Word: kasavubu
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Since the ousting of President Joseph Kasavubu in 1965, Mobutu has managed to create a genuine nation in Zaïre, even though its 24 million people are fractured into 100 tribes, speak dozens of dialects, and are spread over 895,000 square miles, much of it primitive jungle. That achievement, however, has been bought at the expense of democracy; Zaïreans' are expected to conform strictly to "Mobutisme," an often eccentric notion of nationalism propounded by Le Guide, as the President calls himself. Among other matters, Mobutu in recent years has ordered that all Zaïreans...
...personality cult, Mobutu has succeeded in forging an unprecedented degree of unity among the nearly 200 tribes speaking more than 75 different languages that make up the former Belgian Congo's population. In 1965 when Mobutu, then an army commander, led the bloodless coup that deposed President Joseph Kasavubu, the country had endured five disastrous years of anarchy, civil war and bloodshed. Although rich in natural resources, Zaire was totally unequipped to utilize them when Belgium granted independence in 1960. Industrial development came to a halt when investors refused to risk their money in the unstable country. Today, under...