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Zaïre: the Roots of the Continuing Crisis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Extract

The guns have again gone silent in Zaïre. The second war — dubbed Shaba II — in the key mining town of Kolwezi during May 1978, seems to have faded away as rapidly as it started, and has stopped making headlines around the world. However, in its wake, it has left a bitter taste in many mouths. In less than 15 months since Shaba I in March 1977, western intervention – spearheaded this time by French légionnaires and Belgian paratroopers – again pulled the tottering régime of President Mobutu Sese Seko back from the brink. The net result of this military intervention in Zaïre has been to keep Mobutu more firmly entrenched in power than ever.

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Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1979

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References

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page 386 note 4 Willame, loc. cit. pp. 14–15.

page 387 note 1 Ibid. p. 16.

page 387 note 2 These ‘patrimonial rulers’ were later granted Presidential pardons, and have been given important positions in state-owned companies.

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page 388 note 3 In 1970, Lovanium University, the State University of the Congo, and the Free Congo University were consolidated into one institution, later known as L'Université nationale du Zaïre, or U.N.A.Z.A.

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page 389 note 2 For a more detailed and insightful analysis of this major conflict between Mobutu and Cardinal Malula, see Adelman, Kenneth L., ‘The Church–State Conflict in Zaire: 1969–1974’, in African Studies Review (Waltham, Mass.), XVIII, 1, 04 1975, pp. 102–15.Google Scholar

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page 399 note 2 Kaufman, ‘In Kinshasa where Palm-Greasing is a Way of Life’.

page 399 note 3 Kaufman, ‘Zaïre: a Mobutu fiefdom’.

page 399 note 4 Newsweek, 12 June 1978, p. 8.

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