Yet the civil services never or rarely provide aid for the people and the money used for health care programs is not much (most of the money that the people paid as taxes are sent directly to Sese Seko’s personal pocket or account). As a result, the nation suffered in heavy corruption, constant conflicts, uncontrolled inflations, and even massive money devaluation. At the end, in 1991, Sese Seko asked for help from the opposition leaders to control his nation, but used military force to compel them once his control has been regained. In 1997, Sese Seko was expelled from his reign by rebellion forces led by Laurent Kabila.
Patrice Lumumba, considered as a hero in his homeland but as a greedy Communist in the United States, has been kidnapped first, taken to Katanga, which was, at that time, still a Belgian territory, and then murdered by a bunch of CIA members (a conjecture; no actual evidence was found up to now). It was concluded that Belgium, previous Congo’s motherland, was in fact part of the assassination and that it contributed to various factors related to Lumumba’s murder.
All of it began with Lumumba’s success of being elected as the first ever Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1960. At that time, he had already many followers under his sleeve and when he got out of prison (he went indeed to prison for embezzlement in his post office and was sentenced for 12 years of imprisonment & a high fine), he began to be more politically active; Active as in pro-Communist and anti-colonialism, which agitated both the United States and Belgium. For a couple of days, Lumumba kept close ties with the Soviet Union, which sent essential supplies and other necessities for Congo. President Eisenhower was unsurprisingly shocked of this news. At his final judgment, President Eisenhower ordered Allen Dulles, director of the CIA at that time, to kill Patrice Lumumba and to eliminate all evidences. Confused, Allen Dulles had no other choice than to follow the President’s order.
Not long after Lumumba’s death, Mobutu Sese Seko took the place as the President of Congo in 1965, establishing an authoritarian government. During his reign, Sese Seko secretly followed “Show over substance”, pretending to do work and help for his people, who are confused to realize that they receive none of both. In short, Sese Seko shows the world how strongly he cares about his people by establishing rigid civil services and contributing money, collected from the people as taxes, to health care organizations.
Yet the civil services never or rarely provide aid for the people and the money used for health care programs is not much (most of the money that the people paid as taxes are sent directly to Sese Seko’s personal pocket or account). As a result, the nation suffered in heavy corruption, constant conflicts, uncontrolled inflations, and even massive money devaluation. At the end, in 1991, Sese Seko asked for help from the opposition leaders to control his nation, but used military force to compel them once his control has been regained. In 1997, Sese Seko was expelled from his reign by rebellion forces led by Laurent Kabila.