The Congo–Zaire Experience, 1960–98 Also by Edgar O’Ballance ARAB GUERILLA POWER CIVIL WAR IN BOSNIA: 1992–94 CIVIL WAR IN LEBANON: 1975–92 CIVIL WAR IN YUGOSLAVIA ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALIST TERRORISM NO VICTOR, NO VANQUISHED: The Middle East War, 1973 TERRORISM IN IRELAND: The Story of the IRA TERRORISM IN THE 1980s THE ALGERIAN INSURRECTION: 1954–62 THE ARAB–ISRAELI WAR: 1948–49 THE CYANIDE WAR THE ELECTRONIC WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST: 1968–70 THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION THE GREEK CIVIL WAR THE GULF WAR THE INDO-CHINA WAR: 1946–54 THE LANGUAGE OF VIOLENCE THE KURDISH REVOLT: 1961–70 THE KURDISH STRUGGLE: 1920–94 THE MALAYAN INSURRECTION: 1948–60 THE PALESTINIAN INTIFADA THE RED ARMY OF CHINA THE RED ARMY OF RUSSIA THE SECOND GULF WAR: The Liberation of Kuwait THE SECRET WAR IN SUDAN: 1955–72 THE SINAI CAMPAIGN, 1956 THE THIRD ARAB–ISRAELI WAR: 1967 TRACKS OF THE BEAR: US–USSR Relations in the 1970s WARS IN AFGHANISTAN: 1839–1992 WARS IN THE CAUCASUS: 1990–95 WARS IN VIETNAM: 1954–60 WARS IN THE YEMEN: 1962–69 The Congo–Zaire Experience, 1960–98 Edgar O’Ballance First published in Great Britain 2000 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-41119-1 ISBN 978-0-230-28648-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230286481 First published in the United States of America 2000 by ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-22795-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data O’Ballance, Edgar. The Congo–Zaire experience, 1960–98 / Edgar O’Ballance. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-22795-1 (cloth) 1. Congo (Democratic Republic)—Politics and government—1960–1997. 2. Congo (Democratic Republic)—Politics and government—1997– 3. Insurgency—Congo (Democratic Republic)– –History—20th century. 4. Congo (Democratic Republic)—History, Military—20th century. I. Title. DT658.O28 1999 967.5103—dc21 99–33523 CIP © Edgar O’Ballance 2000 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-333-74791-9 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10987654321 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 Contents List of Maps vi Preface vii Acknowledgements xi List of Abbreviations xii Chronology xv Maps xx 1 The Belgian Congo 1 2 Independence and Clashing Personalities 14 3 Lumumba the Legend: 1960–61 30 4 ONUC versus Katanga and Others: 1961–92 47 5 Prime Minister Tshombe 64 6 The NLC in Retreat 80 7 Plots, Mutiny and Revolt 95 8 The First Invasion of Shaba: 1977 108 9 The Second Invasion of Shaba 123 10 The Single Party State 139 11 Genocide in Burundi and Rwanda 148 12 The End of the Mobutu Era 163 13 The Democratic Republic of the Congo 177 14 Bleak Prospects 190 Bibliography 194 Index 195 v List of Maps 1 Belgian Congo 1960 xx 2 The NLC Rebellion 1964–65 xxi 3 Katanga (Shaba) 1977–78 xxii 4 Burundi and Rwanda xxiii 5 Kabila’s Advances 1997 xxiv 6 Western Front 1998 xxv vi Preface The independence of the Belgian African colony of the Congo came suddenly and unexpectedly in 1960 with no preliminary armed strug- gle, the peaceful handover of power being marred only by flashes of bad temper and recrimination. The new Republic of the Congo, with a population of about 40 million people and comprising an area of over 900 000 square miles, was the second largest country in Africa but few in the world knew much about it. It was hardly prepared for indepen- dence as ‘Africanisation’ had been tardy, deliberately so as the Belgian government, assuming that the independence process would be a lengthy one, had been in no hurry to depart. As a colony the Belgian Congo had paid its way, provided employment for several thousand Belgians, remained fairly orderly and had generally been regarded as a model colony. Successive Belgian governments had hoped that the Congolese would continue to see it that way, but events overtook both sides at great speed, and neither were grateful. Belgium had come late to the ‘scramble for Africa’, and the Congo only legally became their colony in 1908. Prior to that it had been the private fiefdom of the Belgian king, its reputation being one of slave raiding, slave labour, slave trading and tribal wars. There were over 70 major tribal groups and confederations in the Congo, but colonial control over them was tightly centralised, all top and medium level appointments being held by Belgians, Congolese filling only the lower echelons in administration and government services. Political parties were banned, and Congolese political awareness did not awaken until the 1950s. Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the independent Congo, was a controversial and charismatic figure. His party, the Mouvement National Congolese (MNC), was the only pan-Congolese party in place at the time, its platform being the maintenance of national unity. The other emerging political parties were regionally based. Lumumba found favour with the USSR, which made him unpopular with Western statesmen, who branded him as a communist. The Cold War was in progress, and Cold War warriors on both sides showed an interest in the Congo. In July 1960, just a few days after independence, the mineral-rich Katanga Province declared UDI: A United Nations military force (ONUC) vii viii Preface was despatched by UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld to put down the Katangan rebellion. The death of Hammarskjöld in a plane crash in Rhodesia in 1961 continues to intrigue researchers – what was the head of the UN doing in an aircraft packed full of arms and ammu- nition? ONUC stayed until December 1963 to battle for the unity of the Congo, after which the Congolese warlords fought each other until November 1965, when General Mobutu emerged victorious and remained in power until 1997. The Mobutu years of the single-party state brought unsuccess- ful struggles for power by alternative unofficial governments and gov- ernments-in-exile, of secessionist attempts by breakaway factions, mini invasions, plots against Mobutu and general skulduggery. Mobutu’s name became a byword for graft, corruption, misgovernment and lack of human rights. In 1971 Mobutu changed the name of his country to Zaire. The names of many of the main cities and towns were changed too, but not all, which tends to confuse researchers. Eventually Mobutu was brought down by the Banyamulenge rebel- lion in eastern Zaire, which became the spearhead of the Tutsi-led ADLF, supporting Laurent Kabila in his bid for power. Kabila was also supported by certain neighbouring African states. In April 1997 Mobutu fled the country to die in exile in Algeria, while the triumphant Kabila returned the name of his country to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and became its executive president. The Tutsi tribe, ema- nating from Rwanda, had been the driving force of this campaign. President Kabila disappointed the hopes of his supporters, especially the Tutsis, who had expected to play an influencial role in the Congo, especially in the armed forces. In September 1998 the Tutsis established a breakaway state in eastern Congo, based in Goma and supported by Rwandan and Ugandan troops. Tutsis also initiated hostilities on the western front, extending south-westwards from Kinshasa, the capital, along the main road to the port of Matadi, the Inga power plant and the Boma naval base. They were countered by Angolan troops, who had joined Kabila, as later did some from Namibia, while UNITA, the Angolan antigovernment force, fought against him. The hostilities had died down by October, when the Tutsis were largely contained in the west, but the latter retained control of large expanses of terrain in the east. Intervention by adjacent states, fighting either for or against Kabila, led to the formation of two hostile alignments as certain Central African states began to quarrel amongst themselves. The Tutsi–Hutu massacres of 1994 and their sequels are covered in this book as they boiled over into the Congo. Preface ix Nearly four decades of turmoil and violence have left the Congo unsettled, uneasy and uncertain of its future prospects. As the millenium draws to a close the Congo is holding on to its sovereign unity with great difficulty. Some areas are already held by hostile Ugandan- and Rwandan-supported Tutsis, inspired by former glories of their ancient empire that once encompassed parts of present day Congo. If the Tutsi CMD successfully retains the eastern part of the Congo, surely UDI for Shaba province will be the next step, followed perhaps by other regional breakaways. National fragmentation by stages is a very real danger. Unfortunately it seems as though the scene is being set for interna- tional war, certain Central African states having acquired a taste for armed intervention.